The one-buttock slide
Oct. 26th, 2009 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzCrap.
I had only just departed this morning and was working up to my regular cruising speed. This was also the problem. The curve of the bicycle path around Alexander train station is rather steep. The road was wet. I hung low in the curve.
It seems I'm rather good at the one-buttock slide. I slid over the asphalt, keeping a perfect balance on my right thigh, until my momentum stopped at the opposite end of the bike path. I was glad there wasn't any other traffic; scooters are known to go quite fast there.
I stayed in position for a second or two and a lady came up to me, asking if I could get up by myself. I said I could, and untangled my right leg from under the bike. As I tugged the bike up, I noticed my right hand was bleeding. The steering bar had twisted a bit, and I twisted it back, holding the wheel between my legs to stabilise it. Then I got back on the bike, taking my right hand into my mouth to suck on the wounds for a moment.
I dismounted a couple of times during the ride. The steering bar had not twisted at the handlebar-end, but at the end where it came through the frame. I knew that NoKey had turned those bolts exceptionally tight, so there was nothing I could do there without the proper tools. The frame end with the footrests had also twisted -- they're stuck to a bit of frame that can be lengthened at will, and I could easily right that again, though it was a little difficult to loosen those snaps.
And I figured out that my gears were broken, as was the cycling computer on the handlebars. The metal wire that connects to the gears at the back wheel is completely loose, though still through some eyelet, but I can't see where it should go, so I can't fix it. Right now I'm stuck with three gears. As for the cycling computer: I could see the wires are still in place, so I don't know how to fix that.
I cycled the 20 kilometers anyway. The slide happened close to home, but I refused to go back and admit defeat. The strong north wind was against me, but I managed even with only three gears. I wasn't the only one to have some troubles commuting: I saw a head-to-tail collission on the A12, and a lady who works in catering here had been hit by a scooter while she tried to go into the driveway.
After changing I appraoched security at the front desk, asking for a bandage. I have a huge blooded abrasion on my elbow, a smaller abrasion without blood on my ankle, and the small cut on my right wrist that bled like a scalp wound. They wanted to put some betadine on it, but the flask was empty. But my vest wasn't torn so the largest abrasion wasn't in the grit and dirt on the asphalt.
My colleagues are all really worried, for some reason. I'm hardly shaken. It can happen. It was a stupid mistake. I've had plenty of tumbles and abrasions when I was a kid. Somehow, in my puberty, I must have turned to porcelein or some such. It doesn't even hurt anymore, so there's no need to coddle me. *wink*
If it really had hurt badly, I wouldn't have gone on to cycle, now would I? Actually, I feel rather refreshed by the drive.
I had only just departed this morning and was working up to my regular cruising speed. This was also the problem. The curve of the bicycle path around Alexander train station is rather steep. The road was wet. I hung low in the curve.
It seems I'm rather good at the one-buttock slide. I slid over the asphalt, keeping a perfect balance on my right thigh, until my momentum stopped at the opposite end of the bike path. I was glad there wasn't any other traffic; scooters are known to go quite fast there.
I stayed in position for a second or two and a lady came up to me, asking if I could get up by myself. I said I could, and untangled my right leg from under the bike. As I tugged the bike up, I noticed my right hand was bleeding. The steering bar had twisted a bit, and I twisted it back, holding the wheel between my legs to stabilise it. Then I got back on the bike, taking my right hand into my mouth to suck on the wounds for a moment.
I dismounted a couple of times during the ride. The steering bar had not twisted at the handlebar-end, but at the end where it came through the frame. I knew that NoKey had turned those bolts exceptionally tight, so there was nothing I could do there without the proper tools. The frame end with the footrests had also twisted -- they're stuck to a bit of frame that can be lengthened at will, and I could easily right that again, though it was a little difficult to loosen those snaps.
And I figured out that my gears were broken, as was the cycling computer on the handlebars. The metal wire that connects to the gears at the back wheel is completely loose, though still through some eyelet, but I can't see where it should go, so I can't fix it. Right now I'm stuck with three gears. As for the cycling computer: I could see the wires are still in place, so I don't know how to fix that.
I cycled the 20 kilometers anyway. The slide happened close to home, but I refused to go back and admit defeat. The strong north wind was against me, but I managed even with only three gears. I wasn't the only one to have some troubles commuting: I saw a head-to-tail collission on the A12, and a lady who works in catering here had been hit by a scooter while she tried to go into the driveway.
After changing I appraoched security at the front desk, asking for a bandage. I have a huge blooded abrasion on my elbow, a smaller abrasion without blood on my ankle, and the small cut on my right wrist that bled like a scalp wound. They wanted to put some betadine on it, but the flask was empty. But my vest wasn't torn so the largest abrasion wasn't in the grit and dirt on the asphalt.
My colleagues are all really worried, for some reason. I'm hardly shaken. It can happen. It was a stupid mistake. I've had plenty of tumbles and abrasions when I was a kid. Somehow, in my puberty, I must have turned to porcelein or some such. It doesn't even hurt anymore, so there's no need to coddle me. *wink*
If it really had hurt badly, I wouldn't have gone on to cycle, now would I? Actually, I feel rather refreshed by the drive.
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-26 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-26 10:34 am (UTC)That wasn't the new bike, not yet. I'll pick it up on Saturday. I hope NoKey can (help me) fix the problems on my mom's bike before I return it on Friday.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-26 02:42 pm (UTC)Maybe people are worried about you, because you are now far more interesting than their work and because you are hurt, it is okay to spend some extra time on you instead of on work. I'm such an optimist. ;)
Glad to hear it was only a small accident.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-26 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-26 04:26 pm (UTC)