On my way home from the Glendale Bicyclist and Pedestrian Count, just yards after passing under the Sunset Bridge on the Myra Avenue bike lane in Silver Lake, I got into a minor bike accident.
Basically, I hit some rough pavement, lost control and flet towards the curb, hitting my nose on the exposed root of a tree.
Ouch.
Using the above picture as a diagram, this is the painful play-by-play:
1. Rode my bike over large crack in pavement, presumably during a moment when I was not in full control of the handlebars.
2. Bicycle veered towards the right.
3. Front wheel hits curb, I fly off the right side of the bike.
4. Gliding in an angle towards the ground, I land in the dirt parkway and my nose hits the exposed tree root. A small cracking sound is heard.
My first thought, “Oh !@#$% – did I break my nose?” I instinctively blew my nose, and light traces of blood came out, but much of the bleeding was external. Yes, I wore my helmet but the helmet did not concern the point of impact. I turned towards my bike and discovered not only had the chain been dislodged from the gears, but the handlebars became twisted nearly 90 degrees — the bike was basically unrideable.
I walked the nearly one mile distance home, holding a paper napkin to my nose to stop any bleeding, in the hundred-degree heat. It was my only option.
I guess my nose wasn’t broken but it certainly became bruised. Although the hot day made my nose sunburned and it probably looked worse than it actually was. Good thing I was wearing a backpack – backwards (with the backpack covering my chest). I had no pain in my chest or abdomen area despite landing belly-down on the ground. The backpack likely absorbed the fall.
I will say that in all of the bicycle accidents in my life (one was serious enough to warrant a hospital visit with a minor brain hemorrhage as a teen), thank God none of them involved a motor vehicle.
Guess it’s time to rest a bit and put on a cold pack on my nose. But I’m mostly okay.
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