That which Rolls

I went for a longish ride on Sunday, past Hill Cummorah, the Joseph Smith Farm, and the Fox Sister’s house. I’ve done this ride before. I thought I was going to be writing about all the religions sprang up in this area and the ‘Burned Over District‘… until I crashed my bike.

Maybe I was tired.

Murray St. Railroad Crossing

As I rode across the tracks I thought, “these tracks are at an unfortunate angle. ” I managed to get across the first set and was about to congratulate myself on my excellent skills when my front tire got sucked in to the groove between the road that the rail. The bike seemed to stop a lot faster than I did. I guess that’s physics for you.

I’m really not sure what my trajectory was or what position I landed in. I just sort of thought ‘oops’ and then I was moving forward. My helmet was the last thing to hit the road so I think most of the impact had already been absorbed by my arms and legs. I was laying there on my right side with my legs semi-tangled in the bike. I didn’t quite jump up to look around to make sure no one saw, but I did get up as quickly as I could and did not take the time to take crime scene photos.

I don’t think anyone on Murray street actually witnessed this but if someone has it on video I want half of the America’s Funniest Home Videos prize money for ‘Fat Girl Crashes Bike’.

Exhibit B - My Knee

Exhibit A - My Ankle

I was bruised and hurt a little bit but not seriously injured. I was getting on the bike again but my legs were shaking so bad that I decided to take a minute to let them chill out a little bit–so as not to crash a second time. I was only a mile from the Newark marina where my aunt and uncle are staying so I stopped there to relax and rest a bit before heading home. I was glad to find that they were home.

It was good to relax a bit. It’s funny how something like that can shake you up, even though you know you’re ok.

When I got home I found out that those same tracks have taken out both my grandpa and one of my uncles at separate times. So either those tracks are pure evil or they just have a personal grudge against my family.

I guess I should be thinking about picking up a new helmet now. I’ve heard you shouldn’t keep wearing them after they’ve been in a crash, that their protective abilities may be somewhat used up. It’s fine though, I’ve had that helmet for at least 4 years now and the liner was starting to shred apart and get disgusting. I was already planning to pick up a new liner. There’s only a small dent in the back and I would guess that it would probably still protect me from an impact, but I’d rather not be a cheapskate when it comes to protecting my brain.