Battle Wounds - MY BOOT WITH THE RED HUE AROUND THE TONGUE

A couple buddies and I were out at a local hill riding for the day. None of us are really great, so we just rode most of the day, and with a few hours left we headed over to the park. We hit a few jumps and worked on some basic stuff, but the whole time this 15-foot-high, 25-foot-long rainbow rail was calling us. We'd seen several skiers and some boarders make it no problem. It seemed easy enough, so we headed over to give it a closer look. My friend gave me the old line: “I'll do it right after you,” so I hit it, made it about three feet, and then came down hard on my shins. It hurt-a lot. I laid there a while, and then got up and headed back to the lift to get a few good runs in before calling it a night. At the top of the lift, we noticed my boot had adopted a red hue around the tongue. I pulled my pant leg up and we saw that the bootlace was INSIDE my leg. The hard, plastic tip on the end of the lace must have been in a position that forced it through the skin, and it had worked its way to the bone, taking an inch or two of lacing with it. Several years and a few rails later, I still have a nice, bald indention on my leg.