Wipeout

First bike wipeout in years

1. My left elbow

2. My left hip

I was wearing my biking jacket and a spandex sleeve on my arm, and it tore a hole through the jacket. I had spandex shorts on under a pair of cotton shorts and it tore through the pocket of my shorts. It also tore a hole in the palm of my left glove but didn't really take any skin.

Edge of the handlebar got a bit roughed up but the bike came away almost unscathed. I have a steady, dull ache down my left side and a pair of bandaids on my elbow.

I was coming off of a pathway onto a road where I needed to make an immediate left turn, and there was a pretty big patch of gravel. I made this same turn without incident 3 times last week, but this time I hit it a lot faster and needed a much wider arc, which pushed me out into the gravel. It all seemed like slow motion and I remember saying, "aw, shoot" as I was skidding sideways through the gravel and reaching out to break my fall.