Sunday, February 27, 2011

It was Bound to Happen…

…sooner or later.

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No blood. No foul. All is good….

Thank goodness for riding buddies with iPhones or I would not have this to share with you. But I should give you the back story. Yes, there is a back story.

It was a warm, sunny southern day, about 81 degrees outside. Beautiful day for a bike ride. I was out with the Triple Threat Girls: Meet…

J-Ninja-who was clearly confused about whether or not we were biking or running today…

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And Breaking Pace-

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About 17 miles in a squirrel decided he should run down his tree, circle it and rummage on the ground. I guess he was startled by our beauty or our biking flair or our speeeed-who knows for sure. But I saw it look at us and in true squirrel fashion he darted across the street. Why do they do that!? So stupid! I mean really? Run back up your tree if you are scared..Duh. So anyway, we were riding three across, taking up the whole road, it was a quite street. I looked to my right and saw the squirrel dart between Breaking Pace’s front and back tire. Near miss! Between us was J-Ninja and I have no idea how the squirrel got through her, maybe he jumped over her? I just kept telling myself, “Don’t swerve. Don’t swerve. Don’t swerve…” Swerving could have been deadly, I could have crashed after all.

So I did not swerve.

I saw him coming.

I closed my eyes.

BUMP!

I hit him.

Ran right over him with my back tire.

I can’t say whether or not he died, there was no body. He ran for it. I stopped and inspected my bike for blood and I expected to see his tail wrapped up in my spokes (reminded me of when I hit a squirrel with my car in college and when I stopped I saw his tail stuck under my tire and no squirrel body. SAD.). We were laughing but a little traumatized too. After a short stop to regroup and process what had happened we headed on.

I planned to try a route that heads out the back gate of the Air Force Base and connects with our old 16 mile loop around the shooting ranges. We were on our way and about 2 miles in the road was barricaded. Epic fail. Not only that but the road was rough and there were holes, gravel and rocks. Not good when you are on a road bike. I was going slow and trying to turn around when my front tire hit something, a hole or a rock I’m not sure. I came to a halt and proceeded to fall over. There was no stopping it. My feet were stuck in the peddles. As I fell my feet came out and I must have put my hand down to minimize the impact, my wrist is getting more and more sore as the day goes on. I hit the ground and my helmet saved my nugget, seriously. I am a believer in helmets. I should wear one all the time.

J-Ninja said she saw it happening…in slow motion. I got to thinking, if she were a real ninja she probably could have caught me. But maybe not…

I think what Breaking Pace said was, “Hold on! Don’t move let’s assess for neck injuries let me get my phone out and take a picture! Hold my bike J-Ninja!” Nice. I love my friends. In her defense I was laughing pretty hard and truth be told I was pretty proud and I had survived my first fall, my first real life bike crash…and no blood! It was bound to happen. Thank goodness for iPhone cameras.

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When I showed Hubs the picture he said, “Is the bike ok?” Ugh, men.

Stats for today:

Bike Ride-1/Amanda-0 & Squirrel-0/Amanda-1

Oh yeah and 41.25 miles!! A complete mileage PR!!! Crazy!!!!

Lessons learned on a 41.25 bike ride to come….and there were quite a few.

Well I am alive and well! More than the squirrel can say. But hey, it was me or him and I chose life. My dad always taught me not to swerve to miss animals. Sure he was talking about in a car but I think the concept applies to bikes too.

23 comments:

  1. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

    I love it.. LOVE IT. Today was by far the best cycling day ever. I was laughing through your entire blog!

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  2. The squirrel thing cracked me up! I was keeping my eye on one myself last weekend.

    Sorry for the crash, but at least no blood! And at least there were friends along to get the picture! Might as well have photo proof if you're going to crash =D

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  3. OMG you guys are a hoot!

    I'm glad you're okay... definitely a good story to tell.

    RIP squirrel. Don't mess with TT!

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  4. Now thats Funny... Glad your okay.

    My dad taught me the same thing never swerve for an animal.

    You girls crack me up!

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  5. Too funny - what are the chances that you would actually run over a squirrel!
    Nice 41+ mile bike ride - so jealous!

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  6. Oh my goodness! An adventurous day for sure. Hope your not too sore tomorrow and nothing major is damaged. Nice long ride BTW.

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  7. Love it! Glad to have an exciting post after the most boring post ever on friday :)

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  8. Oh no!!! Glad you're ok...but the pic do make me giggle!!

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  9. Wow what an adventure you had! Friends are good for getting pictures of our "accidents" and I wouldn't have it any other way. My girlfriend took a picture of me in the ER after I passed out in the marathon and I am so glad I have that picture. It really helps tell the story! So glad you are okay and congrats on that distance PR!!

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  10. I crashed yesterday too, how weird!! I didn't hit any animals though! Tim and others in vehicles were laughing at me... I skinned my knee a little and the wrist is stiff but otherwise in good condition. We road for 30 miles, the longest for us so far.

    42.5 is great! Awesome! You go Girl!

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  11. Lol glad you are okay, love the pics! Congrats on the pr!!

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  12. What a funny story!!! I am glad you're okay though! Have you iced your wrist? Maybe you should! Great mileage!

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  13. That's so sad for the squirrel. I hope he/she's ok. But for real - why do they decide that crossing your path is the best idea?! You'd think evolution would have gotten rid of them by now.

    I hope your wrist feels better! I've formed a habit of pulling my hands in when I fall on skis or a snowboard, but I bet on a bike I'd still put my hand out. At least you were already stopped! It could have been much worse.

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  14. So funny...I just tried biking for the first time the other day with my new shoes and clips! Kaplunk I went when trying to stop because I forgot I had them on and couldn't just put my feet down!!

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  15. and BTW my husband said the same thing..."how is the bike!??"

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  16. Hilarious! Glad you're OK. Poor squirrel ...

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  17. I seriously love your story telling! Hilarious!

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  18. OMG! This had me in stitches! Mainly because it reminded me that I wiped out 3 suicidal chipmunks on my bike last year. I felt so bad! But they chose their fate! And the other reason for laughing was my slow motion tip over that happened to me too. Just couldn't get my foot out quick enough. Lots of blood and I still have a tiger's paw scratch across my calf from the sprocket! Glad you had your A-Team there with you to share the laughter, snap a few pics and help you out!

    I hope your wrist gets better soon!

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  19. That takes skill to hit a squirrel on a bike. I've been trying to hit one with my car for years! Kidding. If your friends were real fast they could've video taped your fall and it would go viral on YouTube.

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  20. that is exactly what my husband would say. glad that you are okay.

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  21. I am totally lmao at your friends! Only blogging girls would think to snap a pic before checking for injuries! It's always on the back of my mind when I'm out running... always searching for something entertaining to blog about. Thanx for letting me live my life thru you. Your adventures are WAY more entertaining!!

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  22. OK this picture gives me a little anxiety... I just want to pick you up and fix you.. CONFIRMATION that bikes are scary..

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You're pretty much awesome!!

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