Road Rash

I have been riding a bike for about 5 1/2 years now, with no serious accidents to speak of. (knock on wood) Yesterday, however, I acquired my very first road rash, all by my own stupid fault. I was trying to knock out a 35-40  mile ride, in anticipation of a 70 mile ride I'm signed up to do next weekend. I got up early to beat the heat, and was feeling good. Not quite half way through my ride, it felt like my back tire had gone flat. I turned around to look, and sure enough- it was flat. As I turned back forward, I over corrected and my front tire nailed the curb, causing me to go sailing into a combo of rocks and dirt. I took the brunt of the fall on my right should and butt cheek. Ouch. Luckily, I wasn't that hurt, and no one saw (thank goodness).

I was a little bit shaken up, but was able to hobble a mile to my parent's house to fix up my tire and regroup. After I aired back up, I was getting back on my bike and promptly fell on my left side. I had left my chain in a big gear and just didn't put enough power on the pedal for the short incline. I hate the freak-out feeling you get when you know you aren't going to be able to clip out in time. I felt like such an idiot. But I went on my way, only to flat again a few miles down the road. I gave up, and called my dad for a ride home. It was just not my day to be on the bike.

After cleaning off my shoulder and changing clothes, I decided I wasn't going to let the morning be a total waste. So I sunscreened up again and took off from my apartment for a long run. I made it for 4 miles, and walked the rest of the way back. The heat is just too much, and now I'm starting to question if I'm going to be able to survive another Olympic tri in September. I'm trying so hard to keep up with training, but my body can only do so much in the heat.

Sleeping last night wasn't fun as I kept rolling over onto my right side. I woke up this morning and it's pretty bruised and a little swollen. At least it didn't affect my range of motion all that much though. Eh- at least I feel like a true cyclist now.