OK, so it was well overdue. Yes, I came off my bike, something I hadn’t done for years.
Now I’d love to be able to say that it was during a race, or perhaps while doing some trick riding (I do ALL my own stunts, you know) but the reality is far more mundane:
I clipped a kerb.
Now I don’t normally ride very close to the kerb at all, but this was a bit different.
For starters, there was a Land Rover that gave me a very close overtake, as I approached the roundabout on Billacombe Road where I crashed. No, it wasn’t his fault that I crashed – that honour belongs to me and me alone – but he did annoy me, especially seeing as lane 2 was clear and he could easily have moved over when overtaking me.
It was bitterly cold, apparently the coldest day in March for 27 years, and we had very strong winds, which were mainly head winds as I cycled home.
Coming out of the roundabout, I glared after the Land Rover (which had taken the first exit while I was going straight) for a moment too long. This meant my focus wasn’t totally where it ought to have been, on the road, and I cut the corner a bit when leaving the roundabout.
This brought me very close to the kerb, and a sudden gust of wind pushed me over just enough to clip the kerb, and down I went.
Fortunately the bike escaped without damage, except for some minor damage to the bar tape. My panniers offered the bike quite a lot of protection, which I’m grateful for.
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| Time for a new helmet! |
I was pretty lucky, too! I ended up with a bit of a road rash on my left knee (though the cycling tights I was wearing had no holes in), a scrape on my right ankle and as I later doscovered at home, a bruise on my left cheekbone. Other than that I was fine.
I ended up with a few holes in my winter neoprene gloves, which is annoying, but also underlines why I never ride without gloves. In this case, if I weren’t wearing gloves I am convinced my hands would have been bleeding all over.
My helmet made quite a noise as it scraped along the tar and I distinctly remember thinking that I was rather glad it was my helmet and not my head being scraped. I wear a helmet exactly for reasons like this – to protect me from relatively minor scrapes and falls – and I’m fully aware it will probably do NOTHING to protect me in the event of a crash with a car.
Moral of the story? Keep your blinking eyes and focus on the road. Sometimes it seems I’m a slow learner!