9.30.2011

It was bound to happen some time...

If you're a cyclist, the saying goes it's not if you crash but when.  After several years of riding and racing, it was finally my turn.  But I was lucky - there were no other cyclist involved or cars.  I didn't flip over my handle bars or wreck my bike.  But I still did a good job.

It didn't take long.  I was riding at the Downtown Airport and just got on the road.  They have been repaving down there and they finally finished.  I was excited since it was brand-new pavement and smooth. 

It was windier than I expected.  Apparently, I didn't pay attention to the weather and it was the windiest day of the year so far.  John told me wind gust were 35 mph or more.  In retrospect, I won't argue.

The road construction was finished, but there were cones with Caution tape tied between them where the construction company had put down new shoulder gravel and grass seed.  I was about 3' from the edge of the road and down in my aero bars, going over 19 mph.  A strong gust of wind blew, which blew the Caution tape into the traffic lane.  It all happened so fast.

Top speed 22 mph and just over 19 mph at the end.  All in less than 1:30.
The tape caught my right front brake lever.  It caused my front end to jackknife and I went down.  But when you start at 19 mph, you don't just go down.  I kept moving forward, too.  I landed on my left side, mostly on my hip and slid at least 10' into the opposing side of the street.  I used my shoulder and elbow to stop myself and left a good portion of skin on the road.  I managed to keep my head up, so my very important noggin was just fine.

Two guys were fairly close when it happened.  The first rode on.  The second was a good Samaritan and stopped to check on me.  He had me drink water and calm down while he tended to my bike.  The caution tape was wrapped through my bars, around the pedal, and around the gearing about 10 times.  Luckily, Thelma was OK.  I need to replace the bar tape on the front, the seat is chewed up, the front brake needs to be adjusted, and she has some minor scrapes, but no real damage.  The Caution tape stopped her from sliding as far as I did.

John had class so I showed up at Kelly's house since I needed help cleaning my wounds.  The pain in my hips was pretty bad and getting worse.  It hurt to use the clutch.  It hurt to bend it.  After talking with Kelly and my personal doctor, MO, I decided it was probably a good idea to go to the ER and have it x-rayed just to make sure I didn't crack or fracture anything.

Nothing is broken and I got some good pain meds.  I'm sore and moving slow but otherwise just fine.  I was very lucky.  I'm not yet sure how this will impact my training, but I suppose that's not a big priority at the moment.  Now that it's a day later, I'm starting to get even more sore.  My rib cage, back, and neck are getting sore and it hurts to sit on my hip.  It looks like I'm sleeping in tomorrow morning.

2 comments:

Erica7135 said...

I was dying to know the story. wow. Glad you didn't get road tattooed on your face. Remember, pain meds work better when you start out doubling the dosage. :)

Kelly said...

Next time...have a sense of urgency, none of this "So...uh, I think I'm gonna swing by, say hi to the pup." Ridiculous.