I had my first accident on a bike today. I was cruising on an open stretch, an older man crossing the road heard my bike's horn - froze - and ran into the bike. In trying to avoid him, I lost control and the bike crashed on its side, sending me in multiple free-style somersaults. An amateur gymnast would be proud. The skin below my knee came off clean, my favourite pants have two gaping holes and my left wrist hurts.
I'm ashamed to admit my first reaction was anger, not concern for the man. He stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes and gave me an accusing look. It's always the other person's fault, right? Five policemen standing by the road witnessed my debut crash land. They kept saying, "Just sit down for a few minutes, you'll be fine." I was calm. The man walked towards me with a slight limp. I glared, but couldn't be mad at him.
Due credit to KTM for building a rugged bike, it survived with minimal damage. I switched it on to the welcome message on the screen, "Ready to race," and off it went, sans a broken foot brake pedal. The bike's fully insured. My ego is not. I turned around to head home and passed the man crossing the other side of the road. A slight head-nod to acknowledge that we were okay.
I changed into shorts and drove the car to a hotel to meet friends for lunch. At the lobby, the receptionist enquired why I needed a first-aid kit. She squealed when I showed her my knee. Glad she works in hospitality and not in a hospital.
P.S. I had a dream early this morning about my bike falling over. In the dream, I got mad at the man responsible for the fall, pushed him over, he hit his head on a stone and started bleeding. I woke up feeling sick in my stomach that I could hurt a man for trivial damage to a material possession.
At least in real life I was a better man.
I'm ashamed to admit my first reaction was anger, not concern for the man. He stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes and gave me an accusing look. It's always the other person's fault, right? Five policemen standing by the road witnessed my debut crash land. They kept saying, "Just sit down for a few minutes, you'll be fine." I was calm. The man walked towards me with a slight limp. I glared, but couldn't be mad at him.
Due credit to KTM for building a rugged bike, it survived with minimal damage. I switched it on to the welcome message on the screen, "Ready to race," and off it went, sans a broken foot brake pedal. The bike's fully insured. My ego is not. I turned around to head home and passed the man crossing the other side of the road. A slight head-nod to acknowledge that we were okay.
I changed into shorts and drove the car to a hotel to meet friends for lunch. At the lobby, the receptionist enquired why I needed a first-aid kit. She squealed when I showed her my knee. Glad she works in hospitality and not in a hospital.
P.S. I had a dream early this morning about my bike falling over. In the dream, I got mad at the man responsible for the fall, pushed him over, he hit his head on a stone and started bleeding. I woke up feeling sick in my stomach that I could hurt a man for trivial damage to a material possession.
At least in real life I was a better man.