You may have read in my last post, but I wanted to share... I succeeded getting into my first city bike accident this past Tuesday! Golf clap. Every one in Chicago says "It´s bound to happen sooner or later!" I was on my way to work and I had left an hour early (for a 30 minute bike ride) so I could leisurely ride, not feel rushed, and enjoy the weather we were having. Well, 30 minutes in, I had to take a detour because Halsted is under construction. The road it took me on was definitely not meant for bikes. I hit a pothole and flew forward with my chin in the ground. Hooray!
There were two other guys walking down the street who saw me fall and didn´t do anything but ask me if I was ok from the sidewalk. I, of course as classy as I am, cursed bloody hell at them. Luckily, just a minute behind me, two men in a white van (haha I know, it sounds horrible) drove up next to me, asked to see my chin, and told me I need to go to the hospital. They helped me (and my bike!) to St. Mary´s Hospital. They were on their shift at work and were doing service calls while I was in the van. I´m so grateful they arrived shortly after I fell.
I made it out of the hospital 3 hours later with 8 stitches in my chin, another gash above it that wasn´t able to be stitched, 7 stitches in my left knee, slightly road rashed but definitely bruised chest, and cuts on my hands. I came home to a great friend with a get well card + jamba juice and a good hearted guy that gave me as many hugs as I asked for. Wednesday, my parents came to see my place for the first time with bandaids and food, then one of my best friends & her sweet friend surprised me with a visit (she was in from Colorado for 2 days!). All that on top of every one else texting me was extremely helpful in getting over my ego-kill and put a huge smile on my face. I´m just glad every thing is in place and that I, still to this day, have never broken one single bone in my body.
I´m definitely not going to let that fall stop me from riding. I laughed to myself yesterday after thinking about how I´ve been pretty lucky since I´ve been a child because I haven´t gotten myself in the hospital since before I was even a pre-teen. The only ¨accidents¨ I´ve been in for the past 13 years were two skateboarding incidents: one time I lost balance and rolled down a hill into gravel, and the other time I slammed my big toe so hard I couldn´t walk for a few days without screaming when I put my foot down. Alas... I have to wait 2 weeks until I can get the stitches out of my knee so I can ride again. That is, if I didn´t mess up my bike!
Lets share bike accident stories! Though I do hope you don´t have any...
but if you do, I want to read about it!
Oh, poor you! I have no such stories thankfully. I hope this is your one and only accident. x
ReplyDeleteOh sad!! I totally have a bike accident story. When I was 6, I had just learned to ride a bike. Unfortunately my dad forgot to teach me how to use the pedal backwards breaks. I was going down a hill and my sister stopped in front of me, and I hit into the back of her. Went flying over her bike and crashed into the concrete with my chin. I had to get like 15 stiches, split my chin completely open! haha. I now have a lovely butt chin scar. lol. I hope you heal welL!<3
ReplyDeleteO my! My bike accident was not a bad luckily, I was riding my bike in my old neighborhood last summer and a friendly dog came up and look like he wanted to play and another dog came up on the other side and the second dog is notorious for running in front of cars on the road. I was keeping an eye on dog number 2 when the first dog (like I said usually friendly) scratched my leg, but his claw got stuck in my leg. I had to stop free his claw from my leg the pedal back home with a hole in my calf and blood pouring out. Luckily I did not need stitches and I knew the dogs owner so I was able to check on the dogs was up on his shots.
ReplyDeleteI'm always afraid of riding my street bike home after a few beers! ..Always thinking I'll face plant after hitting a pot hole.
ReplyDeleteMatt and I went trail riding last weekend (I just bought a mountain bike, yay), and after hitting a root on a steep uphill path, I flew off my bike, flipped over and my back hit the ground, then my bike landed on me. The handle bar of my bike hit me square in the crotch. ow! It knocked the wind out of me, I started crying, and was covered in dirt since I was just riding in a sports bra and pants. Thankfully no scratches but I have a nice bruise. Ten minutes later I ran into a tree! Looking forward to more riding though. :)
Glad you're alright! Looks painful!