A Hurricane and a Bike Crash

Wednesday afternoon, I found out the Sheriff was letting all non essential employees off on Friday, Sept 8th, to prepare for the Hurricane, that was forecast to hit us over the weekend. I decided to use Friday morning as a chance to get in my last long bike ride before the heavy wind and rain came in. Augusta 70.3 in 2 weeks!

Hard to imagine I missed seeing this big yellow divider!

So, I headed out from the Publix on Honore. My favorite place to ride. Beautiful morning. I was keeping up a pace of 18ish mph. The problem: my brain was focused on hurricane prep and worried about the damage we might have. I was riding on the left side of the bike lane, with my eyes looking just in front of my front wheel. I KNOW better! I wasn't paying attention at all. And in a split second, I saw the barrier, dividing the road and bike lane. My front wheel slammed into it (no chance to grab the brakes). I flipped over the center of the divider and landed in the bike lane. My bike flew into the middle of the road. Water bottles flew out. Thankfully, there were no cars behind me. It took me a few seconds to get up and then walk over to my bike and drag it over to the side. I leaned it against the guard rail, then picked up my water bottles and the end caps to my aero bars, which had both popped out, even though they had been glued in. A woman, who had been driving towards me, pulled over and walked over to check me out. I sat down, to the right of the guard rail, in the shade to try and cool off. I was sweating big time. And shaking. I told her I felt okay and that I had my phone and would call someone. She took off. Then, a guy rode up on his bike. He helped me to bring my bike over out of the road way, then put the chain back on and looked it over. That's when I noticed the handle bar was very bent. I had it in my head that I was going to continue my ride!

Left handle bar and areo bars are noticeably bent.

The guy told me I should call someone. That I was in no condition to even ride the 9.5 miles home. I got my phone out of the bike pouch, then sat back down in the shade. My head started spinning. I was very dizzy for a good minute. I tried to think of who could pick me up besides my husband, how had taken his motorcycle to work. I called Carolyn, since I knew she had the day off of work. She didn't answer, so I left a message. I thought of calling Gina, but I knew she would be heading into work at any minute. Then I called Wendy, who told me she was at work, but would come and get me. While I was talking to her, Carolyn called me back. I got on the line with her. She said she was leaving her house and heading my way. The guy on the bike hung out with me for a bit, before I told him he could go, that someone was on their way. While I waited, a few more riders came up on me, each asking how I was. I really appreciate all the concern from everyone! I took a few photo of my injuries. My shoulder was really hurting, but I couldn't see what was going on back there. So I snapped a photo.

Yikes! I had some road rash! My knuckles took a hit also. Blood on both middle finger knuckles. I looked over my helmet and didn't see any cracks, so I figured I didn't really hit my head, but, my left cheek bone was a bit sore.

Carolyn picked me up, loaded my bike, then drove me back to my car. Since there was a bike shop in the parking lot, we walked my bike over, for them to check out. The guy put the bike up on the rack and pointed out that the front forks were bent back, from the impact. Since I was kind of out of it and they were closing soon, I left it there, with a claim tag and said I would call after the storm moved through. Carolyn followed me home. I felt okay to drive and I really didn't want to leave my car there.

When I got home, I told Aidan about my crash and told him to check on me every so often. I was worried about a possible head injury. My head didn't hurt, so I didn't want to go to the hospital, but I still wasn't sure. Getting that tight tri top off and the bra under, was super hard! I didn't realize how sore my elbow was. Lifting my arm up really hurt. It took me a couple of minutes to get those off. I cleaned my scrapes, then grabbed some ice packs for my shoulder, elbow and right knee. As the day continued, I would get up and walk around a bit, checking on my injuries.

I didn't sleep very well Friday night. I kept seeing that divider and the crash, over and over in my mind. The top of my hands and middle and index fingers were very painful. So much so, that I got up around 1 am to take some advil. Didn't help much. I got up at 5 am, with the plan to run or walk, with my running friends. Even if I walked a mile or two, I wanted to get some movement, as I know that helps keep my back issues at bay. I arrived a few minutes late. Everyone had left already. I headed out on my own. When I got to the bridge, I walked up, as I felt my Heart rate was pretty high. I had to walk a few more times during the rest of my run, as my right knee was feeling a bit wonky every once in a while. I ended up getting in my entire planned long run of 14 miles! Slow, but not really any slower then my normal pace lately.

No that it's Sunday, with the storm about to really hit us in a few hours, I have that to worry about. But, I still worry about getting that bike fixed and if it's even worth it. I was told it wasn't. So that means, looking for a new bike, getting it fitted and hopefully riding on it a couple of times. All before I head out of town in a week and a half! And, I have to hope that my shoulder and elbow (which is still swollen) are healed in time. So stressful! Just very happy that I didn't break anything. And that my A.S. hasn't flaired up. Very surprised about that!

Injury photos 2 days later:

Bruises are really showing up!

Lots of rash, but isn't super painful.