Road Rash

I was flying down a hill on my bicycle (about 18-19 mph). I saw the overflowing creek ahead… running water flowing over the road. Did that stop me? “Nah,” I said, “I’m invincible.”

I plowed through and immediately felt my back tire start slipping. I use clipless pedals (so my shoes are literally attached directly to the bicycle… locked in unless you make a fancy movement with your foot.)

I tried to compensate by shifting my weight, but I over-compensated… so then I tried to under-compensate and by that time it was too late to get out of the clips.

There really is nothing you can do.

SLAM. I hit the hard road with my left shoulder (which, is now disgustingly bruised and very difficult to move) and my hip. Luckily I was wearing my long sleeve jersey, so I didn’t get more road rash than what you see here. As it was, I was drenched, battered and bruised.

To make matters worse: in some window of some farmhouse, I began to hear sarcastic applause followed by a, “Nice one!”

Any other day I would have been pissed. But today it was funny… it was just too pretty outside to let anything get to me. So I called out a thank you, clipped back in, and rode on.

Incidentally, how can you tell if a joint is dislocated?