Broken wings

When you lay a motorcycle down (you never "crash") you join a club.    There's even insignia.  The broken wing patch. 

I laid one down in 1986 and although I walked away, it was years before I was riding again. 

I laid my bike down yesterday, it was less dramatic then in 1986.  No ambulance, no police report, no wings to sew on the leather jacket.  I was only going about 1 mile an hour when it happened but it was enough to get bloody and break a rib. 

I laid down my Schwinn in someone's front yard.  An embarrassing tangle of flab, stretch pants and cycle. 

My bike is not top of the line.  It is only up to the challenge of getting my 250+ pound frame from A to B without incident IF I am careful.   When I put too much weight on the gears they slip.  The bike can handle my weight IF I anticipate gear changes and stay one step ahead.  It got away from me yesterday.

I really was pretty funny.  I got to the top of this little hill and was in the wrong gear.  I shifted down but too late.  Without the momentum to get the gears to change properly the chain just came off.  I was clipped into the pedals and before I could get a foot free I was falling over.  Luckily I was in a residential area and had drifted over to the edge of someone's lawn. 

The fall seemed to take forever, I guess because I knew it was coming.  I tucked in and tried to fall on my side.  I some how ripped some skin off my left hand and landed with all my weight on my right side, digging my elbow into my ribcage (who says I'm not flexible?).

I haven't had the wind knocked out of me in decades.  Scary feeling.  As I lay there waiting for my breath to catch I did a survey.  Bleeding, but not bad, shoes came out of the pedals as designed (I need to practice getting out of them faster in an emergency).  Bike seemed OK and I didn't land in dog poop.  I was really worried about that for some reason, the dog poop. 

I pulled it together, flipped the bike over and re-set the chain, got on the bike and kept on going.  Adrenalin I guess.  It wasn't until I got home and sat down that I really started to hurt.

Pain and I are old friends.  I live at about a 4 on the pain scale, that's the straight line smiley face. :- |  spondylolisthesis, bad knees, they say will need to be replaced one day, a hiatal hernia....  But this was sharp intense pain.

Funny, pain like this makes me laugh a little.  The irony of it is amusing.  So I'm on the couch bandaged up, wounded hand elevated, rib cage packed in ice, chuckling in pain.

I spent the rest of the day lounging and recovering but with the sure knowledge that this morning would be worse.  My fears did not disappoint.

I woke up in agony.  Unable to turn over to get out of bed.  But with help from my pill bottle, I got up, showered and dressed.

The only easy day was yesterday.