Thank You Factor!!!!!

As you can probably tell from the title, I had another amazing and exciting weekend that could have ended much worse if it wasn't for my factor.  This weekend was absolutely beautiful and what better way to enjoy the weather than mountain biking in the Colorado foothills!  After a bit of a late start, my girlfriend Jess, good friend Erick and myself arrived at the 3 Sisters trail head just outside Evergreen.  I was a little nervous, not about crashing and possibly getting hurt but about being to out of shape to make it.  The trail is perfect because you have to do all of the uphill first.  I prefer this format because you get all the exercise out of the way and then are rewarded with the fun of flying down the trail.  The uphill was killer!  After about ten minutes of pedaling, I felt like I hit a gigantic brick wall.  I could barely breath. This was exactly what I was scared of but I continued to push on.  I knew that if I could get past this wall everything would be okay.  Finally after what seemed like hours of agony, I felt the wall crumble.  I was in the zone!  The rest of the uphill was much more enjoyable and despite getting stuck at a few tricky spots, I made it to the top pedaling!  We took a few minutes at the summit to enjoy the view, eat a few snacks and take the customary victory pictures.  Then the real fun began.

I believe that downhill is the best part of mountain biking. Now hang on one minute...its not because I'm lazy and don't like working out, I love the burn you feel after a good uphill ride, I just love the rush of flying down the hill on the edge of control a bit more.  This trail was perfect for that too!  With only a few technical spots where slower was better, we ripped down the mountain!  After awhile I felt a little pain in my right knee.  Something on my bike kept hitting me but instead of stopping this amazing natural roller coaster I continued on.  Several parts of the trail still had snow and muddy runoff which ended up covering our bikes and ourselves in mud.  It was great!  At the bottom of the trail I was even getting confident enough to catch some air!  We were absolutlely flying.  Before we were ready, we reached the end of the trail.  The roller coaster ended and I felt great with only a little pain in my right knee.

The next day I noticed the glorious bruise on my knee that I realized I probably dodged a bullet. Prophylactically treating probably kept this bruise from becoming a huge bleed!  Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have factor, but days like this help remind me.




I would love to hear any stories you all have similar to this.  I know most of you either personally or from someone you know hav been saved from a certain bleed by factor, so lets hear about it!