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Guard Rail 1 vs Jeni's face and bike 0
This happened Sunday morning. I have since put a new fork on, redid all my cabling on non dirve side, patched my saddle, and will be going out for a test ride tonight!
It was all great, weather was perfect, was having a great day on the bike, fast as ever, doing hills that a year ago would have put me into cardiac arrest. Eight of nine hills done and sailing down this beautiful downhill. Yeah! Only one more hill to go. I've done this descent before, no biggie. Sunglasses on, shade trees, and up comes one of those shiny pieces of pavement. It has holes in it. Next thing, my bike has become possessed and I'm riding a Tasmanian devil. Bucking and weaving, skidding, stuttering, I'm trying to wrestle this beast into the tame, gentle being she once was. I recovered quite amazingly only to find my bike headed straight for the guard rail. Hitting the gravel before the rail, induced more wild riding. How the hell do guys stay on bulls eight seconds, I couldn't manage one?
I danced closer and closer to the rail, my bike spun a great 180 degrees and I was now facing the hill I had just come down. Approximate speed was 20 plus. My bike started to lean over and I realized I was going to take the full blow with MY FACE! Ahhh! Wham, I went down and hard too! You know those "caught on tape" shows where they show speeding cars coming straight for the camera.Next thing you see is the sky, then the grass, then the sky again, as the camera comes to a stop. Yeah, I lived it first hand. I happens just like the movies, kids.
One group of five riders were decently spaced out on the descent. Geoff (guy that I ride with a lot) and Scott were far enough ahead to be clueless to the amazing show I had just performed so kept on trucking. The maker of this death march, Dave, was ahead of me but within ear shot to hear my sliding tires, gravel, and crash. He quickly turned around. One poor sole, Dan, was fortunate enough to watch the happenings'. He's one of those Lyn and Doug types - older & wiser, would rather get to the bottom in one piece a little slower versus balls out and bloody. Next thing I know, he's on top of me, squeezing my face together. Hmmm, guess I was cut. Hmmm, must be decent enough to be of concern that he would apply pressure to stop the bleeding.
Wiggled my fingers, shook out my legs, everything seemed fine. Well fine if you're used to having Sammy Sosa wind up and hit you with a baseball bat as hard as he could in the face. Okay, so it wasn't "that" bad. I wiggled my jaw around, ran my tongue over my teeth to see if they were all still there, yep everything normal. Well normal I guess is debatable, I had blood pouring out of my face.
First order of business, "how's my bike". It's NEVER good to hear "which half". "I think you're going to need a new fork" Oh, I was crushed. It was like someone had ripped out my heart. Geoff had put a new wheelset on my bike (one worth half of my bike's original price) over Labor Day. I had trashed my rear wheel and he had these "laying around". If I needed a new fork, I'm sure I had taco'd at least my front wheel. Brand new expensive wheels, now headed for Rumpke. Also realized that being a 2003 model, I wouldn't be able to have a matching fork. Boo Hoo, I started to cry. "Mustang Sally" was injured, broken, while I lay bleeding. My poor bike. Amazingly, my fork had a clean break all the way across. My wheel wasn't damaged, in fact it was still true. Yes! Did I tell you I was laying in a pile of ants?
Yes, those little ants, and they were biting me all over. I wasn't allowed to move yet, dammit. Dan cradled my head in his lap, while Dave flagged down the first car. Very rural road with little traffic. The driver was sent to catch Geoff and Scott and tell them "Jeni was down". For whatever reason, I didn't have my cell phone on me. I never leave without my cell phone. Geoff's number was in it. Had to call Geoff's dad (who I also ride with) to get ahold of them. Speaking to Geoff later, he said he knew something was terribly wrong before picking up the phone. Why would his father call on a ride, and what the heck was taking the three of us so long? They had waited at the bottom of the hill for awhile.
Back up the hill Goeff and Scott came. Surprised at the dozen or so cars that passed us with no regard to the fact some chick was laying on the side of the road and her bike was in two. I know none of us would EVER do that! Scott went on ahead to retrieve his car. We joked about duct taping my bike back together and making me finish the ride. We only had a few more miles and one last hill. My pride said sure as it was my ego that hurt the most on my body. Loaded bike into car and waited for Geoff to get back to Northgate. Went back to the bike shop and he cleaned me up. His parents convinced me to go to Urgent Care as we couldn't stop the bleeding, plus we're talking about my face!
I had one thing to do before going to Urgent Care. I had to go to Marianne's and leave my front wheel on her doorstep. See, she was being a good mother and had gone to her daughter's soccer game. I wanted her to pull up to the house and see my broken fork with wheel attached. She'd know it was mine. Who wouldn't know their friend's bike, even if it was just part of it. I slipped a piece of paper underneath the wheel that said ****! Geoff convinced me to put another one under there stating I was okay, as she might freak. Called her cell phone to tell her she had a package waiting for her. I would have done anything to see her face. Well, she surprised me be calling to say she had heard about my wreck and six stitches but MOST IMPORTANTLY How is your bike! Gotta love it, eh? She's a true friend. Cares about what I care about - the bike. I told her she'd have to wait and see. She asked if there would be a mangled frame on her porch.
Urgent Care was good. Very nice people. In and out quickly. We went back to the shop to rummage through parts. Found a Raleigh fork that is the same white as the white on my bike. It will do, although he want's to paint it like a candy cane! I had just put new bar tape on yesterday. Yes, it's less than 24 hours old, and now ruined. Jokingly asked if I could by it on 100 ft rolls. My front derailleur cabling is all screwed up. At least I went down on non drive side. My week old saddle is trashed also. I can't think of anything else at the moment.
All day long, new bruises emerged. Just an hour ago, I felt a knot on the right side of my butt, you can just start to see the bruise forming. This is different from the bruise on the left side of my butt, as he showed up almost immediately. There is a line across my chest ending at my collar bone that is bruised. It's reminiscent of a seat belt shoulder strap injury. I must have hit the guardrail with my face AND my chest. Road rash on my right calf, skinned knuckles, elbows, etc. I'm just starting to get a pain in my groin area. My back is sore and my neck is starting to stiffen up. Oh yeah, I forgot the six stitches and little ant bites. When retrieving my front fork from Marianne's she loaded me up with muscle relaxers and pain meds. I think I'll need them in the morning.
Jeni
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