So, my DH had a pretty intense fall off his bike on Saturday morning. He's been pushing his luck lately, we've had some very cold weather and that morning it was about 36 degrees at the house and had actually snowed a little bit the night before. He was out a few weeks earlier when it was in the low 30s and still frost around...he said his tires were good and the trail was clear, but I was still worried about it. So Saturday, about a mile from our house on the Interurban he hit a small patch of ice and went down hard on his left side. He thought at first he just had the breath knocked out of him, and he actually got back on the bike and rode home.

He was feeling worse by then, and we went to the emergency room... cracked ribs and what they said was a "popped lung". Never heard of that one before, but the way he hit and the force just tore a small hole in his lung. Could have been worse too, at least he didn't hit his head! He wasn't even bruised, just a small abrasion on his elbow!

I had worried something like this was going to happen. I guess it could happen in any weather really, you hit a little sand or a painted stripe wrong. And just walking across the street is risky. Our nurse said her husband was just crossing the street, tripped and did the same thing! But, I know he was wanting to get his mileage numbers up, because he part of a national bike riding log, where you compare your mileage numbers with others and he was trying to keep in the top 10... not worth the risk in my book anyway. I'd rather let someone else "win" and live to ride another day. He'll be off the bike now for at least two months healing up and will have to be very, very careful.

Riding a bike is risky in and of itself... I always try to assess my risk factors... in traffic, going downhill fast, and in freezing weather.

How risky is too risky?? I can't help thinking that his testosterone got in the way of his good sense.