%title Whew
%date 2009-05-23 17:45:45
:diary:livejournal:fossils:

Sorry for the short post last night, wasn't really in the mood for typing a whole big thing up.

James and I were ten miles into an eighteen mile ride when we had to cross one of Fort Collins' many railroad tracks - this one at the bottom of a short hill.  I usually do alright crossing this track, but with a lot of gravel on the shoulder, I had to aim for a different crossing.  Unfortunately, this part of the crossing had big pothole that I didn't see until too late.  With the downhill angle, the corner of the railroad crossing ties, and my speed of about 18 mph, my front wheel was crimped on impact, even with the high pressure tires.  I stayed upright for another three feet or so, but the crimped wheel stopped rolling after it got to my breaks and I went over the handlebars.  Unfortunately, James was right behind me and crashed right into me when I hit the ground, basically using my kidneys as a jump.  

We both tumbled for a bit, then dragged our bikes off the road.  Another biker stopped to ask if we were alright and waited around as we called our friend to come pick us up (John Wright rocks :D).  After we got home and John left, I punched a hole in the living room wall.  It feels like everything I love doing just ends in disaster, and I was pretty pissed about the crash.

I've got road rash on a good bit of my left side and my gear is a little scraped, but not too badly, my left knee's freaking out (fingers crossed that it's nothing big), and my lower back hurts like hell whenever I move, but I think my kidneys are alright.  James has a little bit of road rash and some muscle in his left shoulder might be torn, so he's in a borrowed sling for a bit.  My front wheel is trashed, as is my rear bike light, and James' front wheel is out of true, possibly trashed.  Other than that, the bikes seem fine.

Thanks for all the comments and concern - everything's fine, but I'm still pretty pissed.  Oh well, my mom might come up to help me patch the drywall and to possibly get me a new front wheel as an early Christmas present, which should help a lot.