misadventures in bike land

So I'm back from my adventures in CA. I'm not at work today. Something about being in a bicycle crash on Saturday. Here's what went down:

We were doing a winery tour via bike. And before you say it, no I didn't crash from too much wine. Going downhill very fast. Sharp turn in road. Little bit of dirt on the pavement. Front tire strikes it just right. Front tire stops, back tire (and back half of the bike) spin around. des flies over the handlebars, breaking her fall with her forehead and her shoulder.* Forehead protected by mandatory helmet, shoulder not so lucky.

I open my eyes and am already in the arms of the guy behind me, whose name is Eric. He asks if I'm ok (but showing genuine concern - not in that "dude you just ate it!" way). I can't breathe at all, so I manage a gurgling throat noise. I continue not being able to breathe, which is starting to frighten me more than a little bit. During this time, I see Craig running back.** He was just ahead of me, and had looked back in time to see me wobble but not fall, so when he heard Eric yell, he knew why. I still can't breathe. They always say to just relax when the wind gets knocked out of you, but when you can't breathe for about a minute, not only does that minute last 10 hours, but it's impossible to relax.

By now the group leader was there (he was just in front of Craig) and the rest of the group is showing up. I'm glad no cars came because the 20+ bikes were causing massive congestion on the tiny road. There was some initial scare upon seeing my blood-red hair showing under my helmet, but once they got the helmet off there was much relief. I repeat: thank God for that helmet. I didn't even break my awesome sunglasses, which was sadly my second concern (once I regained the ability to breathe). I did have a bit of a headache and a red line where the helmet had been smashed into my head, but my head was actually fine. Later that day whilst re-applying makeup, I discovered either one very large or 2 sorta large bruises along my jawline, which must have come from the helmet's buckle.

Once it was established that I was neither dead nor about to die, the group continued on. Craig and I got to ride in the "backup" van, and luckily I had fallen just before the end of the last leg of the tour. The only bike riding I missed out on was from where I was back to where we ate lunch, which took them less time to ride than it did us to drive. Once there, all my other newfound friends that had not been in our group saw me and I had to repeat the story many times. The other group leader, who was in the back of the group, was named Teva and I think I love her a little bit. She brought me some fresh lavender while everyone else was fussing about first aid.

Throughout the day, I kept discovering more battle scars. My arm was completely road-rashed, and my ribcage hurt more than a little bit. Somehow I did something to my shin/ankle and had several nice fat bruises along there. There were cuts on my leg, a giant nasty bruise on my thigh, the chin bruises, and a nasty cut on my finger. Besides the general stiffness and soreness.

By dinner word had spread, and most people were surprised to see me at all. But I was hungry and I didn't want to hang out in the hotel room by myself. The next day was plane-day, and it's not fun to spend 6 hours on a plane with all these maladies. My ribcage did stop hurting, for the most part, so that was a relief. However, the shoulder did not stop hurting and that is why today is a doctor day instead of a workday.

The trip was fun right up until that part where I couldn't breathe. But now I am still in tremendous pain and have very limited motion in my right arm & shoulder.

Here's a before & after:























* I know this only because the guy behind me saw it and was able to describe it in great detail. I have no memory of any of this.


** It's strangely reassuring to see the love of your life throw down his bike and run faster than anything back to you, with the most worried / scared look I've ever seen (which he now denies).