A Crashing Success

My ride on Sunday with my friend Sayre was a crashing success in more than one way. Oh, our trip from the Reading Area Community College parking lot up the Union Canal Trail was wonderful. We turned around at Blue Marsh lake after taking in the views from the visitor's center. Sayre is both a thoughtful conversationalist and a rider considerate of my abilities, and this trip wasn't the hammerfest some such rides can be. After lunch with Sayre's wife and child we rode for an additional mile or so down the connecting Neversink Trail. We turned around just before the end and rode back to RACC. I told Sayre I was going to ride back down the trail to the end, and his parting words to me were "be safe."

Ten minutes later I was sprawled on the street, having misjudged the angle as I crossed abandoned railroad tracks on Canal Street, in front of the Canal Street Pub. I breathed deeply as I got up and inspected myself. I had full range of motion in my limbs, and no constriction in my chest. My left knee took the fall the hardest, but fortunately I was wearing tights so there was no road rash. Roark had his bell broken, and the front skewer damaged. I had to remove and replace the wheel so I could ride. That done, I continued to the end of the trail and then rode back to RACC and my car.

Overnight the swelling in my left knee went down. However, by Tuesday I'd noticed a 'catch' in my left chest when I took a deep breath or moved the 'wrong' way. It appears I have at least cracked, if not broken, a rib. My previous experience with a broken rib was in June 2008, after a crash in Cumberland, MD. That put me out of action for six weeks. This crack doesn't seem to be as severe, so I'll be cautious in riding and hiking while I continue to  exercise outside.