Well, that's going to leave a bruise...

Just the other night, I was discussing clipless pedals at a bar with a friend (I just re-read that sentence, and w-o-w, I have no life...) and stated that while I have my fair share of spills on my mountain bike, it's never been because I couldn't clip out in time.

I should've knocked on wood.

I rode Addison again today, and on one of the climbs I wasn't paying enough attention and my gearing was too high. As my pedaling slowed down I couldn't keep upright...and my feet locked up. And so I tipped over, and then slid down a hillside a little bit...when I stopped moving I was about eight feet away from the trail, and my face was inches away from the underside of my rear wheel. What the heck? How did that even HAPPEN?

Replaying the fall in my head, I still don't know how I ended up that way. I'm only a little scratched up, but my knee is already starting to swell. I'm going to have to check out my pedals (I use Crank Bro Candies); they've always been very easy to pop out of, but today I noticed a couple of times that they felt sticky and not as quick to disengage. It was probably a warning sign.

In other news, I recently made a trip to REI to pick up some gels (you can't beat the 20% discount...) and I found some new ride snacks to try out! There were some interesting ones, including some that look like malted milk balls, and hazlenut butter, and even some tasty-looking flavored honey things. So, over the next couple weeks, expect to find my reviews here.

First up: Power Bar Energy Gel Blasts.

There were two flavors at REI: Raspberry and Strawberry Banana. I went with the Strawberry Banana option because they contained caffeine. I was expecting them to have the consistency of Gushers, but they were more of a really tough gummy. They were actually pretty hard to chew, so I don't really think I'd recommend them for an on-the-bike snack. I think I'll be sticking with Gu for that. But they're nice if you're like me and stop between laps to enjoy a nice picnic. (Yes, that's grape juice and a PBJ sandwich in the background.)