Thursday, December 4, 2008

My Poor Bike...

So today I woke up and thought to myself, I should not work out today. I didn't sleep well last night and didn't fall asleep until after 1 am. (I think it may have been the coffee I had around dinner time, now that I think about it.) So I stayed in bed until we got the girls up and got them ready and fed them breakfast. .. I was still in my pjs when the girls and Mr. Darcy left. But then I felt guilty because I may not get to work out the next few days while I'm in Arkansas. So, I decided to go for a bike ride because it was cool but not all that cool.

While I was riding, it seemed like something was a little off. Either me or the bike, I wasn't sure. And a few minutes before the incident, I almost just biked home. But, I still didn't listen to my gut and kept going. A white cadillac pulled out in front of me rather quickly so I slowed down some and when the car pulled to the stop sign and stopped I was far enough away that all was well. The car started to turn and then for some unknown reason slammed on its brakes... at which point I had to slam on my brakes. For yet another unknown reason, I braked with my left hand instead of my right like I normally do. (The left brake controls the front wheel, the right brake the back wheel.) This caused the front wheel to completely stop and throw me over the top of the bike on to the road (thank goodness for my padded biking gloves and my guardian angel) and the bike to then come over top of me and land on me. Again, my shoes unclipped from the bike pedals (thank the Lord because it could have been very ugly if they hadn't) during the crash. Other than a nasty cut on my left elbow (which again could have been worse if I hadn't been wearing a thick long sleeve fleece), I just have one or two minor scratches (no blood even) on my legs and had a lot of bike grease all over me. A very nice man stopped his car and asked if I was ok and looked rather concerned. I thanked him and told him that I was ok (which amazingly I am). The car that caused the problem however just kept on going and didn't even notice that I was laid out on the road. (All I will say about that is... I believe in karma.)

My bike, however, is not as happy. The chain is no longer on the gears, my handle bar extenders (since I can't get the aerobars because of my hybrid bike's handlebar structure, I got these) are scratched up, there are a couple other scratches on the bike, and the brake lines were all tangled up (but have since been untangled). Luckily I was only about 1.75 - 2 miles from home because at first I had to carry the bike because I was slowly working on the brake lines (I couldn't wheel the bike at this point). But after about 1/3 of a mile, I put the bike down twice and they untangled enough that if I had the front wheel backwards I could wheel the bike. And then I noticed that I could probably move one of the lines and it would fix the issue (as I was walking) and tada! the front wheel could now face forward and be wheeled instead of carried.

Bike shoes are not meant for walking long distances... so the walk home was a little interesting. Doable but interesting because bike shoes lean you back a little so your weight while walking is on your heels and mine also angle the ball of the foot area so that you have maximum impact on the wheel and are the most efficient while biking. This is not the same as efficient while walking, but when I ran the last little bit of the way home the running wasn't so bad. The irony was that on my walk home, I remembered that when I got hurt skiing a few years ago (I pulled my IT band and was airlifted from the mountain because they thought I broke my femur... my only helicopter ride so far and I didn't get to see a thing!) I had thought to myself that morning, I should take the day off from skiing and guilted myself into going because it was toward the end of our trip and we had paid a decent amount for the ski lift passes. So, I have duly noted that I need to listen to my gut instincts on these things !

I am hoping that my darling hubby will be able to take my bike to Orange Cycle tomorrow on his lunch hour or on the way home from work... it's not far from his work and that way they can fix up my bike in time for me to use it when I return from my visit to the Central Time Zone. But, we shall see! I will write more when I return from Arkansas!!

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