30 degrees colder today than my last two rides. We planned a 58 mile ride, a variation on the annual Gettysburg tour that my friend leads. The sun is still fairly strong so it was not bad with temps in the 50s.
But I fell a couple of miles into the ride. I was riding next to a friend, chatting, got too close to the edge of the pavement, went off the edge onto the grass next to it, foolishly tried to get back onto the pavement and fell on my left side. My left palm and wrist took most of the impact, followed by my elbow and knee.
Of course I did the whole ride (probably not smart but we did stop several times to evaluate and the pain was not getting worse). It was a slow touring ride with numerous stops, a long day in the saddle ( and a really nice route). I had full range of motion in my wrist but it hurt, and by the end some bruises had appeared and it felt stiff. No visible swelling. After we finished I bought an elastic and neoprene brace for compression and immobilization. Iced it once I got home. Consulted with a nurse (family member) who said to see how it is in the morning -- no need for urgent care tonight. I don't think anything is broken but there is definitely soft tissue damage. By the end of the ride I felt a twinge in my back/shoulder back beneath my neck, no doubt from the impact going up my arm.
The elbow is okay as long as I don't touch the tip of the bone -- that is sore. I scraped my knee but it's not serious. All the extra layers of clothes prevented serious road rash. (So yay colder weather, I guess.) My left bootie is torn but I needed new ones anyway. Most importantly, although I hit my friend's bike as I fell she stayed upright. This is important because her bones are way less dense than mine.
The bike is okay I think. The shifter got knocked crooked. We fixed that, but it made a slight noise when I braked and felt wrong. As it happens I already planned to go to the LBS tomorrow, to pick up my new gravel bike. I still have not test ridden it so tomorrow I planned to take it for a spin on the rail trail next to the shop. First I was going to put the pedals on myself because it seemed like something I could handle myself and is worth learning (and saving some labor costs).
So now I will have them look at the shifter on the old bike, and I will pay for the new one and take it home. Hopefully in a few days I will be able to ride it.
- Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
- Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
- Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle
Gone but not forgotten:
- Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
- Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles