Well, it’s taken a while but I had my first bike accident today, unassisted as well. And of course, it would be on a factory new bike, rather than on the used bikes I have trundling around on the past two years.
I need to get used to this beast, that’s for sure. Between all the gearing (going from 2 levers to 4 that don’t necessarily go the way I expect) and toe-clips, going from a standstill into a serious hillclimb was an accident waiting to happen, and it did. I was in the street before I knew it, and I didn’t really have time to disengage my feet, so down I went, bike and all.
I ended up with a bruise and a scrape on my left elbow, a couple of holes in my knee (these I didn’t discover til I got home and Tegan called to me from the top of the stairs “why is your leg bleeding?”), and the imprint of the big chain ring in my right leg. And the left side of my Sora flightdeck controllers looks a little shopworn now.
The bathtub while I showered looked like a slaughterhouse floor, but everything got cleaned up.
So the bike is an amazing piece of work, very fast and responsive. I was able to get up to 20 mph on the flat without hitting the big chain ring, so that felt good. I’ve decided to skip riding to the trailhead and just take the bike over there: I didn’t do that before because I couldn’t easily get the front wheel off the old bike, but this one has a quick release. I don’t really want a lot of hill-climbing practice right now, anyway. Miles more than grades are what I need.