"Jared, I think I lost my finger."

Team Pink was riding together for the first time in a long time this weekend. We came up to Cincinnati to take part in a great comunity service. A group from Ethicon Endo Surgery was taking a bunch of inner city kids out of the city to go mountain biking... naturally we couldn't resist the opportunity to help out and guide on a trail system that none of us knew at all.

We had a great time with the kids. Went on two great rides, riding sweep, leading the charge into the unknown... all kinds of fun. It was so much fun to watch the sheer joy on the faces of these kids as they experienced the thrill of the descent, the joy of clearing a log, the challenge of clawing up the climbs. We went riding, we ate, we went riding some more... then Roadie Steve and Part Breaker went up the road to get cell service in order to place reservations to Shadowbox Cabaret for that night.

Being bikers, of course we were racing on the way back... we were moving along at a goodly clip when we turned the corner and saw the area where everyone was set up. Steve shifted up and as best as we can figure his front tire picked that exact moment to blow out on him. His body (and bike) started flying forward and to the right... into my line of travel. I jerked the bars to the right, trying to avoid running over Steve's head and was soon flying off the road myself.

While I did manage to miss most of the flying rag doll that was Roadie Steve... apparently his finger was caught in the front rotor. As I came to a stop on my back next to the road I sat up to see Steve crawling off the road clutching his hand to his chest. My immediate reaction was that he broke his collar bone and I stood up and began heading towards him asking if he was alright.

I don't think I'll ever get his response out of my head, "Jared, I think I lost my finger."

I pulled out the walkie that I had from leading one of the rides and called for my dad to bring the car. By the time I got to him (by running to the camp) people had stopped and gotten his hand elevated, iced, and had stopped the bleeding. I stood by almost in shock as we waited for the ambulance to arrive, then got in the front and we headed off the the hospital with The Trials Dude and my dad in tow.

As we pulled into the emergency receving area Steve relayed a message through one of the paramedics to me.

"It's only a flesh wound."

There's more to the story of course, but I am getting exhausted just thinking about yesterday... one of us will finish this story in the next day or two.