I tried to take a quick mountain bike ride at Banner Forest with a friend today at lunch. Three hours later, I was bleeding, he had what we thought was a broken shoulder and the afternoon was shot (as far as work goes at least).

I was the first of us to biff hard when I lost my grip on a steep descent over a log and fell over my handlebars hitting the trail shoulder first.

But my buddy, on the other hand, had a much more epic wipeout. Not only did he fly over his handlebars at high speed, but he skipped off the dirt road into a ditch under a shrub. As the dust flew insult was added to injury when his bike careened into him.

For a few minutes the pain was so bad he had to sit down to fight off nausea. He was able to ride the dirt road back to the car. We stopped for ice and I took him to the doc for an X-ray.

He called a few minutes to say his no bones are broken. This is good news for both of us. For him for obvious reasons and for me because I can now start making fun of him.

Two history-making former University of Puget Sound rowers will soon set out on their newest adventure.

Two years after becoming the first Americans to row across the North Atlantic, Jordan Hanssen and Greg Spooner plan to row around the Olympic Peninsula.

The men will leave from Gig Harbor on Aug. 4 and row counterclockwise around the peninsula. The Adventure is expected to last two-three weeks.

There route will take them through Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Pacific Ocean. They then plan to return to the sound via Grays Harbor and inland rivers.

"Sections of the river will test the rowers' route finding abilities, but dazzle them as they encouter jungle-like waterways, lush wetlands, over 40 bird species and rare indigenous wildlife," said a statement released by the men on Monday night.

The trip is a training row for their 2011 expedition when they plan to row 7,000 miles from New York to Nome, Alaska.