Why should you weep and moan? Look up.

So, I had my first bike accident yesterday. Does it count if no other objects are involved? I mean, the threat of another object was there, but I so successfully avoided it that it appeared as if there was no threat to begin with. I'll explain. But first, let me answer the FAQs: yes, I was wearing my helmet and blinky lights; yes, I'm okay and nothing is broken or appears to be majorly damaged; no, this story doesn't involve blood or compound fractures.

I'm riding home from work and I'm just past halfway which is right at the intersection of Milwaukee and North avenue, aka the heart of Wicker Park, aka hipster biker central. I'm on Milwaukee going north, approach a red light, cruising past all the stopped cars, braking slightly (so not going very fast). Right when I'm in front of the coffeeshop Filter, this taxi that is two cars ahead of me decides it's going to make a right turn, so it turns into my lane and blocks me. Cue adrenaline. I had 10 feet to stop, and on my old bike, when I hit both brakes at full force, I would need 10 feet to come to a stop, or at least slow enough I could put my foot down and finish the job. On my brand new beautiful shiny bike that was custom-made with love by broqued, when I hit both brakes at full force, I need about, oh, 10 inches to come to a complete stop. So, guess what happened?

I panic, hit the brakes and then I am in slow motion, realizing, hmm, my back tire is rising up in the air and I am about to go OVER my handle bars, headfirst to the pavement. So I must have leaned back or let go of the brakes or tried to put my left foot down or all of the above, so instead of flipping all the way over, I got about halfway up with my ass in the air, then fell over to the left. I landed on my arm and leg and ended up sort of sprawled perpindicular on Milawaukee avenue, under my bike, not really able to jump and get out of traffic because my legs were tangled. Now, this is a super high-traffic area, but since it was near a light, no one is going very fast and I'm sure people on bikes probably fall there everyday, so everyone just drove around me easily. I kinda kicked the bike off me and managed to get up and move to the curb. There's a guy right there immediately after I went down, asking over and over if I'm okay, until I answer. He helps me gather my water bottle and broken headlight (it smashed open and the batteries scattered, but the light might be ok). Then he said, 'oh, your bike is messed up" and my first thought was, 'no, it's fine, it's brand new' because I thought he meant my bike was messed up which cause me to fall. No, he meant the handlebars were crooked. He's like, 'just put it between your knees and twist it', but I couldn't seem to make that happen because I was still stunned and because both my knees smarted (the left one because I landed on it, the right one because it landed on the bike frame when I went down). So he asked me to hold his cigarette and then he adjusted it for me. This other woman came over and asked if I was okay too, if I lost anything, was I okay to ride. With both people, I actually wasn't embarassed at all, I was very grateful for their kindness to strangers, that they asked about me and helped out. Of course, when I think about it must have looked, that I just sort of spontaneously flipped over my bike, and hit the pavement with 8 feet to spare before a car, it's probably kinda funny. Also, that it happened with a massive Wicker Park audience.

When I got home, I realized my seat was a little crooked too. But since it's still rideable, so I plan on going at it again today, swinging by broqued's work so she can lay her healing hands on it, then riding to work. I thought about just going by Boulevard Bikes for the adjustment, but they don't open until noon, and also, I'm not sure I trust other hands on my baby right now. Seriously, I look at this bike and get a little overwhelmed because I've never had a ride this beautiful, this nice. It is an amazing bike, my inability to handle nice, working isht, notwithstanding.

It's somewhat contingent on my knees. Right now they just feel a little stiff and achey, no sharp pain. Going up and down stairs was a small struggle but walking is no problem at all. I'll ice them a bit this morning maybe, take some ibuprofen. The purple bruises are starting to form, but as DYA said, just in time for wearing your utilikilt this weekend to show them off! Because how I got the bruises might not be terribly tough, but they still will look good.

It's also good to know I can fall off my bike and be okay. Cause for real, that hadn't happened to me yet and I'm sure I was due.