Felled by a rock

Posted on August 22, 2008

Stupid rock. Don't you have anything better to do?

After getting my G2 licence, driving a car to work became very tempting. For a month now, I had either taken a bus or driven to work – no cycling.

So on a fine summer day in August, I blew dust off my bike and took it out for a ride. I took it slowly, enjoying the scenery, not looking at my watch. Not really looking at the road either.

I hurt my left side more than the right

At about five minutes from work, I felt a sudden jolt on my handlebars. Next thing I knew I was laying on the ground, the visor on my helmet scraping the road. It could’ve been my forehead.

I laid on the ground for a moment in pain, trying to figure out how badly damaged my bike and I was. I stood up, looked around, and saw a rock on the road. I had run over the rock, sending shock up my arms to my shoulders, enough to make them hurt. I lost grip of the handlebars and flew over my bike.

I took off a helmet and sat on the kerb, resting. A truck driver stopped and checked if I was OK. I smiled and thanked him.

I was back in the car driving to work for the next two days. I cycled home on today.