Oops

Oops. It looks like I'm off the bike riding circuit for some time. I was riding with my neighbor Jim on Sunday morning, heading downtown along the Platte for a birthday breakfast at Racines with the girls. As we were rounding a corner in the detour just South of Hampden, my front wheel slipped on a soft wet wooden bridge. The bridge was so slippery, there was just no traction to be had. The bike and I went down hard, and bounced along for a few feet before stopping. The fall on my left shoulder broke my collarbone, and the slide abraded the skin in several places on my left side .

The detour isn't visible in the older satellite picture, but the trail now turns left 90 degrees immediately after crossing the little bridge circled in red, and runs up alongside those trailers. That bridge was all chewed up, probably because it's rotting away, and with the wetness from the day before, it was slippery like moss. Trying to start the turn on it was a mission impossible from the start.


In the Xray, the bones aren't even close to being aligned, ugh. The folks at Kaiser say it's typically 6-8 weeks for an adult to recover, although I have an appointment on Friday with the Orthopedic folks to follow up.

I heard (and felt!) the concrete path hit my new helmet, which did a great job of protecting my head, so not only did I avoid a concussion (I think), but I didn't even scratch my ear! Attagirl to K, for bugging me to get that this year.

Interestingly enough, Jim and I stayed around that bridge for awhile, warning people about the hazard, and still were unable to prevent several other people from crashing in the same place. We finally moved some nearby construction cones onto the bridge, which seemed to help. We rode on for a few more miles, until we got to a more easily accessible spot, then Jim pointed out the major swelling in my left shoulder, and I decided I should be seen by the Kaiser folks sooner rather than later. Y'all be careful out there!