Life, Lust, and Silly Puns

It was a casual day, an ordinary Tuesday, where I got out of school phenomenally early. Me and some friends were going to TK noodle (which I think isn't that great, but whatever) for lunch. As you know, I recently finished roadifying my handlebars, turning my bike into a beautifully fast steed. Well anyway, there's this railroad that runs near my house, and a concrete path that runs parallel to it, with a metal fence/gate that runs between the two. So I was riding on the top of my handlebars, as many people do. I didn't have 'cross brakes on the top, as many people don't. But I was planning to.

As I approached the concrete path, I hesitated for a second, deciding whether or not to take the concrete path. I was moving at an average speed, which I figure was 13-15 mph. With my thin tires, I couldn't corner well, and I found myself heading straight for a metal pole that started the gate/fence. Naturally, and at the time, calmly, I reached my fingers out to grab the brake levers. For a split second, I felt something there, but it faded away fast as the pole came nearer and my bike maintained speed. My brakes weren't there. At this point I realized I was TOTALLY SCREWED, and had no choice but to brace for impact. A lot of things could have happened to prevent this, but they didn't, and so I hit the pole.

My head felt this sense of pressure, and crushing, and it reminded me of when I was hit by a car. I hit the hard concrete, and was frozen to the spot by the pain that washed over my body. A minute passed, and my friends came over, surprised, possibly by the accident, but also perhaps because of my stupidity. After a minute, the pain went away, and I figured I escaped with scrapes and bruises. I made the move to get up, but as I rolled over, I spotted the pool of shiny red blood that lay where my head was. I swore, and tried to take handle the problem, while shunning the dark thoughts of possible brain damage. Calls were made, and a kind AT&T driver stopped and helped, (apparently he had some first aid training) and determined that luckily, it was just a gash, and my brains weren't spilling out. I asked several times, just to reassure myself, then I relaxed, knowing I wasn't in any serious medical danger. Anyhow, more people stopped over, (one was EMT trained?) and eventually my dad and his friend came over.(and the paramedics, and the police, and a freaking firetruck came by, though I made the point that I wasn't on fire. But firetrucks came to my car accident too, so I don't know.) Anyway, I went to a clinic (Palo Alto Medical Foundation, anyone?) and got 3 stitches and something for my knee.

The same evening my dad made me change my beautiful road bike into a hybrid again, and I was told to walk to school for the rest of the school week. I didn't turn on my computer for 2 days after the accident, and so this is the first day that my computer has been on since the crash. Luckily, it wasn't major, and I acknowledged that I was stupid, so I don't suffer from the biker scare that bikers experience when they have a crash. (Makes you not want to bike anymore, but it goes away, depending on how serious the accident was.)

Changing back my beautiful bike depressed me, but I'm getting over it. I'll get my stitches removed this weekend (and get new flat handlebars, as I dislike the looks of risers), and back biking to school this coming Monday.

I love biking.