Bang Your Head!
Although I try to be careful when I’m out exercising (as
well as in life in general), sometimes, despite my best efforts, things go
awry. In the past, I’ve crashed off my
bike a few times, although thankfully, I’ve always been able to walk away and
never really incurred a ton of damage to the bike itself. I’ve also wiped out several times on the road
and trail, all just from tripping over my own two feet. Although I normally have to take some time
off to recover, I’ve again always been lucky that I’ve still never broken,
torn, or detached anything that needed significant healing time or surgery.
A wipeout at the
Elephant Mountain 50K a few years back
Last Sunday, I headed out for an easy hour ride along the
New River Trail, the pedestrian only (well, no motor vehicle access) paved
trail that runs right next to our neighborhood.
Between Chris and I, we run and ride the trail every single weekend, and
it’s one of our favorite features of the area where we live (we didn’t actually
know the trail existed when we bought this house, but had we known, that would
have sold us even faster). I rode out
toward Rio Vista Park, where many of our running races take place, and passed
the rear of the Peoria Sports Complex, where the Mariners and Padres spring
train.
I crossed the underpass at 75th Avenue and headed
toward what I like to call “the small park,” part of the Thunderbird Paseo Park
that intersects the trail before 67th Avenue. I really like this part of the park, as it
has a shaded area, restrooms, a water fountain, and a bike rack. It also has a ramp that runs right next to
the bathroom from the trail to the parking lot, and I often use it to turn
around so I don’t have to hop off my bike when I’m on an out and back bike ride
(too lazy to get off my bike to turn around but not too lazy to run
marathons. I’m an enigma wrapped in a
puzzle, people).
I did the same thing on Sunday that I’ve done at least 25
times before, and until that point, everything was going well. I made my turn in the parking lot, and in
riding back onto the trail from the parking lot, I hit a crack between two
sidewalk “panels;” although this isn’t normally a problem, this time, I must
have hit the crack just right. My front
tire fell into the crack, and I knew I was going down, hard. Although sometimes when you crash, it comes
out of nowhere, most times (at least, in my experience), something happens and
you know you’re about to hit the deck.
This was one of the latter times.
I did my best to steer my bike over to a gravel section of
the park, knowing that this would make my landing a bit softer than if I came
down right on top of the concrete. I
remember landing hard on my left side but the next thing I knew, I was lying
flat on my back in the gravel, staring up at the sky. I took a moment to cautiously test out
wiggling my fingers and toes, and thankfully, all of them worked. I also took stock of all my joints and larger
bones, and I felt relieved that nothing felt broken or out of joint.
I heard voices and noticed another biker – a lady about my
age and size (who also rode a Trek – I remember that) – checking on me to
ensure I was okay. I took off my helmet
and gloves and sat up, taking a moment to look around and see my
surroundings. Kristen, my new bestest
buddy, took a good look at me and feeling reassured I wasn’t going to die right
away, asked me to watch her bike while she used the bathroom. I called Chris and left a message on his cell
phone, figuring he was still outside working in the yard or in the shower (the
latter, as it would turn out). After Kristen
came back, I headed to the bathroom to wash my face and hands off, and she
reciprocated the bike watching; when I came out, she had my bike up and
overall, it seemed fine (she was putting my chain back on, as it seemed to have
come loose).
I remember shaking Kristen’s hand and saying thank you to
her, and I moved my bike around to the bike rack, on the shady side of the
bathrooms, to wait for Chris. The next
thing I knew, I was glancing down at my phone and wondering how I’d missed 4-5
calls from Chris. I called him back,
only for him to let me know that yes, we’d talked and yes, he was on his way to
get me. To this day, I don’t remember
talking to him in that “missed time;” apparently, when I talked to him, I
couldn’t figure out where I was (troubling, since I’ve been to or past this
park on the trail around 30-40 times in the past few years), and he had to find
me by using the “Find My iPhone” app (PS – get this app and use it – it’s
free). Scary stuff.
Within the next few minutes, Chris pulled into the parking
lot, helping me load up my bike into the car.
Thankfully, the ER was right on the way home, as we figured a stop was
in order. 9:30am on Sunday is apparently
the time to hit the ER, as we were brought right into the back and set up in a
room.
As my bud Christina
pointed out,
I had the best shoes in the ER.
After speaking to the doc on duty, I was set up for a CT
scan while Chris waited in the room.
Killing time by
surfing the interwebs
After the results came back from the CT scan (which were,
blessedly, normal), the doctors diagnosed me with a mild concussion and asked
me to follow up with my primary care doc later in the week.
Although I hit the turf hard, I didn’t have
too many scrapes – my surface injuries were limited to this small rub mark on
my left ankle bone:
See? Not bad.
I knew I hit the outside of my left hand as well, as I had
some tenderness there which increased while I was in the ER. I could still bend the hand and move
everything around, but it hurt too much to hold something with that
finger. It didn’t seem broken, but I
would be keeping a close eye on it for the next few days.
While waiting for the doc to send me home, I exchanged these
texts with my brother, Jim. When I sent
this to Toni, she asked if you can buy “get well soon” cards in bulk.
I feel like our family
needs extra life insurance.
I was discharged and sent home in the care of my (very
worried) husband. After making it home
(via lunch – pizza can help with anything), I examined my bike and helmet more
closely and found that I hit my head hard enough to track said helmet and embed
some smaller gravel pieces into the back of it where I smacked my head.
Always wear your
helmet!
I worked from home the next day, as I wasn’t sure if I’d
experience vertigo or trouble sitting up, like some concussion patients
have. Thankfully, things on that front
seemed to be fine, although my neck and shoulders were really painful;
essentially, I gave myself whiplash when I whacked my head on the ground, and
although I don’t remember doing that, it was obvious from my soreness in this
area.
On Tuesday, although my left hand no longer hurt, a bruise
blossomed up:
Nothing that watching So
You Think You Can Dance won’t solve.
My follow-up appointment with my primary care doctor was on Wednesday,
and I seem to be healing pretty well. My
doc doesn’t think I’ll ever get back the time I can’t remember from Sunday, but
all things considered, that’s not too bad.
On Wednesday, I also took a close look at my bike, and it seems to be
overall okay, despite this glaring issue:
That seat should be
parallel to the ground
I’ve been riding on the exercise bike at the gym, and I did
a short, easy run today, so I think I’ll be back to normal soon.
Although I’ve been sore, things could have been so much
worse, and I’m really thankful of how things happened. Always wear a helmet!
Later!
Amy
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