Bike accident
The freeze-thaw this season has produced an extremely large amount of ice. Our walkway in front of the house was covered in about 4 inches of solid ice after a few weeks of the cold-warm-cold cycles. These weather patterns have also created the worst pothole season in my memory… which is where this story begins.
On the 28 of February, while coming down the steep Franklin Avenue hill in the dark, I hit a giant pothole associated with a manhole cover. If the pothole were described in dental terms, you’d call it an “insufficient margin with recurrent decay”. I was going about 25 miles an hour, and for a few seconds after I hit the hole, I thought I would be able to regain control. That, alas, was not possible. I don’t really remember the instant between bobbling my front handlebars and hitting the ground. I do, however, remember the sound of the 1000 denier Cordura of my Chrome Metropolis (the best bike bag I’ve ever owned, period) sliding along the ground and slowing me to a stop. BZZZZZZZZZZZ is my first memory after being upright — it echoed in my head as I slid along the asphalt. Slowly, headlights came up on me and my bike, and I looked down at the yellow street line directly below my head. I should have broken my arm was all I could really think. Thankfully, I only suffered some serious road rash. The friction with the roadway actually heated up my garments enough to melt parts of my jacket and gym shorts (which I had on beneath my scrubs, preventing me from ending up shorts-less). The large soft tissue trauma on my right elbow seems to be calcifying a little bit, but I think my joint will make a full recovery. This is important because you can get so far behind so fast in these dental lab courses… I am very very thankful my right arm made it through the crash in one piece. So thankful.
One of the drivers of the cars behind me must have called the city, because the hole was actually fixed not more than 3 days after my accident.
I am really really looking forward to warmer days with more sunlight, so I can see the road. Once the street cleaners go through, I get to once again ride my good bike: a 2009 Specialized Allez Double. I am EXTREMELY excited to hop back on the skinny tires.