Bike Crash & Battered Husband Story
Well, it's time for me to confess. I'm a battered husband. We all know my wife Joy's violent tendencies. She must have snapped. Perhaps it was because I buttered her toast on the wrong side, or took the last piece of pizza one too may times, or that she realized the Victoria Secret catalog was actually addressed to me. But you should see me. I'm a mess. I've got a bruised and battered face, bandages on both elbows and one shoulder, and stitches in both knees and a collar bone that's cracked in two placed. Who would have thought you could do that much damage with a Nerf bat. Of course my macho image can't be marred by the truth so here is the company line.
My buddy Dave Rogowski and I were biking to the small town of Tenino Sunday and had just crested a mile climb and had started down the backside. Dave pulled in front to take a "pull" and I tucked in behind him. I remember looking down at the cycle computer see we were going 30 mph and were still accelerating, That's when I realized I had overlapped his rear wheel.
An instant latter I was flipping head over heels across the pavement. I remember thinking this was really going to hurt when I finally stopped. I was not disappointed. I came to rest in a cloud of dust in the middle of the ditch. I lay there for a while and did a self-assessment. I was bleeding pretty well out of both knees and had significant road rash on various other parts. My fancy new biking shorts were torn up pretty badly on the right side and the skin underneath was a nice crimson red, which is the wrong color for me. I'm an autumn color guy and reds don't go well with my complexion. I tried to get up. Dave strongly discouraged this. After the attempt I agreed he was wiser than his years. My shoulder hurt way beyond the pain from my road rash. I just sat in the ditch like PigPen in the dirt and looked at my crushed helmet and waited for the paramedics who Dave had called from the house next door. Six cars stopped to see if I was OK and one called 911 on his cellular. I did manage to hobble to the ambulance where they cleaned me up a little and determined I wasn't in any danger of croaking.
My folks were called and came and drove me to emergency. But don't worry, my bike is fine. Joy would have come but she was out shopping for a new Nerf bat. Seriously, she has been great. Since I'm one armed, she has been a great help, along with the pain medication, and I'll be up and riding again in a few weeks.
