When Good Bicycles go Bad

Road rash and hairline fractures

Road rash and hairline fractures

It’s a nice day, I think I’ll ride my bike…

The winding steel beams that wound through the road seemed less challenging to bike across after the first few tries.  I was lulled into a false sense of security, and the next time I crossed to the other side of the tracks my Bianchi stopped the front wheel and hit the eject button.

Damage assessment

After I got back up and verified that the bike was still straight and in one piece, I realized I was bleeding all over the place.  I had to do something about it, quick!

… so I rode to a diner and ate lunch.  Not my best decision ever.

After that, I proceeded to the hospital, where they took some x-rays and I found that I had a hairline fracture in my patella (kneecap, to those of us who haven’t already gone through this) and all the bones that meet at my wrist were bruised.  By the time I got out of the hospital, my knee and wrist were about double their usual size and I finished off my ride for the day by heading home.

A month later, I’m pretty much healed and back to riding the bike every day.  I guess the moral of the story is that no matter where you are or how safe you feel, operating a vehicle still demands your full attention.  All this was caused by a small patch of sand next to the railroad track that my wheel sunk into and gripped hard.

Be careful out there, kids.

About the Author

Jesse
Efficiency, performance, and safety. Everything else is excess.