The story, as it goes, is that I was rather klutzy as a child.
I don't remember it as such, but, I've been told.
Actually, I've been told that my mother first noticed this.
She remarked to someone after one of my falls, that had I been born a Mountain Goat, I would not have survived my first year.
She was certain that I would have fallen off some cliff or mountain side and would have never made goat -- er, I mean HUMAN middle-age.
Well, some things never change.
Since moving up to bike clips this year, I've fallen about 5 or 6 times. I've broken 3 mirrors. I've had bruised hips, hands full of road rash and a very beaten up ego.
Why ego, you ask?
With the exception of the crash that happened a few weeks ago, when I was riding over the Mendota Bridge and a kid, going the opposite way, crossed over the middle line and clipped my handle bars causing us both to fly off our bikes, every single fall has happened when I was either coming to a stop, or STOPPED.
Yes, stopped.
I'll clip out of my right pedal with no problems, glide to a stop and then WHAM! Fall over on my left side when unable, for whatever reason, to not be able to get my foot out of the saddle.
Fortunately, I have not done this in traffic.
Fortunately, I have not done this in traffic.
Unfortunately, I have done this in front of other bikers, small children and many, many friends.
I fell last week, broke the mirror and scrapped my knee. Also had a wicked tender spot on the inside of my upper thigh on the left side, where the saddle landed -- hard-- in to my leg.
Today, my wonderful friends Marcia, Gary, Kathy T, Cheryl and Julie all joined me for my last "long" ride before Pigman.
We rode together for about 2 hours and then the team was going to head on back to their cars and I was going to go do one last little burst-of-speed blast.
I pulled off the trail to say goodbye, clipped out of the right side, stopped, and WHAM. Fell over to the LEFT, re-scraping my poor scabbed up knee, and re-hitting that tender spot on my thigh.
The mirror did not break.
Note to self: Find someone or figure out the way to loosen up the clip on my left bike shoe.
Bigger note to self: Mom was right.
5 comments:
LMAO. I thought that I was the only one who unclipped the right and fell left. I figured it out anf it happens 50% of the time.
Damn that sucks! I did this recently twice in a row myself. What do we need to do?
Ouch! It's hard to stay ahead of the falling. Take care of yourself, lady!
Your mom and mine had something in common!
And I am not even going to try those bike clips because I can fall off my bike, standing still, just fine without them.
Sending healing wishes for that nasty bruise.
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