Pbartender
First Post
So, for the last year or so, I've been riding my bicycle to and from work in every kind of weather. It's not far, only about 4.5-5 miles one way; it takes about 20 minutes to make the trip.
I've had one or two spills, as are won;t to happen when the road conditions go bad. One was due to a slippery wooden ramp, and the second was due to a hidden patch of ice... both at pretty low speeds (I was being very careful), so injuries were light.
Last night, I was on my way home at about 8:30 pm. The weather was warm (for Februrary near Chicago, that is), but I had a hefty tail wind and there a very light rain falling. With the bike trail blessedly free of snow and ice, I was cruising along in top gear doing a good 20 mph.
Now, at night, we run across a lot of rabbit on the Illinois Prarie Path bike trail. Usually, they get scared of our headlights, and hop off into the woods.
But not last night.
Last night, out of the corner of my eye, I spot a white tail along side the trail. It takes two hops along the trail. It panics and takes one hop onto the trail, and...
NOOOOOOOOOO!
The damnable thing takes one more hop... right under my front tire.
My front tire does this nice little bump and slide off to the right, and my bike slips right out from under me. Seeing it all coming in Matrix-esque slow motion, I do a nice little side-stroke onto the pavement and slide to a stop twenty feet down the path in the middle of a rain puddle.
Ow.
I didn't bother to go back and check on the rabbit. I hit it pretty dead center, and if hadn't died right away, a fox, coyote or dog was certainly going to get a free meal by morning. I don't really want to feel sorry for it... But it's hard not to. Stupid rabbit.
Ow.
24 hours later, I feel like I've been beaten with a bat, even after swollowing a fist of aspirin.
Ow.
:\
I've had one or two spills, as are won;t to happen when the road conditions go bad. One was due to a slippery wooden ramp, and the second was due to a hidden patch of ice... both at pretty low speeds (I was being very careful), so injuries were light.
Last night, I was on my way home at about 8:30 pm. The weather was warm (for Februrary near Chicago, that is), but I had a hefty tail wind and there a very light rain falling. With the bike trail blessedly free of snow and ice, I was cruising along in top gear doing a good 20 mph.
Now, at night, we run across a lot of rabbit on the Illinois Prarie Path bike trail. Usually, they get scared of our headlights, and hop off into the woods.
But not last night.
Last night, out of the corner of my eye, I spot a white tail along side the trail. It takes two hops along the trail. It panics and takes one hop onto the trail, and...
NOOOOOOOOOO! The damnable thing takes one more hop... right under my front tire.
My front tire does this nice little bump and slide off to the right, and my bike slips right out from under me. Seeing it all coming in Matrix-esque slow motion, I do a nice little side-stroke onto the pavement and slide to a stop twenty feet down the path in the middle of a rain puddle.
Ow.
I didn't bother to go back and check on the rabbit. I hit it pretty dead center, and if hadn't died right away, a fox, coyote or dog was certainly going to get a free meal by morning. I don't really want to feel sorry for it... But it's hard not to. Stupid rabbit.
Ow.
24 hours later, I feel like I've been beaten with a bat, even after swollowing a fist of aspirin.
Ow.
:\
