I have to confess that mountain biking has become my sport of choice and with anything new you do you have to learn what to do and what not to do. In my quest to become a better rider I have had my share of wipe outs. In fact I have been known to wipe out just about every ride. I like to think that every time I wipe out I learn something new which I why I continue biking. So with every wipe out there is a story and this one is a classic. I have a friend that goes down this insane path on the trails we ride and makes it through unscathed every time. So after a while I just couldn’t resist and I tried it. My execution was shaky at best but I made it. That was my downfall. The next time we went out riding I thought to myself well this time it will be easier to execute that path and soon I will fly right through it. Boy was I mistaken. This time I wiped out. I really wiped out. So by now your are thinking just how bad was it. To set the stage for this wipe out you have to consider my other wipe outs. Some of the more disastrous ones included having my front tire land in a rut in the trail and going over the handlebars, going to fast down a hill and loosing control falling on my side and my favorite having my front tire coming off the rim as I was going down hill (this was due to my local bike shop not doing their job correctly which is another story for sometime later) and going right over the handlebars. So what happened this time you ask. Well I started down the path and in an instant I went over my handlebars, slammed my head into the side of a ravine denting my helmet and slammed my hip into the other side of the ravine. As I sat there for what seemed like eternity I get the usual remarks from my friends. Are you alright? Wow was that awesome! I haven’t seem a wipe out like that in while! As I gained my composure and started to get up I realized it was going to be a while before I could ride again. This was in fact the worst wipe out I had had. As I got back on my bike and began my journey back to civilization I had one thought in my mind. What did I learn from this? I learned that Stupid Is as Stupid does and if you barley make something the first time chances are you are not going to be successful the second.