the week of living resolutely, day 4

So today was... interesting. I drank my water, wrote for a while, woke up early, ate hardly any sugar, took a nap (whatever), didn't need to be on time anywhere, and WRECKED ON THE BIKE (don't worry, Nicole: the bike is fine, and so am I).

Here's what happened. As you may have noticed, the weather was distinctly bipolar today. It rained, it was sunny, it hailed, it rained again, it was sunny again. And with each change of the weather I changed my mind about whether or not to take the bike out. Finally it was looking sunny enough that I decided to pedal to the library, where I checked out eight books, had a lovely time, and stayed so long that it started to rain again. "Fine," I thought. "No big deal. I'll just be careful." WRONG.

So I'm riding down 10th avenue and trying to stay to the right, which means steering in between the streetcar tracks, which is basically the worst idea in the universe. I know they're dangerous, and I'm paying careful attention, but when I go to change lanes one of my wheels slips on the slick tiles around the tracks anyway and I hit the street on my left side, scraping the heck out of my left elbow and--I think--hitting my head (which was mercifully wearing a helmet--thanks, Nicole!). I get up as fast as I can and, seriously shaken, wheel the bike to the curb. There is only one car behind me. The driver's name is Diana and she's riding with her sister. They stop and offered me a ride, which I accept in a babbling kind of way.

A true comedy of errors ensues as we try to figure out how to get the bike in the car. At first it's not going well at all, so I offer to get on the streetcar instead, which Diana's sister is a fan of but Diana herself won't allow. We can't figure out how to get the quick release wheel to come off (please remember that I'm really shaken up and not thinking clearly), so I call Ross as Diana enlists help from a man walking past. Between the three of us (Diana's sister is still in the car) we get the wheel off but then still can't figure out how to get the bike actually into the car. The lo and behold, our savior arrives, in the form of a somewhat fragrant (but very nice) drunken fellow who hoists it straight in and makes the rest of us look silly.

Anyway, that was a long story. The take-home message is that I'm okay, although with a seriously scraped-up elbow, the bike is okay, and you should never, EVER ride a bike on the streetcar tracks. Also, people are inherently good and happy to help when the situation arises. Also also, helmets save lives. The end.

Day 4 of The Week? Maybe not resolved, but definitely not wrecked.