Lycra's rubbish when you fall off your road bike and you find yourself skidding along on the your hips, arms and shoulder on tarmac at 30mph! At the same time I found that helmets are brilliant - a split one testimony to how effective they can be when your head slides across the aforementioned bit of road. Ow! That smarts!
I was heading to Port Isaac to do a few shuttle runs up the Port Isaac Hill - great for developing chicken legs and bringing on a puff! On the way, there's this downhill stretch - sweet, get in the big ring and step on it, wind behind. All was going to plan when I spotted (too late) on the upcoming corner some mud and grit. I hit the brakes but it was too late, down I went. I'd clocked my speed at 33mph just before the corner, so I was traveling. It happened so fast I didn't realise what was going on until I found myself looking skyward and my helmet was scrapping on the floor (it's a good trick if you pull it off). The following car did a good job to stop and avoid my bruised and bloodied body. Nice chap asked if I wanted a lift anywhere but when you profess to the Man Up Code, there are times when you just have to get back on the horse. Best to keep moving I surmised (although I was much more tentative on the fast downhill bits).
It's not so bad though, a bruised right side, cuts and scrapes - could have been a lot worse. The helmet is split across the side. The swelling on my upper thigh has swollen up like a big sponge and my right hip throbs. My boys thought it was all very funny, particularly when I howled like a wolf when jumping into the bath! I say jump, I mean, tentatively lower. I say tentatively lower, I mean, millimeter by millimeter immerse the open wounds.
We're off for a family bike ride tomorrow! Now where are those frozen peas?
