Crash!

I went out to Phil's World for a shake down ride yesterday with a few friends,  Feeling very solid about all the gear on the bike.
Then... 

Crash!  down I went,  I think I rolled a rock under my front tire or something,  I going about 10mph and when my right shoulder slammed  into a tree branch..  a very sturdy branch.
My right knee got a nasty impact ripping off some skin,

"Fuck" I said as the wind was nearly knocked out of me by the tree branch.  Then I yelled to Ken (riding in front of me) "Hey, Hey".   Ken hopped of his bike and gave me a hand up,  " there goes the stage coach" I said, while reaching for his helping hand, then looking at my gashed right knee.

I thought for sure this would render my knee useless,  it seemed supported my weight alright, so I walked (limped) over to a shady spot and began to flush the wound out with water.  
It looked clean, I had to cut a thick flab of skin off with some borrowed scissors and got to test out my first aid kit.  Quick Clot to the rescue!
It was bleeding enough where I thought it may soak through a bandage, so I dumped a small amount of Quick Clot on and about 20 seconds of pain, and no more bleeding!

We were about 5 miles away from the trail head, so I rode out, stopping twice to fix a squeaky brake caliper, and a twisted seatpost,

The ride back to the car felt just fine, little pain but mostly form my shoulder and the impact site on my knee.

We will have to see how my 42 year old body handles this tomorrow morning.

The signs,

• I nearly ripped my right calf open on my motorcycles kick starter on Friday afternoon,
• I pinched my left hand in the bike rack on Saturday causing two blood blisters,
• Ive been taking decongestant for the past 4 days to help with this head cold,
• My Advair doesnt seem to be working, as I still cant breathe all that well.
• My neck has been so sore, Iv got to see the Chiropractor.
• This hard crash on my shake down ride has to be the worse,  My right knee has a history of pain, and a hard crash certainly doesn't help.  The shoulder impact seems to be alright, sore but OK.  the worse seems to be just the overall jarring of the sudden stop from the tree branch.

Should I still do the Stagecoach 400? Or am I too injured?

Obsessing over gear

Its seriously keeping me up at night...   Back pack, No back pack, how much food to take, how much water? 

The Stagecoach 400 is only One Week Away!

Ive been riding my Kokopelli Warthog around town and hitting the local trails fully loaded down.  Its a brand new bike, Brand new drive train, and brand new carbon rims I laced myself.  

Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost confidence in my mechanical ability,  But its a damn long way to go on fresh un-tested equipment.

Im shooting for under 50lbs for all gear including bike,  and its gonna be close.  Me at 175lbs makes that total weight 225lbs, which, by the way is the "recommended max weight limit" for my Carbon Dooby wheels.  Nervous?  No Way.  (ha ha)

My ultimate goal is to have no back pack, 4 bottles of water,  and enough food to go at least 50miles in the heat.

The basic breakdown is this. . .

Water for 50 miles in the hot desert.

Gotta be able to fix stuff if it breakes, so I need tubes and tools. (Yes I'm Tubeless)

What if I break?  gotta have some first aid stuff.

Food?  Oh yea!  for me, I'll need probably 250-300 calories per 20 miles.

I wish I didnt, but Im gonna have to sleep,  so I need a sleeping bag, sleeping Pad, and a tarp. (minimum)

Might do a little night riding, so Ill be needing at least 8 hours of bright light.

Don't wanna get lost, so Ill be needing that Garmin with extra battery packs, and the invaluable que sheet.

Hygiene?  Im a guy, and can go a long time without brushing my teeth,  but it kind-of grosses me out.  So, I'll be bringing along some of that stuff along with a pack towel to get the salt & sweat off of my body before sliding into my overly expensive sleeping bag.

 So basically thats what it boils down to,  but somehow the detailed list is always a TON longer.