The last week

I thought I would elaborate on Carl's earlier post about my bike accident last week and the week that has followed.

There's a section of road near Port Kembla, about 25k from Bulli, which doesn't feel safe for cyclists so we use the shared bike/pedestrian path, then go back on the road inside the PK area itself. (Ironically, this is now two accidents in a couple of months where I've been riding on 'safer' footpaths and have fallen off). There are two ramps from the footpath to the road, one about half way down a hill, the other at the bottom. I used to go back on the road using the bottom ramp but recently have started to use the top one, the road is smooth and I'd rather ride on that than the path as the traffic is gone from that section. I was going fairly fast down the hill and following Carl quite closely, too closely to be able to see past him properly. He took the ramp and I was surprised as I didn't think we were that far down the hill yet. I made an attempt to get to the ramp but just overshot it, instead coming off the full kerb and not able to control my landing I bounced along the road on my right knee, shoulder, elbow, buttock and the right rear part of my helmet.. I lay there for a moment, a little dazed. I think the bike was on top of me and my brain couldn't get my arms to move. Some people who were driving past and saw the accident stopped to check I was OK (I remember lying on the ground with three hi-vis jacketed people looking down on me. Thanks, whoever you were). Carl and Aaron come back and someone took the back off me and I moved to the side of the road to sit on the kerb. After a few minutes to gather myself and check I hadn't broken any bones, I checked out my bike and was relieved to see there was no damage - the handlebars had gone off centre but that was it. Another 75km to go so we rode on.

The next day I had stiffened up a little but heavy rain meant we didn't go out riding anyway. It's Friday now and I can still feel some soreness in my hips and deep in my glutes which makes sitting a little uncomfortable. I've just done 45 mins on the bike trainer this week (plus the usual runs & swims) as I've taken the week mainly off cycling to keep mentally fresh for the ride.

Back to it this weekend.

Paul