(long) Happy yet drenched, battered and bruised!

[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.

[marni]

Congratulations on finishing and on your spectacular half time entertainment.

If you can find any aconite salve or lotion at a natural food store, that will pretty much eliminate the bruising and ease the pain.

Gravel, wet dry or in any shape is nasty stuff and not to be trusted.

too bad about your bottle cage, but at least you and the bike are in operating condition.

I'll never forget the telephone call from my son when we were living overseas, his one and only question was if his tetanus shot was current. When I asked why he sort of hemmed and hawed and then admitted that he had hit some gravel on his mountain bike, killed the bike, broken his wrist and had bleeding and requiring stitches road rash from his arm pit to his ankle. He was still picking bits and pieces of sand and gravel out of his cuts a month later. He gave up road biking and took up graf magraw( phonetic spelling and probably not anything near the correct spelling) or the special fighting style that the Isreali special forces use.

me? I'm just his mother so what do I know?

marni

[MommyBird]

Gravel scares me, even on a mountain bike.

I had a "This can only end in tears" experience last summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QkurL3HPSA
See around 2:30 in this clip if this doesn't sound familiar.
This Bartok the Bat line has been a family favorite for years. Whenever someone gets ready to do something dumb that has a high probability of causing pain and injury, someone in the family usually says this line. Such as stacking two or three chairs to change a light bulb or using the wrong tool for a job.

I was sight seeing with my husband and we had just finished a small hike and were getting back on the mt bikes. It was very hot and we had put our water bottles in our pockets. I forgot to take mine out and noticed it as I was pedaling on asphalt heading towards a gravel road. I reached down to get it out with my right hand but it was in my left pocket and I could not physically remove it so I switched to my left hand. This is the point where that fateful line crossed my mind but I couldn't help myself, I had to keep trying. I got the bottle out and was navigating it towards the holder when I noticed I was just about to reach the gravel. At this point I panicked, squeezed the right brake and you can imagine what happened next. I didn't have gloves on because this was a sight-seeing ride and so I was picking gravel out of my palm and my knee was a bit banged up. I couldn't remember the last time I had fallen on a bike on the road but I came up laughing. I brushed off and rode the 10 miles back to the camp site.

This Saturday I overcame my fear and followed my husband on a packed but thick gravel drive on my road bike. No problems! The only bad part was that we stopped to fill our water bottles and when he handed mine back I found out why he's been complaining about his gloves developing a life of their own. The smell about knocked me over even if the gravel hadn't!

What a blessing that you were at low speed and had a pit crew at hand to help you out. I am sure you more than redeemed your dignity when you picked up and kept going.
I healed up fast and hope you work out your tweaks, bruises and abrasions quickly too. Glad to hear the major equipment is okay as well.