Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

So let's see if we can keep the negative posts rolling for a little while longer.

Last Friday night I was riding my bike down near Ashby BART around 11 pm when I took my hand off the handlebar for enough time to hit a pothole and ruin my day (and back wheel).

I still have a reasonably clear memory of immediately after my front wheel contacted the pothole. The wheel lifted off the pavement and rotated to an angle not conducive to going in a straight line, I had time to think something along the lines of "guess I'm fucked", then just waited for it to be over. I wound up on my back resting my head on the pavement, going through the internal checks to see how serious it was. I felt pressure in my head, but maybe that's just the adrenaline. OK, I can move my arms....legs too. I checked my head below the helmet line for blood and tender spots. Nothing, just a really mild headache. Maybe the helmet hit the ground and I'm just feeling that. I laid there for a little longer making sure I could remember peoples' names and then decided to risk it, took off my helmet, and stood up to walk over to the sidewalk.

I actually came out of the accident relatively unharmed considering how violent the crash seemed. Even some bad scrapes on my left knee, right hip, and both palms are well on their way to being healed less than 4 days after. I'm not even sure I hit my head. My neck muscles on the left side were really sore two days afterward so maybe I somehow managed to keep my head off the ground. It certainly feels like the bulk of the impact was on my right hip. There weren't any clear marks on the helmet, so the persistent headache was probably psychological and sleep deprivation from that night.

It could have been a lot more unpleasant. I was fortunate to be biking with a friend, Joe, who watched over me as I collected myself. Lindsay and Christina came back in a car to come get me and Lindsay took me to the emergency room to get checked out, waiting with me in the worst emergency room ever for 5 hours until 4 in the morning. David was there to talk to me on the phone and assuage my worries of a slowly developing head injury.

So now my left knee is slightly bruised and it hurts to run and I have to delay my comeback for another week. Mostly I just wanted to get the crash out of my system and thank all my friends who were there to help.