A Painful Long Weekend.
Fauna, Flora July 1st, 2008
It’s Canada Day here in Canada! Is that redundant?
Anyway as long-time readers of my blog have come to understand, I need to be supervised on the weekends — especially on long weekends. Self-injury is one of my problems.
This weekend was no exception.
Instead of me taking it easy and enjoying all of the sights on our place:
I decided to dust off our bicycles and adjust the brakes. After I was finished adjusting my brakes, I took the bike out for a test ride. Everything checked out well going uphill. I turned around and started on my way home — downhill.
The skid mark is the only evidence of my accident.
Cruising downhill, wind blowing by me, the bike felt good. Back brake felt good, front brake felt pretty responsive to light pressure.
It was as I was testing the front brake that someone who doesn’t know any better ran in front of the bike. My reaction was to squeeze the already-squeezed front brake harder. The reaction of my newly adjusted bike was to stop the front wheel without question or hesitation.
I know that my lines weren’t great, but I think I might have pointed my toes as I did a somersault over the handlebars. Mediocre dance form that was.
I’m now the owner of a modest case of road rash. I don’t have Bandaids long or wide enough to cover the scrapes, so DentalInsider suggested that I use Maxipads to cover them. Good suggestion, but I’m not sure how to get them to stick on. This will be maybe yet another use of duct tape.
Moral of story? If you’re masochistically inclined, know that softened water on open wounds is the same as salt water on open wounds.
July 1st, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Ouch. I hope you’re feeling better, but you’re probably at the point where all the bruising and aches and pains are at their most annoying. Looking at the bright side, at least you didn’t break anything.
As for the my mental image of you covered in maxipads — Thanks. (Didn’t you post something recently about buying feminine hygiene products for your wife? Or am I hallucinating that?)
Happy Canada Day from south of the border!
haleyhughes’s last blog post..Looking for hidden meanings
July 1st, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Ouch! Hope you feel better soon.
Ith’s last blog post..A Day
July 1st, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Yeah, take it easy there. Happy Canuck Day!
I’m going to celebrate Canada Day during 4th of July with my Canadian friends, while enjoying American Independence Day’s BBQ. How’s that for being all over the place.
Rudy’s last blog post..Lunch Bits – Edition 18
July 1st, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Hahahahah Sorry, it’s rude to laugh but I can just picture it happening. I do hope you’re ok. I’m sure you can get some non-stick pads to stick over it then just use the stretchy bandage stuff to hold it on? Its what I had to do when I had the cellulitis stuff on my leg.
Incidently, one of the words on the security thing is ‘leg’
fragileheart’s last blog post..Happy Canada Day
July 1st, 2008 at 11:17 pm
But did you scream as you made your graceful landing?
Sorry about the fall but I agree..the image an injured biker covered in maxipads is pretty funny!
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:18 am
hope you’ve recovered from your eventfull weekend! i hope you’ve learned your lesson and next time, just do what The Girl does: have a beer in your pool!!
Laney’s last blog post..Update
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:26 am
I am so sorry you did that. I loaned a lady my bike because she begged to use it. It only had front brakes. I use to ride it all the time but I knew how to brake with it. I told her to pump the brakes lightly because she would go over the handle bars. She broke her little finger badly and was in therapy for it for the next year be cuase she didn’t listen to me. You ARE lucky you didn’t hurt more than you did.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:20 am
The guy who ran in front of you must have had quite a shock. Well, at least that injury would put you somewhere safe for the rest of the weekend. =)
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 am
Ed: It was a dog. I think he felt badly after, not sure though.
Alexa: If you and she were friends before I hope that you still are. I know that I’m very lucky that I didn’t break anything — especially my head.
Laney: I was going to have a beer in the pool after fixing the bikes. After the accident, though, I didn’t feel like dripping blood into the pool.
Teresa: Surprisingly enough the only noise that was made was the thump of me hitting the ground and then the bike hitting afterwards…Everything is a bit of a memory blur, but I remember looking around after to see if anyone was looking. That would have been even more embarrasing.
fragile: I had to wear a lab coat at work so that my scabs wouldn’t scare people off too much. Had to leave the bandages off for a bit so that the wounds could “breath”. Feeling better today though.
Rudy: Hope you have a great double celebration!
Ith: Thanks!
haley: Thanks also! Yeah, the story you remember is my trip to Costco to pick that stuff up and the adventure that ensued. Good memory!
July 8th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
lol Yeah I saw that on twitter and I tried replying but inevitably twitter crashed on me.
fragileheart’s last blog post..Short & Sweet
July 9th, 2008 at 10:04 am
So you’re the one that keeps crashing Twitter?
July 28th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Ouch! What *is* the proper way to brake a bicycle? I seem to be braking all the time! (I recently bought one, so I could use the lesson.)
July 28th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Hi Sheila. You can brake any way you want as long as you realize that if you pull the front brakes first and too quickly, there will be a strong tendency for you to flip over the handlebars. Back brakes first are a good idea.
Congrats on finishing up your first year BTW.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Uhm… no it’s not me. It’s Rudy
(fragileheart’s last blog post: Always look on the bright side of life)