Let's Not Make This an Annual Event

Today was the second annual Rio's Rider Wrecks event. I am such a dork.

Ragla and I were heading to the mouth of Provo Canyon to meet a group for a lunch ride. We came up to the busy intersection at 1200 N and 800 E in Orem (when ARE they going to put a traffic light there, anyway?). Traffic was bad so we had to wait a couple of minutes to cross. Finally, traffic cleared and we went to go across.

So did the van turning left on the other side of the intersection.

No, I didn't get hit by the van. This accident is all mine - I totally own it.

The van stopped for us to cross, and I stood up and cranked hard to get across fast. At the same time, I lifted my left hand up to wave a courtesy "thanks" to the van. I'm not exactly sure what took me down, but I theorize that I must have had all my weight down hard on the right while lifting my left hand. I went down really hard on my right side. So hard that I knocked off my glasses and stuff came flying out of my pockets. I still can't figure out how I managed to knock the cap off my LEFT shifter. The shifter cap didn't just fly off, it for sure hit the ground. It's cracked and scratched up bad.

I hurried and jumped up and got off the road. As Ragla and I stood there assessing the damages and putting my chain back on, a car pulled up. Surprise! It was Hilslug! At the time I figured she had been on her way to meet us for the ride and had stopped to help out. She came prepared, too. She cleaned up my wounds with some antibacterial wipes and offered a glove to keep grease off our hands while we put the chain back on.

My next surprise was that the Orem City Police showed up, lights flashing and all. I looked at the officer utter amazement and asked if someone had called him. Nope, he just happened to be in the area and thought it looked like I had been hit by a car. He pulled out his first-aid kit and helped bandage up my road rash.








Once I was all fixed up, we continued on the ride. 24 miles up to the top of South Fork and back home. The group teased me the whole ride with comments about not wanting to ride too close to me and reminding me not to wave at anyone.

When I got home I realized that I could hardly walk. Funny how riding my bike didn't hurt, but walking does???? Anyway, my elbow had gotten so stiff that I couldn't even get my clothes changed. So I decided to make a trip to the Instacare. They x-rayed my wrist and elbow, deemed me unbroken, re-bandaged me up and sent me on my way with instructions to rest and ice.

So I called a sub in to teach Spinning for me in the morning. Doctor's orders to rest, so I'm taking it for all it's worth.

***THANKS to Hilslug for documenting the event with her camera!

Other things to note:

• I managed to not rip any of my clothes.
• The van didn't even bother stopping or asking if I was okay.