the birm*

An uneven battle

I guess it’s good I was going uphill, as there was hardly any skidding, just a heavy, hard, rough, painful THUD! I was riding into G-town via “the hills” (from my place in the mountains, it’s basically 65km of downhill, but you can go the shorter scenic route, which goes up and over a long hill) and was almost at the top when, believe it or not, the left leg of my shorts caught the gear lever, which immediately yanked the bars and through me off the front. There was no warning and nothing I could do and I only had time to yell a desperate “Rhaaaah” and take it. The road was very hard and the tar not smooth (tar vs skin is always an uneven battle!). Thankfully no cars were behind me (which meant no immediate danger and less embarrassment), so I got up, twisted the bars and got off the road. I was hurting really bad everywhere, knowing I’d punctured a hole in my left leg and probably lost a layer of skin on both knees and my right shoulder. I slowly checked over my injuries, too afraid to look at my leg…which turned out to be pretty good actually! Result: scratched top tube, cut and bleeding right knee, scrapes from shoulder to wrist on right arm and egg sized lump on left tibia. Thankfully there was no “real” damage and I was able to play squash that evening and ride back the next day… I will be shortening the legs on these riding shorts!