Ok, now I know it was a bad idea. I mean, *now* I know it was a bad idea. And really, I knew it as soon as I reached the first corner. I should have turned around right then but I didn’t. Corners were iffy and I slid several times. I got down the street to a stop sign and slid a little. As I stopped I looked to the right, and there were 3-4 people there waiting for the bus. Great! I love an audience when I crash and burn.
Gently I started off with one foot completely off the pedal just in case I started to slide. Yeah, good thinking. Touch and go for a few seconds, slipping and sliding just enough to wobble but eventually catch my balance. I couldn’t steer through the corner so I headed toward the sidewalk. Oh I say “I headed there” but really I was going there anyway seein’s how I had no control of the steering since the tire was on ice. By some miracle I managed to stop safely and reposition myself.
Whew! One last leg left. Get this done and it’s all flat from here in to work. Off I go down the easy slope, slowly gathering speed. Taking note that the end of the cemetery is at the bottom of the hill, I feel the first slide of the tires.
It happened pretty quickly, really. One minute I’m almost down the hill to safety, the next minute I’m on my back with my bicycle on top of me and we are both in the middle of an icy street. What took a while was me realizing I didn’t have any broken bones or pounding headaches and that I might want to start thinking about getting out of the road. I assume nobody saw me fall since nobody came to see if I was ok or not.
I kicked at my bike to get it off me but the handle bars were tangled in my jacket cinches. Ah, Christ! I’m going to get run over by a car sliding down the same hill. Calmly, I grab the jacket cinches and untangle them from the handle bars then a quick *kick-kick* and I’m free of the bike.
Ok, now to right myself and get to my feet. Yeah, right. Have I already forgotten that I’m on ice? I roll over and get up to my knees. This is gonna be a slow process, I can tell. Now how to get from my knees to my feet and stay there. Groaning all the way I grabbed my bike tire for stability (who am I kidding here, stability, on ice?). The bike must’ve found a purchase on some dry patch of road, because I was able to get to my feet. Now, to get to the sidewalk.
Inching along, using my shoes as an impromptu pair of skates, I find safety on the sidewalk. Ok, now to limp it down the rest of the hill. But how? The sidewalk is icy. What did I expect? Clear blue sky and sunshine? Ok, the only way I’m going to make it is to walk down the hill in the sliver of grass between the sidewalk and the sticker bushes. The icy snow crunches with each step but at least I know I’m not going to fall.
At the bottom of the hill I intersect with a jogger out for his morning run. “Brave activity for this morning”, he says. I return, “Brave or stupid, I’m still deciding”. We each chuckle and continue on our respective trajectories.
Finally I make it to the trail. Guess what? It’s icy too. And there are little bike tire tracks from people before me. Is this a good sign? As it turns out, no. The tracks have re-frozen and have formed hard, slippery ridges. Perfect. I hop on the bike, like getting back on the proverbial horse that threw me, and head out. Slippery in the middle, I head toward the side where the snow hasn’t melted yet. It’s easier but still, I’m pedaling really slow.
Once past the always dangerous intersection of 25th, I figure it’s going to be rather smooth sailing the rest of the way. Not bad on this side of the street but it is still icy. Ok, slow and steady is the plan of the day. Not gonna make it to work in record time, that’s for sure. Up ahead I notice a biker walking their bike. I’m going to pass them and make a comment, like, “Hey. Nice day for a bike ride, huh”? When I get up to the person I realize that it’s Judi. I hop off the bike and we walk together. She had fallen earlier too, but she wasn’t riding her bike at the time.
We made it in to work, barely. My back still hurts and I hear something loose sounding on my bike. I will have to perform a visual inspection this weekend to make sure the bike isn’t going to fall apart. It can also use a bath.
