Another side of Turtle River State Park

I experienced another side of Turtle River State Park after the usual Sunday evening mtb ride; before I get to that I have to give HUGE props to Kim for taking things in stride after an AMAZINGLY WICKED crash yesterday! We dedcided to head out to TR a couple hours early to put in some extra ride time and miles as last minute preperation for a extended 4th of July weekend biking trip to Medora ND where we'll ride sections of the Maah Daah Hey Trail! Kim has not been out to western ND so she is pretty excited, and worried about being able to take on the rugged terrain...after yesterday at TR I can tell you she is gonna ROCK the Maah Daah Hey....she was BIG RINGING it all over Turtle River, rock on girl! I was feeling a bit meek riding the fixie.....things were going great, she was in her groove and had the flow goin on a new sextion of trail when all of a sudden, as I watched in amazment, she kissed the trail HARD!...her left cheek was covered with dirt.....I was admiring her bike handling skills as I rode behind her; she was coming out of a little left hand dip/turn in the trail and faster than a blink of an eye her bike went to the right, and she to the left, it looked like she caught some loose debris as she leaned into the corner....after the initial shock, I was stunned that I had just seen what happened, she rolled over, checked to see if she had broken anything, took a deep breath, dusted herself off and we continued on.....I suggested we take a break, but she wanted to keep on biking.....WHAT A TROOPER!......she did develop some bruising on the left side of her jaw after "making out" with the trail, both her thighs had minor scrapes....a couple of tylenol, some ice and things were good! What an inspiration! We chilled out for awhile as she recouped listening to some Black Eyed Peas and talking with Steve and Sonya as they were out biking also; anybody ever heard of Fringe Fest? S&S are from Winnpeg and were talking about this, sounds pretty cool...check it out http://www.winnipegfringe.com

Another side of TR: When Kimmy Ru recovered enough she suggested an easy road ride around the park, as we rode over the bridge at the bottom of the big, turning, downhill paved road I made a comment that I'd like to go walking in the river sometime and she said "how about now"....good call, it was so invigorating....the water wasn't to cold, as we were walking and watching all the minnows swim around a GIANT carp came swiming by, so cool, and as we walked further back we saw a mama deer and two fawns crossing the river, they stopped and stared at us as we stared back...it was so beautiful.....the sun was going down, casting shadows, listening to the water rush by the rocks....peaceful and relaxing.....dare I say IDYLLIC? it was!.....a perfect end to an event filled day!