another one bites the dust

in keeping with my "why do people keep hitting me?" motif for the month, i submit my newest exhibit - the new bike helmet. though hard to see from the picture, it's smashed on the side from an impact. namely - my head impacting the asphalt on san vicente.

this makes 3 broken helmets due to bike crashes for me. however, this is the first one which was not directly due to a fault of my own.

on friday morning, after nearly a full week of jonesing for a bike ride, i finally got on the ol' road b bike and headed out for a spin. i started by heading west on broadway, towards the coast. the plan was to hit the coast, head north to san vicente, take that up to 26th, loop back to the coast, and then back down to broadway and home. not a huge circut, but a fun one, and would offer a good little exercise jaunt. i like this route because it makes a nice loop, and also because there is a designated bike path along the whole route.

now, i will say that one of my biggest fears on these roads is not getting hit by a car, which is a fairly obvious fear/obstacle/problem, but having someone open there door on me without enough warning to miss it.

well, friday morning it finally happened. as i headed up san vicente from the coast, i was just getting warmed up, thinking about my day, and wondering why the lady on the sidewalk was straddling her dog and talking on her cell phone, when suddenly - WHAM! there was a door in front of me, and over the handle bars i went. now, i didnt hit a fully opened door, or one that had been open for a while - i hit the end of the door, where it connects to the car, as it was just being opened, and quickly. at least, thats how i remember it. in any case, i went head first into the pavement - good bye new helmet, thank goodness i was wearing it - and rolled over my right side, as i am normally want to do when crashing, not unlike an albatros. . .

so, luckilly there were no cars anywhere to run over my head, now in the middle of the road, and luckily i wasnt going fast enough to actually hurt myself more than a little headache, road rash and sore neck. i went to the hospital just to make sure. they gave me some heavy duty muscle relaxers, which work too well, if you ask me (sleeping for 11 hours? whats up with that!?)

so, i have gotten a red helmet this time . . . hopefully it will make me more visible than my sliver one . . .
here's to hoping.