Well, I achieved today what must be one of the final prerequisites of being a cyclist rather than merely a bike rider.\u00c2\u00a0 I wiped out – big time – and have a nice case of road rash to prove it.<\/p>\n
I was riding over the Sellwood Bridge this afternoon, but on the roadway instead of the pedestrian walkway as I usually choose to do.\u00c2\u00a0 Why?\u00c2\u00a0 Well, it was Columbus Day and traffic was low, I was going towards downtown instead of away (it was around 4 p.m.), and I hate the walkway because I usually have to stop several times to let walkers and other cyclists pass in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
So, I’m on the roadway, and I’ve made it 90% of the way across, and then I’m not sure if there is a ramp up on to the sidewalk to get me to the bikeway that parallels Macadam Ave.\u00c2\u00a0 I see it at the very last minute, and am going around 20 mph.\u00c2\u00a0 Did I mention that I replaced my very worn brake pads the day before?\u00c2\u00a0 Well, I slam on both the front and rear brakes, and the rear wheel locks up and starts to head in a clockwise direction.\u00c2\u00a0 I turn into the skid, but then my front brake catches, and I do a modified endo with a half twist – I hit the pavement with my left knee, followed by the left handlebar and then my left shoulder.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m stunned for a moment, then get up as fast as I can, because I’m in the traffic lane and there’s a school bus behind me.\u00c2\u00a0 The driver allowed plenty of room (thank goodness!) and I wave that I’m ok and get onto the sidewalk.\u00c2\u00a0 My knee is bleeding pretty profusely, and other than that I’m still in a bit of shock, but basically ok.<\/p>\n
I take a physical inventory and decide that everything is connected that should be and nothing is broken (except my skin).\u00c2\u00a0 I straighten out my handlebars and seat and go on my way.<\/p>\n
About 10 minutes later, I hit a huge galvanized nail in the South Waterfront district and actually have a spare tube and CO2 inflator to make the repair.\u00c2\u00a0 I finish my ride home, clean my wounds, and get ready to play our pops concert in Salem.\u00c2\u00a0 What a day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, I achieved today what must be one of the final prerequisites of being a cyclist rather than merely a bike rider.\u00c2\u00a0 I wiped out – big time – and have a nice case of road rash to prove it. I was riding over the Sellwood Bridge this afternoon, but on the roadway instead of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cycling"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-ky","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":816,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/27\/postcards-from-the-edge\/","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":0},"title":"postcards from the edge…","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Boise Phiharmonic violist\/blogger\/cyclist\/survivor Jen Drake tells us about the audiences in Boise.\u00c2\u00a0 Worth a look - it'll make ya laugh.","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5157,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/08\/08\/riding-to-fight-cancer\/","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":1},"title":"riding to fight cancer","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"08\/12 UPDATE: Thanks to my many generous friends and colleagues, I've met my $500 goal for this ride!\u00a0 Thank you so much, everyone!\u00a0 If you have not yet donated, please consider it, as it goes to two great causes: the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and the Knight Cancer Institute. Please pardon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "cancer"","block_context":{"text":"cancer","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/cancer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1989,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/02\/28\/mendelssohn-profundity-without-angst\/","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":2},"title":"mendelssohn – profundity without angst?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I got back a couple hours ago from working on the great op. 13 quartet of the young Felix Mendelssohn, and it never fails to amaze me how great a composer he is without often falling into the Germanic need for angst and suffering in his art.\u00c2\u00a0 One of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"255439x","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/255439x-200x258.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":411,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/08\/05\/miles-slowly-adding-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":3},"title":"miles slowly adding up","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past four weeks since coming back from MAVI I've decided to really get into the cycling aspect of my life - my hope is to do Team in Training next year with the aim of doing the \"Peach of a Century\" ride in Salem at the end of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"specialized sirrus comp bike","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/9285-20_l.thumbnail.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1014,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/06\/17\/gig-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":4},"title":"gig story","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I played a gig at a local mall.\u00c2\u00a0 It was for the opening of a new hearing aid store which specialized in their own brand of high-end hearing aids.\u00c2\u00a0 The ensemble for the group was a traditional string quartet. As we were walking up to the store, I remarked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "freelancing"","block_context":{"text":"freelancing","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/freelancing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7960,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/10\/19\/why-i-blog\/","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":5},"title":"why i blog","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As you may have noticed, the Oregon Symphony, like many other orchestras in the US (and around the world), it going through some tough times. No one knows how it will all turn out. Are we headed for some \"new model\"? I don't know, and to be frank, I don't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "bloggers"","block_context":{"text":"bloggers","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/bloggers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Charles034cropsm-200x256.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}