scraaaaaape.

i fell off my bike today. Fell off my bike bad.

Flew, tangled, slammed, thudded, scraped.

There was an empty moment there, in midair: why is this happening? What did i hit? i've made that turn hundreds of times.

Limped to my feet: vision, hearing were present, both good signs. Grabbed Pierre (he's a mint green Motobecane who i love dearly) and shuffled to the curb. Laid him down gingerly, set myself down somewhat less gingerly.

Self-inspection! Removed (now torn) gloves. Left palm looks disgusting. There are... flaps of skin. And red, blood. Right elbow appears to be one giant area of severe over-exfoliation. It is on fire, and oh yes! There is more red blood here. And grit. Pull up pants (right knee of which is now in tatters) to discover a stiff, throbbing mound, and not in a nice way. My knee is a monster: flayed skin, what appear to be Insta-Bruises, and oh yes!! More of my precious life fluid out on display for the world to see. In a daze, i glance over to the intersection i was turning through. And that's when i notice the hose.

It ran quietly from one corner to another, this dark blueish snake, with a circumference of about five or so inches (coincidentally, the perfect size to fell a bike-riding girl on her way to work!). Woulda been really special for me if i'd seen it a few minutes ago, before i attempted to cross it at a shallow angle with extremely thin bicycle tires. However, it was a similar shade to the asphalt, so i don't even think i would have noticed it had i been going or slower or not wearing the world's crappiest pair of sunglasses. Perhaps if i'd hit it straight on, there would have been a chance. But nope, not today.

None of the 5 city workers who saw my diabolical dismount even came over to see if i was okay. Actually, i sort of resented them for that. For fuck's sake, this wouldn't have even happened if they hadn't been there in the first place. (disclaimer: yes, i know that i'm the stupid idiot who didn't see the obstacle and bit it, but still. but still.) My head was actually hurting a little at this point so i squinted into the screen of my iPod but didn't see any blood on my face or anything, so i tried to steady my shaking hands and rose to my feet. Pierre's chain had come loose from the gears, so with careful, bloody, disgusting hands i made the adjustment. Now covered in black grease as well, i hobbled the last 2 blocks to work.

Patched myself up with antiseptic spray and gauze (this turned out to be a huge mistake later), plus some strategically-placed band-aids. (And FYI: floral tape works pretty well as stand-in for first-aid tape, in a pinch.) This couldn't have happened at a worse time: This is one of the busiest weeks of the year for us at the shop, and even though i have a special kind of loathing for Valentine's Day in general, it can be fun to work a holiday. We got our first huge shipment of flowers today and i was anything but helpful. Managed to slowly prep for almost 5 hours and then mercifully caught a ride with the a.m. girl heading home after her shift. Pierre stayed behind; there's no way i'm gonna be able to ride him to work in my state anyway.

At home i iced the knee (worst impact site, i have surmised) and then whimpered my way through a tepid bath, taking stock of it all. Everything but the f*&#ing gauze came off easy peasy; after i pulled the last disgusting strands of fibrous cotton from my elbow, i valiantly tried to rub some of the grit off. Bad mistake. After two mind-numbingly painful attempts i just sort of swirled and swished my arm around in the water and hoped for cleanliness.

So, my left hand looks like a slice of cheese pizza, my right elbow has sort of a sand-blasted, rustic look, and my right knee, well– let's just say it's doubled in size so far. i can hardly bend it. Been hobbling around the apartment like Igor. i am simultaneously wishing for and dreading sleep. Hope it comes quickly.

Tomorrow should be... interesting! i need to be at work this week, so they've given me the day off to recuperate. Suppose i'll lay around and rock the old ice pack again. I'll also need some Knee De-Stiffener... anybody got any they could spare?