What is it that Coach says sometimes? There are two types of cyclists, those who have crashed and those who will..? So guess what happened today…

There I was, minding my own business on the D999, trying to hold my zone 3 into the nice, wide roundabout ahead, when, much to my surprise, three cars coming in from the right-side road decide that I don’t exist and try running into the roundabout before me. The first one was well ahead, to be fair, but the 2nd was cutting it close. The 3rd, however, entered the roundabout just as I was passing by his entrance. There was going to be a crash that I’d lose, so I slammed on the brakes, locked them up on the still-wet pavement (an unusually early ride today) and took a nose-dive over my handlebars, landing on my right side and even giving my head a little tap on the pavement.

I just spent the whole day getting tests done to make sure everything in still in their proper places and adding up the cost of the stuff I can’t use anymore. First up, my Cannondale winter jacket.

OK, maybe I can patch that one up. Next, a possible blessing in disguise: my Mavic Pro shoes (I was looking for a reason to buy new shoes, if you’ll remember).

That’s the main strap, which used to have a plastic piece carefully attached to it. It’s toast, I think.

I have a bruised hip and a large goose egg beside my shin, but no broken bones. But here’s some blood from my elbow, which just got it’s skin torn away thanks to the Cannondale and undershirt I was wearing.

I am a little afraid to look at my bike in detail, but I’ll do that later tonight. I think there’s at least some trouble now with the rear derailleur, but the wheels look true still and my shin appears to have kept the frame away from the pavement.

This was my first crash in 3 years and the only one that ever involved a car, I think. It was a bit scary, as you all know (or will know!), and I found it interesting that, in the split second that everything happens in, you know it before it occurs. Well, not really I guess. My mind had me bouncing off the hood of the car, not Supermanning it in front.

But the important thing is that I’m OK and I can get back zone 3 tomorrow (indoors!). And, of course, it could have been ‘A Hoogerland’, so I can be thankful there isn’t much barbed wire on the roundabouts in France.