I’m one hurting puppy
In order to make up for the pear tart I ate yesterday (which, by the way, was FANTASTIC), I decided I would put in seventy-five miles on the bike this morning. As a Christmas present, I received a pair of thermal biking pants, and as the weather was less than pleasant, I thought I would kill two birds with one stone - exercise my indulgent body and break in my new biking pants.
Everything went according to plan, except for one tiny little hitch. I was traveling north on a stretch of road that borders the bay. The cross-winds from the ocean were FIERCE! I was being blown back and forth across the road. It was all I could do to keep traveling in a straight line. Despite all this, I was clocking along at about 14 to 16 miles per hour. As I passed a clump of bushes, a flock of birds (that either I or some other creature had disturbed) burst out of their shelter and winged along in front of me. Needless to say, it startled the crap out of me. Instinctively, I swerved, just as a violent gust of wind blew in from the bay. My front tire went off the road and into the soft shoulder. I probably would have regained my balance and been okay, but for some stupid reason, instead of stablizing the bike and then getting back on the hardtop, I turned the wheel to the left and…well, you can guess what happened. I went ass over teacup. I landed pretty heavily on my left wrist. The momentum was enough to tumble me over hard enough to crack my head against the madcam. I skidded along the ground for about four feet or so before coming to rest on my back with my bicycle atop me. Luckily, my helmet saved my gourd and long sleeves and pants saved most of my skin. I did tear my brand-new pants and suffered a rather large abrasion on my left knee, but considering what could have been, I got off easy.
After a few minutes, I dusted myself off, assessed the damage to my bike (some scratches - nothing major), re-adjusted the chain that had slipped off the sprockets, and pedaled home. I didn’t get my 75 miles, but did manage to put in 60 miles. I suppose that counts for something. I’ve taken some Motrin, iced the injured wrist down, and plan on doing NOTHING for the next two days. To do anything else is to thumb my nose at the Fates and that is NEVER a good idea. They let me off easy this time. Next time, they may not be so forgiving.
December 26, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Ouch, one for the books. I have had days like these, and why are they ALWAYS when you get new gear!? haha