I went for a short ride last night after a long trip. My spouse and I were slowly riding through our old home town neighborhood. I am so lucky I was going so slow. During the ride the rear derailleur caught the spokes and stopped me dead, with my rear wheel skidding out. I was going slow enough that I didn't fall but caught myself. My spouse managed to free the derailleur from the spokes and bend it into more or less the correct position. Likely my rear derailleur got bent when I had stashed my bike in my car and I did not notice it. Or, it happened when my niece dropped my bike earlier in the day when she did not properly set it on the kickstand. I try to be careful, but . . .

Now I know to do a safety check before riding after my bike has had any incidents.

Now I don't know whether everything is OK. It seems to shift fine. Should I be checking the spokes too? The wheel turns OK.