Crash & Burn

I had my first real crash on my bike. I knew it was going to happen at some point. I've fallen over on my bike just standing still (damn clip-in shoes) so I wasn't really looking forward to falling while moving.

I was on the Schuylkill River Trail, riding back from Valley Forge. There was still a coating of snow and ice on parts of the trail and I was being very cautious and taking my time getting out and back. I remembered a HUGE patch of ice that stretched across the entire trail on the way out so I told myself not to forget about it on the way back (it was around Conshohocken).

I was cruising along on a snow and ice free part of the trail, fidgeting with my leg warmer, when I looked up and saw the ice patch I warned myself about earlier. My stomach almost dropped out of my body - I knew I was f**ked. I was right on it with no time to go around it. I thought if I coasted over it, no braking and kept the bike steady that I would make it across and be fine. Maybe if I had my fat mtb tires on it, but my skinny road tires had no chance. As I hit the ice, my back tire slip out from under me and I went careening across the ice, bouncing onto the asphalt and bounced to a stop a few feet from where I hit the deck. I took the brunt of it on my knee and hip and my shoulder was a bit sore too. Nothing seriously hurt, just my pride. Bike and body were OK, so I got back on and started riding back home. I'm lucky it was freezing and I was covered head to toe in clothing or else I might have had some pretty road rash to show off!

In the end, it really wasn't so terrible. Now I know what to expect. Just like getting tackled for the first time, it really wasn't as bad as I expected although I would like to avoid it as much as possible.