Bike adventure.

So. Feeling inspired by Jason's big bike adventure, I thought, "Hey, what the hell! If he can make it to the Loop, I can make it a mile and a half over to the bookstore to pick up the new Harry Potter."

Remind me never, ever again to be inspired by Jason.

The ride there was fine. Hot as hell, humid as a m*therf*cker, but fine. The only difficult part of the riding was the overpass bridge (the whole uphill thing, ugh). Cars were giving me a wide berth, which was fine, but at the same time I did want people to drive right next to me, so that I could have the sh*t scared out of me and have it over with.

I got to the bookstore, and there were many, many copies, so I was glad. I got a copy, paid for it, got a bottle of water from the cafe and headed off towards home.

Now to get home, I either had to make a right turn, immediately cut across three lanes of traffic and make a left turn at a major intersection, or make a left turn out of a parking lot, with a light, and not have to turn again until I was almost home. I went the parking lot route. I got in the left turn lane, waited for the light, and so as not to block traffic behind me, got up to top speed. Now the funny thing about turning at top speed, is that the curb comes up really quick. Like, way way quick, like "OH DEAR GOD I'M GOING TO CRASH INTO THE CURB" quick.

Yeah. I totally misjudged the time it would take to straighten out... and then crashed into the curb. Genius.

My thoughts were this: "Oh crap. Oh Crap. OH CRAP! OH CRAP, DIVE DIVE DIVE!!!"

I let go of the handlebars and did my best to throw myself away from my bike, because I didn't want to impale myself on the brake lever or anything. (Ew. Yeah. Just grossed myself out.) Thank god there was a grassy tree boulevard and not just sidewalk, because I landed primarily on my right shoulder and hip, and I vaguely recall my head bouncing off the ground a bit (Yay, helmet!) I sat up slowly, moved a bit to see if everything was still working. It was, so I pulled my bike the rest of the way out of the street, and just stood there for a minute laughing.

The street light changed, and the second car in line slowed when it got to me. A woman leaned out, asked if I was ok and handed me a few anti-bacterial wet-wipes. That was awesome. Thank you lady in the red car. I hope something really nice happens for you.

I waited for traffic to clear and started off again, noticing my seat was crooked, so I stopped off at the gas station and fixed it.

The rest of the ride home was smooth sailing. Cars did ride right alongside of me this time which was initially scary, "Whoa SUV, and I'm on a bike. A BIKE!!!" but then after it happened a few times it was no big deal. I just had to keep telling myself that it was ok and that I had just as much right to be here as they did. I saw a few bicyclists riding on the sidewalk and felt smug. I had to resist the urge to yell out, "You're breaking the law!" (Because I'm an enormous nerd.)

I got home and surveyed the damages. My s'n'b shirt sustained a pretty serious grass stain on the shoulder, but my shorts were fine. I had a small skinned spot on my left knee and right elbow, my shoulder was sort of speckled looking, not quite skinned, but not far off, and I had a tons of little scrapes and scratches all along my right forearm and right leg. The piece de resistance? A ginormous oval bruise on my right hip. It's about three inches long and an inch and a half wide. So pretty.

So. That's my grand bike adventure. Hooray!