Wipeout

Nothing starts a day quite like an accident. As usual I was out for my morning ride, doing laps around Stanley Park. I was moving along the connecting road to start my second lap when it happened. Coming around a corner I noticed a truck approaching and I had to brake hard to avoid it, which, I did. What I did not do was control my breaking and weight distribution well enough to avoid going over the handlebars.

I hit the pavement hard enough to knock the wind out of me. This has only happened to me once or twice in my life so I recall noting the novelty of the experience. The other thing I remember thinking is wishing that all of this had been caught on video. Yes, I was thinking of how well it would do on youtube. The driver of the truck stopped and made sure that I was okay. He helped me off the street and offered me some water, which really helped to catch my breath. After about five minutes I felt a little banged up, but well enough to at least ride home. I thanked him for his assistance and got back on my bike (which doesn't seem to have any new scratches.)

I didn't go far without realizing that my right arm hurt more than the rest of me. Specifically, the bottom of my thumb (near the wrist) and near, but not quite at the tip of my elbow. I couldn't put much of my weight on the arm while riding so I figured I better get it checked out. But not before going home and getting cleaned up.

As it turns out, Friday morning at the Emergency Ward can sometimes be kind of quiet. I was lucky in that there wasn't much of a wait, although the way processing works I found that I still had ten to fifteen minutes to wait between each stop along the way.

The doctors wanted to take a couple x-rays of my wrist to be sure nothing was broken there. Once they confirmed that I had nothing more than a serious sprain, they sent me on my way.

Somehow I'm sure I will be paying more for this after a good night's sleep.