About a decade or so back I was exploring the local river in late summer and discovered the remains of an old logging road that let me get a few miles upriver a whole lot faster than hiking the riverbed. I'd load up my bike, drive out to the river access and then ride up the log road to a nice swimming hole that was a bit too remote to see many visitors, almost always had the place to myself. The logging road was in real state of disrepair at the time with loose rocks and fallen trees at every turn, so I always rode slow and enjoyed the amazing scenery. I hardly paid attention to the giant sinkhole about halfway through the ride, just casually went around it. Well about the third time I went out there I got caught by a freak rainstorm I was sitting on the river beach, had just cracked open a beer when dark wet clouds came spilling over the ridge. Within minutes I was getting soaked, so I packed up my things and started riding back. The rain kept pouring down and I started riding fast back up the trail. Water was all over my glasses, limiting my visibility but I'd been riding trail for years and had no problem going at high speed. At the rate I wss going I would be back at the car in 15 to 20 minutes, normally it was about a 40 minute ride. So I come barreling around a corner at full tilt and notice the damn sinkhole right in front of me. This thing was large enough to swallow me and the bike if I went in. I was going to fast to brake and for a second I thought I was about to die alone in the woods by my own stupidity, but at the last second I decided to something I'd never done before or since, and I'm still not sure how I pulled it off. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug. At the last second I jumped off the bike, up and over the handle bars and across the sinkhole, hitting the earth on the other side with my feet and shins dangling over the hole. The front tire of the bike struck a protruding rock a foot down the hole and amazingly bounced out, back on the trail. Gravel was stuck in my arms and legs and my glasses came to rest on the ground in front of me. As I wiped the blood off in the rain I cried for a minute there, out of pure shock at how fucking dumb that was and how I amazingly avoided death or serious injury at the last moment out of pure instinct.