FAQ

What's the deal with the blue thing?It was a pretty uneventful ride until the very end when I achieved an important annual milestone. An important milestone but a negative one.

About once every year I fall off my bike. Today I fell off my bike.

It was actually quite similar to last year's fall off. I was riding in an area which I am pretty familiar with and was paying attention to the wrong things. What I wasn't paying attention to was what was right in front of me. I rode there a couple of days ago and there wasn't any road repair sign on the edge of the pavement anchored by sandbags. Today there was. I hit it.

Once is an accident. Twice is a bad habit. Look where you are going dummy.

But I learned plenty from last year's fall. Last year I grabbed for the cross bar that I ran into, hoping to hold on and to save myself. With no hands on the bars the front wheel jerked abruptly to one side and I went down violently. I ended up with a very deep abrasion of the knee and scrapes on elbow and upper arm. This time I saw the sign too late but I reacted differently and kept my hands on the bars. I rode the bike down. I rolled with it and distinctly felt each impact as I hit on my hip, then my shoulder, and then ever so gently, on the side of my helmeted head. Last year I scrambled up. This year I went ahead and laid there for awhile, accessing my condition and composing myself.

Last year was August and I was dressed in shorts and short sleeves. This year I was fully layered up, tights, long sleeve jersey, jacket. More layers equals more protection as I soon discovered when I got up and started to examine myself and the bike. Riding the bike down is definitely the way to go. I didn't even abrade any of my clothes. The bike did not escape unscathed but suffered only a bit. The right lever impacted the sign and has a scratch and a tiny chip in the carbon. The left lever has a very small scratch. The left rear QR has a bit of a scratch. The human took the rest of the impact. The only big deal was that the impact on my hip apparently applied a strong sideways torque and the seat was twisted badly to the side.

On the first or second ride of the year I thought I felt a bit of a wiggle in the seat but upon testing found it firmly attached. Well, maybe not quite as firmly as I thought. Fortunately I carry a multi-tool with me and the seat was quite easily readjusted. The brakes were fine, the wheels were fine, the pedals were fine.

I rode home, about 4 miles, and along the way found out that the shifting was fine.

I got home, undressed slowly, examining the points of impact. Again, clothes fine, no wounds, no visible bruises.

So I am typing, my left little finger (impact side) hurts a little. My hip hurts a little. But I think I got through the fall without any injury. Knock on wood.

Not looking where you are going and running into something while riding a bicycle? Once is an accident, twice is a bad habit.