Or the one where I fell off my bike…
The sun finally came back to Portland on Saturday, and we saw our first 50 degree since Feb. 2nd. I know, I know, 50 degrees sounds REALLY warm for winter (at least, for anyone who grew up in Central NY like me) but in Portland being below 50 for this long is definitely a cold snap.
So, we took advantage of the glowing ball in the sky to get in a long bike ride. The past several bike rides have been bordering on somewhat miserable – cold, close to town because of snow, monotonous laps, numb fingers (despite double gloves), and even more numb toes. So, this, THIS was delightful:
We hit the west hills for a long ride, and while our legs (and lungs) felt surprisingly tired for the first climb, we soon warmed up.
But not even half way through I made a rookie mistake. We had biked down a steep hill and been turned around by (expected) construction. But I didn’t shift down nearly enough to be able to turn and start up the hill again.
Despite a frantic (and NEARLY successful )attempt to correct my error, I ended up losing my chain and, in very slow motion, slowly tipping over with my feet still clipped in. It was a slow motion fall, but there was a ton of gravel on the road which resulted in this:
I know. The cut looks like no big deal. But what you can’t see is in fact the whole right side of my palm is in some solid pain. Not enough to cancel the bike ride mind you, but enough to slow me down on the downhill as braking become awkward.
I suppose a fall every few years is probably good for one’s ego. And clipless pedals are still totally worth it. No harm, no foul.
But still. Noob.
