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.
