I guess if you ride outside long enough, then the odds are, you will eventually have an incident where you crash on your bike.  It was my turn this evening.  I am fine.

I joined the local Triathlon Club, for our regular group ride at North Park this evening. We had a small group, but we were excited for the fun we expected to have. Ten minutes into our ride, it was anything but fun.

We were descending a small hill, when a truck pulled out of a parking lot on our left.  The driver had left things quite late to pull out, but if they had driven down the road, everything would have been fine.  Unfortunately however, the driver immediately decided to turn right. To do this, the driver thought it would be a good idea to stop in the middle of the road.

I was about twenty yards from the truck when they pulled out, and was the first bike to be at the stopped vehicle. I hit my brakes hard. The rear tire locked up but as I skidded, I was able to steer to the right of the vehicle.  I was a few inches from missing it, but my left shoulder just caught the truck bed and down I went.

Fortunately, I had slowed to an almost stop when I went down.  My bike computer said I was doing 7 mph.  This meant that my crash was quite minor and I didn’t hit my head on the ground.  I have a few bumps and grazes. I am sure I will be sore in the morning, but I will be fine.

Sadly, the lady riding behind me wasn’t so lucky. She ended up in hospital with cracked ribs and a head injury. I really hope she is going to be OK.

I ride outside a lot and always worry about having a crash.  Regularly riding outside is obviously going to increase the odds of an event like I had this evening.  I am just grateful that I only had minor injuries.

Oh… the bike is fine too….