Posts Tagged ‘crashing’

Got into a very nasty crash on the ride home from a group ride Tuesday night. The ride had ended and I was making my way back to where I had left my car and decided to take a scenic route down one of the main streets in the city. For those of you familiar with Houston I was coming down Main street and crossed over the ever so lovely light rail tracks at the Main St./Richmond intersection. Unfortunately for me the tracks were placed at an angle and I was moving pretty good (20-25mph).

I cleared the first set and began to cross the second when my front wheel washed out and grabbed into gap between the tracks and the road. I went down like a sack of rocks and distinctly remember hearing a very distinct clattering sound as my helmet bounced off the road a few times while feeling my skin get peeled away as momentum carried me across the pavement. As I lay there in the street staring up at the sky, trying to unclip my feet I hear “HEY ARE YOU OK?” A very nice lady in scrubs gout of her car and came over to get me out of the street. She helped me up and checked on me to make sure I hadn’t gotten a concussion or broken anything. After a brief examination she asked me if I needed anything and I said I’d be fine. After putting the chain back on my bike and readjusting my brakes I made my way back to my car and in the immortal words of Walter Sobchak I was “entering a world of pain”. My legs were throbbing and my hip and ribs ached. Battered and bruised the adrenaline was wearing off.

Three days later I am fine other than some big scabs and bruised. I even knocked out a 40 mile ride yesterday. The lesson in this? WEAR YOUR HELMET. My Bell Furio was badly damaged and if I hadn’t been wearing one I would probably be in the hospital or worse.