More than an ego bruise

I always speak of the benefits of getting on a mountain bike during the off season, especially for a road racer. This is similar for the need of an Xterra racer to have a road bike for training, and logging in some miles. Mountain biking for the roadie, can help build tremendous skills that will translate into the next season. Handling skills, due to uneven terrain, concentration skills, as you never know what is next.
I have been riding recently with my club at Allaire State Park, in Wall, NJ. For riding this is a technical course, but generally not as difficult as many I have ridden in the past. So with this remember the importance of concentration skills on your mountain bike, as you must react immediately, you cannot relax as you would in aeros.
I set out with the early morning riders who are generally the crank grinders. We were about 8 deep this morning, going out for an hour and then back to pick up the next group. I was feeling quite good considering the cocktails I had with Curly su, and other the evening before.
I was on a narrow single track, and decided that at approximately 15 miles per hour this little bump in the road represented a great spot for a little free styling. Though I have never been much of a BMX type kid, I had seen enough. I brought up the front end and pulled the rear up slightly, again the trial is narrow. I drifted a bit, maybe it was the wine from the day before, who really knows. The sand at Allaire is generally soft for land, it can also swallow a tire. I landed left, and my tire sung into soft sand. My handlebars buckled, and the left side made contact with a tree, snapping the front brake. I saw the ground, I then saw behind me, and wound up about 10 feet from my bike, having made contact with a number of components along the way. My shoe was still clipped in on the left side, and I limped shoeless back to the bike, which looked more like abstract art the way it was laying. The riders behind me, did their best not to run me over, and likely not to laugh. I did later.
I pushed and lightly pedaled back to to lot, licked my wounds and waited for the groups return. I fixed the brake and finished the ride for another 2 hours, but was a bit more cautious. A split second in mountain biking can really change your day! Lesson learned, at least until next week.