Sights from my Bike Ride

This morning I met my niece, Kendra, for a bike ride.  She has only been riding for a few weeks and is doing really well.  She has gained a lot of confidence and managed a 16 mile ride today.  When I arrived, she was waiting for me with a little blue box that contained the beautiful elephant in the top right.  Since he went for the ride with us, I thought he should be included in the collage. :-))

I don't like to stop for photos when I'm with her so I only got the turtle and the swans.  Now for the story of the bottom right shot....

We were riding along the bike path enjoying the beautiful morning and talking and it got quiet so I glanced over my shoulder and she was on the ground.  She had accidentally ridden off the path onto the grass and didn't handle the transition very well.  She had a few scratches and a sore wrist but no real damage.  She wanted to keep going, so we rode on for a while and then I decided to show her what not to do if that happened again.  I rode off into the grass, showing her that she should ride it out and then get back on the path when she felt steady.  Unfortunately, when I tried to get back on the path I must have caught the lip and I went down hard right onto the cement path.  My first concern was my camera which was hanging across my chest on the side I fell on.  So, while still on the ground, I reached for my camera, which was thankfully unscathed, and took this shot to make sure it was working.  I didn't think about the bike being in the shot.  My next concern was for Trixie (my bike).  Good news is that I think I broke her fall and there was no damage.  In the meantime, poor Kendra was so worried about me.  I took stock of my injuries and decided nothing was broken so we rode on to our destination before starting back.  

So....I'm a little beat up.  I have road rash on my right forearm and lateral knee but my knee also has a deep bruise which I started to feel on the way back.  I am very grateful that the injury doesn't involve the joint at all.  By the time we got back to her car, the side of my knee was very swollen.  I didn't realize until I got home that I must have strained my intercostal muscles on that side as well.  Ironically, my arm looks the worst and it really doesn't hurt - but it sure did when I was scrubbing it in the shower.  My ribs are the most sore but after cleaning and icing my wounds and taking Ibuprofen, I think I'll make a full recovery. :-)

I was telling Kendra the last time we rode, that I once read in a cycling magazine that riders usually have a crash every 10K miles.  Well, it might be true because I had a serious crash just after 10K.  Now I'm at 25K so I was due.  I am very grateful that this one wasn't serious but I think I fell hard enough to count it!

Thanks to everyone who visited and sprinkled stars and hearts on my blips yesterday and today.  I appreciate each one of them! xx

Back to my ice packs now....