I went riding last Thursday afternoon with friends up Hobble Creek Canyon. We first rode Kirkman up a steep, rocky, curvy trail that causes all kinds of problems if you don't stay forward on your pegs and steer between the bumps that would love nothing better than to throw your front tire into the air and make you work to get it back down before going off the trail or making you stop and try again. That's my second favorite trail in Utah County. Next we took Pumphouse Ridge for miles along the scenic ridgeline until we dropped down our favorite variation into Packard Canyon, an indy-like smooth trail full of fast, gentle corners. Once Packard led us back to the road in Hobble Creek Right Fork, we turned around and retraced our tracks. I started riding up the banked curves while going at least 25 mph...until something happened. Maybe My front tire rolled over a rock. What I remember is running straight into some low-hanging branches. By "low hanging", I mean about 6" off the ground. And they were more "tree trunk" than "branch." Oops. At the last second, I ducked my head and let my helmet take the impact. I hit pretty hard but didn't damage anything except the front fender of the bike, which was bent back and forth like a paper airplane. I don't crash often, but sometimes make the most of it when I do. I radioed ahead for everyone to wait for me (we recently got helment communicators so we can talk as we ride) and left my fender as it was until they got to see it. Then with a little pressure, it snapped right back into place, good as new. All in all, it was just another beautiful day in the mountains - the kind ya gotta pile up so you don't look back when autumn comes and wonder where the summer disappeared to.