(long) Happy yet drenched, battered and bruised!

[Catrin]

This morning was my very first organized ride - I chose the 26 mile option (for locals this was the Brownsburg Trails fundraiser). I took my LHT with me and had no idea what to expect as how this whole "organized" thing works. I almost always ride by myself and the largest number of people I have ridden around before has been two friends.

Ok, so we got started - saw a friend from spinning class so he said that he would ride with me for a little ways until I got over being nervous. I was surprised to be a little nervous about riding around all of those people but that passed pretty quickly. As he said would happen, everyone stretched out. The rain began 3 miles into the ride... no fireworks, just a light soaking rain. It was refreshing and cooling...then came the first (and only) SAG stop on my chosen route.

Instead of stopping on the road and walking it, I decided to ride into the gravel drive and stop there. I have no idea what happened next - perhaps a combination of wet gravel and wet brakes, but I did not stop as intended... somehow I wound on the ground with my thumb stuck behind my trigger shifter (and it took some help to get it out). That was when we realized that my leg had somehow gotten stuck through/underneath the frame This is a small frame and it took several people to extricate me without hurting my leg further....

My leg was, and is, a very "pretty" sight, and will no doubt be quite colorful for a few days at least. Cuts/punctures/scrapes and so forth on the front of my leg - but nothing more. My LHT HAD 2 bottle cages this morning, it now has one, my leg bent one of them totally out of shape. Better the cage than the leg I say! Thankfully I did get a tetnus shot earlier in this decade...

They had a first-aid kit so cleaned/bandaged the leg. Got a banana and peanut butter, put the chain back on the crank and removed/disposed the bottle cage. Then I went on to complete the ride

I am very glad that I finished it, though someone did offer me a SAG ride back to my car. The rain stopped soon after and while the humidity rose the temps didn't, a nice breeze came and the second half of the ride was beautiful.

At the end I was starting to run out of energy, starving and thirsty. I was too nervous to drink from my 'bac around everyone, though I did manage to do that a few times while riding

All in all I am very happy with how things went, even if there was an unplanned adventure!

[ny biker]

Congrats!! I hope your war wounds heal quickly.

[Maxxxie]

Good on you for getting back on your steed! Lesser people (like me) would've given it up as a bad job and gone home. Well done! I'm sure your next organised ride won't be quite as exciting

Max

[bmccasland]

Wow! What a way to slide into the rest stop! Did the Russian Judge give you a 10?
Hope you get to feeling better soon. And I'm with Maxxxie, I might have SAG'd it the rest of the way, but to untangle yourself then continue the ride, impressive!

[Owlie]

Good for you! I might have packed it in and gone home. Hopefully that heals quickly!

[lph]

Hey-hey! You'll have hero scars! Way cool

[Catrin]

Hey-hey! You'll have hero scars! Way cool

At least I have a story for them How many people have chain scars on the FRONT of their leg?

[ny biker]

Wow! What a way to slide into the rest stop! Did the Russian Judge give you a 10?

It's like I always say, if you're gonna need help, you might as well need it right in front of the place where the helpers are hanging out.

[sgtiger]

Catrin - Kudos for finishing your first organized ride, especially after a fall like that! I'm way impressed that you stuck it out till the end.

[Catrin]

It's like I always say, if you're gonna need help, you might as well need it right in front of the place where the helpers are hanging out.

I certainly had plenty of help - and they all moved away too quickly for me to thank them once I had a chance to gather myself. I really was concerned about my leg at the time and still am amazed how I wound up getting my leg so caught up in my bike frame - especially since it is such a small bike. I am really thankful for all of the help.

No bruising yet (though it is early yet) - and the Russian judges gave me a high-five after giving me a perfect score for the exciting finish

[salsabike]

Gravel! $*()$&W%)&. I wiped out on it this spring test-riding new bikes. I did everything wrong--turned into a gravel path going quickly and leaning a lot. It's not very cooperative stuff, is it?

Good for you for going ahead and finishing!

[OakLeaf]

Yikes. I crashed hard on gravel a couple of years ago and still have a dent in my hip.

Glad you had fun anyway. Heal up quick!

[Crankin]

You are tough!

[twin]

Wow what a ride and one you will remember. Have many more happy andfun rides. I noticed your on the Surly forum. Good choice of bike!

[Psycler]

Way to go, getting back on your bike and finishing. That's a real trooper.