Ryan: Wipe Out

So it finally happened. I wiped out, and Andy is right, it doesn't hurt that much. This is what happened:

It was a cold, windy, and rainy night, and I was on my way to DMaC practice (DePaul Men's A Capella- my a Capella group) at 9:30 in the p.m. I was getting wet, and glasses in the rain are not great... but it was no big deal. I came to an intersection, checked both ways, then crossed the street. It seemed like a normal ride at first.

Then, as I approached another intersection, I was aware of a yellow VW bug coming up behind me. The light was red, so I slowed and began to check the left and right for the cars... well, apparently I should have been looking at the road harder because before I knew it I was flying over my handlebars after my front tire got stuck in a basketball size pot hole. I landed on my elbow and knee, but nothing was seriously injured (except for my pride of course).

I quickly got up, grabbed my bike and moved to the sidewalk to gather my composure. As I'm assessing the damage, I notice the the VW creep up a little bit... Then it creeps up a little more. Finally, the driver rolls down her window and asks, "are you ok?" My tormented ego replies, "I'm fine thanks for asking." Now that I think about it I could have responded in a more witty manner such as "Haven't perfected that trick yet... or no worries my bike and I are made of steel, or what do you mean am I ok? THAT WAS AWESOME, or at least I wasn't carrying a cake..." She proceeds to say "Well, that just sucks," and then quickly turned right and sped off.

After about a minute I got back on my bike and finished the ride only to spend the hour and a half of practice wearing sopping wet jeans...

It was quite the wipe out experience, and I'm proud to be in one piece... And thank you lady for the kind words...

Ryan C. Kolegas