since this seems to be CRASH day!

[emily_in_nc]

speaking of mirrors? Does anyone have suggestions if they like the handlebar or helment mirror better? I've got to get better at seeing behind me somehow and my bike goes where my head does.

I tried a helmet mounted mirror, and it jiggled too much, easily got knocked out of place, and the stickum (which was supposed to last FOREVER) simply didn't. I polled a few folks in my bike club, and all recommended the "Take-a-Look" glasses mounted mirror. I got one and absolutely love it. I believe they're still available right here on Team E! It never moves around and provides a large field of vision. My husband could never get used to it visually, but then, he can look behind himself very nicely without swerving or veering into the road at all. I can't always do that. I am usually the first to see someone coming up behind us, though, because he doesn't look back nearly as often as I do with the mirror. I think it's a wonderful safety device!

Emily

[Grog]

I crashed too!

In no way as spectacular as some of your crashes I have read about here, but a little frightening nonetheless.

On Montreal's Women's Championship course (on road) this morning at 7:30 I was just finishing my warmup and going down at pretty good speed from one side of the hill (Mont-Royal) and preparing to turn right to ride up on the other side. When I entered the curb, already slightly bending toward the inside of the curve, I saw orange cones "announcing" a pile of gravel/small rocks/sand but actually the cones were way too late into the curb for me to slow down or get back to full vertical position. In that split second I had the time to think about Caligurl's crash and probably smiled thinking about the ambulance and firetruck, but there were none behind me, just a guy about 200 feet before me, and there I went, my wheels skid and I was on the gravel pile myself, with the orange cone in my face. I must have braked with the rear brake because I landed on my left side, while I was turning right.

I'm mostly okay, just a pretty good cut on my knee and another smaller one on my elbow, plus a few crash rashes. I cleaned up with water on the spot and then at home with soapy water. I had sand IN my shorts and basically everywhere else. A girlfriend living nearby came to check out the bruise on my elbow as I could not figure it out myself. As for the bike, the left-hand shifter of the bike was displaced, the front wheel seemed a bit false and my handlebar tape is just totally torn. According to the CGBS (I love that Cute-Guy-at-the-Bike-Shop thing), the tape should be the longest thing to fix, the bike will be back tomorrow afternoon. I've dialed the city maintenance "hotline" before I started writing this message but I'm still on hold.

I have had a great fear of crashing ever since I started road biking but frankly it wasn't too bad and almost fun: when, as an adult, do we have a chance to get bruises? Ok my case is not serious so I can smile, but still, it feels childish to get bruises and then to clean them up and say "ouch" and gently blow on them...

Just had to share this.