22 September 2009

school of hard knocks.

Yesterday I ordered a helmet online.

Today I fell off my bike.

I should have known it was going to happen. I was feeling psychic all day, from the "I should put some ibuprofen in my bag" (didn't) in the morning when I left to when I was sailing down 12th Street thinking "I really wish I had my helmet for days when I had to take streets I was unfamiliar with." A couple minutes later, my tires got caught in a cluster eff-you-see-kay of vestigial trolley tracks, and down I went.

In front of a bus.

Which fortunately, was at a stop, but really, the view of a bus from fifteen feet away, on the pavement, is quite a sight to behold. I scrambled up as the twenty people at various points of the sidewalk asked if I was ok, absolutely mortified. It's an Old Dutch! I'm not supposed to fall off my Old Dutch! I was never going to fall off this bike!

Well I did, and thanks be to god, I was unharmed. I landed on my generously naturally padded hip and my reasonably brawny/squishy shoulder/upper arm, and managed not to hit my head. Not a scratch, not a road rash, and not even the beginnings of a bruise. I got up and walked away. Even the bike was ok.

I can't get over how lucky I was.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

which helmet did you order?

melanie said...

http://www.nutcasehelmets.com/HelmetDetail/streetPixieStix.aspx

spiderleggreen said...

it's nice to get your first fall out of the way, without injury.

Dottie said...

Happy to hear that you are okay! I know how you feel about the falling-of-a-Dutch-bike thing. I've fallen twice, both times while on my Dutch bike, never while speeding around on my other bike. I think falling from a Dutch bike results in less injury, though. Maybe.

Will said...

Hm, I remember you saying you didn't need a helmet last summer and me disagreeing...told you so!

melanie said...

For what it's worth Will, my cycling experience has completely changed from what it was last summer (particularly from when I owned a car). One lives and learns, adjusting with experience...