Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1540850
12 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com forced to confront the absurdity of it head on. But upon seeing the jagged metal and murky standing water in the bo om of the dumpster, I changed out of my sandals and into closed-toe shoes before venturing in. No need to get a tetanus shot during race week. Cliff Jumping: We did some light cliff jumping and river swimming during walk week. At one point, Brandy saw me se ng up to try and jump across the narrow channel to the other rock face. In my defense, I totally had it. In her defense, it proba- bly is best that I have adult supervision whenever possible. Collisions on the road: Oh god, the Italian drivers. There was so much traffic, and bicyclists and motor- cyclists just lane split and rode shoulders like there was no tomorrow. Maybe for some of them there wouldn't be. I was legi mately terrified for them as we drove around during walk week. It's crazy what you get used to though. By day five of the interna- onal dual sport enduro (there was a bit more road mileage than I cared for, due to revoked environ- mental permits or some such thing), I was not only spli ng lanes, but giving enduro fans fist bumps through rolled down windows. Lightheartedness aside, there was at least one serious incident be- tween a racer and a car that involved an ambulance (outcome unknown; it was a foreign club rider). You couldn't let down your concentra on for even a mo- ment, which is hard when you've been riding on the road for five of the last seven hours and racing the other two. Two experienced women's trophy riders, one from France and one from the UK, with at least ten years of ISDE experience between them, some- how even managed to hit EACH OTHER on the road, resul ng in a concussion, a broken finger, and know- ing the two of them, probably some hard feelings as well. As it is, they were lucky it wasn't worse. Techy Transfers: There were some technical bits though, and a few that ran upse ngly close to large drop-offs. There were two mes during the week I decided to dismount and walk the bike around a hairpin corner. I never regre ed it, even if I felt like a bit of a li le bitch about it. Religious Experiences: I have never encountered views as stunning as those seen from the road and transfers of Days Three and Four (Day Five was the same transfer except too rainy to actually see any of it). I understand why there are so many shrines and religious iconography in this country, and I remem-