Sunday, May 20, 2007

Chad (Mel) fell down!

Yesterday, my friend Eva called me to go on a bike ride up the canyon. (She is training for a half-Ironman in August, and I haven't ridden my bike in about a year!) So, I agreed as I want to get on my bike again, and start training for a triathlon myself. I met her at the mouth of Provo Canyon and we preceded to head up the canyon. It was a gorgeous afternoon and I actually felt pretty good and quite comfortable on my bike. Numerous times I have ridden with others who have tried to explain all the gears and when and how to shift. However, it has never made sense, until yesterday. Eva is an amazing cyclist (OK, let's be honest, she's an amazing athlete and one of the most wonderful people I have ever met!). And, with her help, I was able to finally understand the gears on my bike and how and when to shift. Things were going great.....I'd even managed to clip in and out a few times with no trouble! (Those of you familiar with clipless pedals, can hopefully relate and understand how difficult they can be to use at first.) Well, we rode up South Fork to the girl scout camp. As I was turning around, I decided that I probably couldn't navigate the U-Turn without getting off my bike (I'm still a novice and not that good yet) I was making my U-turn to the left, but decided to clip out my right foot. The next thing I know, I'm tipping over and can't unclip my left foot. Very shortly, I was on the ground, bike on top of me. If you know anything about Stratton's, you know that we find it quite humorous when people fall off their bike! I assessed the damage....none to the bike and just a few scrapes and bruises to me. By the time we got back down the canyon, my right calf was pretty much a bloody mess! I had been bleeding for about 25 minutes and it just didn't look great. I got it all cleaned up (thanks to help from my mom) and have a nice bruise and a couple of puncture wounds (those chain-rings can make a mess of you if you're not careful!) Really, there's nothing that a little time and Imogene won't cure! All in all, it was a great ride, fantastic company and a fun afternoon. I just have a few "war wounds" to who for the day!

1 comment:

mandy said...

Sad I missed the fall!