The Spill.

I crashed my bike in the park. So I was just riding home from an afternoon in town with friends. I rode home alone in the rain. Some strollers were consuming the entire path, so as I approached, I yelled “on your left.” I’m glad I did that considering what happened next... I said it again, but getting no response from the pedestrians, I figured that taking a small detour on the grass was my best bet. I swerved over to the grass, peddled twice, and then it happened. On my way back up to the pathway, my tire slipped and my body propelled forward over the handlebars. I skid on the pavement and it turns out my bike did a little flip of its own too! Shocked, and slightly embarrassed, I laid splat on the ground and thought about whether or not I was okay. Then I jumped up, shouted “I’m fine!” and went to get on my bike.

Well, the pedestrians (Woman age:74 and son-in-law: mid thirties) ran up to me and refused to let me on my bike. The grandma thought I was in shock and told me to keep my head up and not to move. The man was checking to see if my pupils were dilated and checked my heart rate. I was like, “I promise I am FINE!” and went to get on my bike. Well, when I picked it up, the wheel was all turned around, the chain was off the gears and metal was stuck in places I didn’t even know were possible. Turns out the brakes were messed up and I bent the frame a wee bit too. Humbled by the sight of my wrecked bike, I stopped trying to hide my bloody knee, bent helmet, and ripped rain coat (the biggest loss) and accepted the help.

After about 10 minutes of trying to fix up the chain, by friends Megan and Jessica just happened to be riding through the park. “Red bike, green helmet. Which one of us is it?” they thought. So after more fiddling and no results, the girls convinced me to walk the bike to the shop right then and there. It was 4:35 at the time and Gladstone bicycles closes at 5pm on Fridays for the entire weekend. So we thanked the pedestrians (even though they were the initial cause of the screeching halt) and were on our way. BIG thanks to Megan and Jess for coming with! When I got to the bike shop, I was in pretty bad shape. The manager took one look at me and was like “what happened?” I told him that I took a spill in Queens park about a half an hour prior, and that I needed some help with my bike. He whisked away my bike and had his pal bring out a first aid kit so that Megan could dress my wound. Not 10 minutes later, I had bandaids all over and a bike in tip-top shape. I give Gladstone Cycles a 10 out of 10!

Now, about three days after the crash, my knee is still throbbing. It hurts to tramp, ride my bike, walk, sit, and stand up from sitting. I had Sue (Mags’ daughter who is a vet) take a look, and she declared it infected. So we had another big to do and I now have directions for how to care for it on my upcoming 3 day tramp. Wish me luck!

(I DO have pictures, just no time to upload them...)