Tuesday, November 8, 2016

2016/11/08 - Crash and Burn

I fell again yesterday during my ride.

A few days ago I discovered a new thin single track trail close to my house. It’s a short course, only about two miles, but a nice addition to the beginning or end of my daily ride.

Yesterday I discovered a variation to my new trail, and with delight, I cruised down it. Near the bottom, there were these two old gray short 2X4’s, with a half inch between them, spanning a two foot wide, but very deep crack in the trail.

Normally I would have stopped and walked across, but it was so short and I just went for it. I did it, and for about a tenth of a second I was joyous, but immediately afterwards my front wheel fell into a deep hole obscured by weeds, and I went flying over the handlebars.

As I lay on the ground taking inventory, once again I said to myself “I’m getting too old to be falling like this”.

Upon impact with mother earth, I could feel my entire skeleton crunching together. I could feel old familiar joint pains. I wiggled around a little to see if anything was broken, and then got up to survey the damage to my bike and my skin.

It’s funny, the first thought that came to my mind once I realized I was OK was “Good thing I didn’t hurt my back before my new bike arrived. I would be torture if I couldn’t ride it”.

I felt a little soreness on my right side and I couldn’t bend my left thumb without pain, but other than a few small cuts, I felt OK and rode another 10 miles.

I must have bruised a kidney or something internal, because there was blood in my urine the next three times I peed. That scared me, but I’ve been “running clear” all day so far, so I guess I’m OK.

I’ll keep you posted.

Later,
Steve

PS: I just got a call from University Bikes saying my new ride is ready!

No comments: