I almost made it...

to the end of the year without a crash! I met up with a few guys this morning for what was supposed to be a quick ride down to Laguna Beach and back before I had to take care of some last minute Christmas duties. I was excited to get out. Marcellus had been sick all week and I had not been on the bike since Monday, so it was a treat to slip this last minute ride in.

Right before our turnaround point I told the rider in front of me to "turn up there" and not realizing that there was an "up there" before the "up there" that I was referring to, he started braking to make a quick turn and I couldn't slow fast enough and caught his rear wheel. I saw it coming and hit the road pretty hard, my left elbow and thigh taking the brunt of the fall. My first reaction of course was..."is my bike okay?" Ahhh...I'm so proud of myself...I'm becoming a true roadie. ;) The bike was fine, save for the saddle being askew and slightly scuffed and one of the brifters being jarred. Once I was sure that my bike was okay, we moved off of the road and assessed the damage. Jacket ripped and removed, same with the arm warmers...peeled them off and there it was...my first true road rash! My elbow was already swelling so we headed across the road to Diedrich's so I could clean up.

As I walked into Diedrich's I realized for the first time, that the large picture windows provided the patrons with quite a show. Heads turned and it clicked that all of these people had seen me go down. I felt like slinking out of there as quickly as possible, I thought I might die of embarrassment at the thought of having such a large audience. While I waited to use the restroom, the guy making coffee drinks told me that he "heard" me go down and offered me some ice and a bandage. We sat around outside drinking coffee for a bit before one of the homeless men outside offered to give me mouth to mouth to help me out. Such a kind gesture...thanks, but no thanks buddy. ;)

We set off north on PCH again and I was able to make it back without any trouble, so I'm pretty sure that all I'm dealing with is some serious bruising...both the body and the ego. I'm glad that I was able to laugh it off right away...as badly as it hurt, I wasn't about to cry in front of the boys!