JBlog

I’m actually getting pretty good at this.  I’m not talking about the Michael Douglas Falling Down movie, by the way.  I’m talking about the literal act of falling down – or falling over in my case.

Apparently, I’m still somewhere south of the top of the learning curve when it comes to riding with clipless pedals.  I’ve never really wiped out.  Each time I’ve had a mishap I’ve just slowly fallen over.  For me, the amount of time that passes between realizing I’m falling to making contact with the ground takes an eternity.  Maybe it looks that way to passersby, too.  Or maybe it looks like it happens fast to a third party.

Today’s failure in mainting verticality came when I was attempting to negotiate a sharp turn.  I slowed and must have turned too sharply, because the bike lost all of its momentum and I began the slow process of losing my battle with gravity.  Down I went.  I would imagine the sight was something akin to a horse falling from a chair into a ditch – all angular and thrashing, flailing knees and elbows working desperately against the empty air to gain a hold of something in an attempt to stay upright.  Of course, after falling and landing on my left side, my right foot was still clipped in, and not wanting to be on my side for any longer than was necessary, I began to try to free my still-engaged right foot from its bindings.  After a seconds-long series of odd, jerky gyrations, I finally managed to free myself and picked up the bike.

Of course, this happened right in front of my office building – and between classes, no less – so no fewer than 582 people were treated to this visual display of failure.

My thigh has a minor scrape, as does my ankle, and one of the sides of my V-Brakes needed readjustment, but other than that and a bruised ego, your author is unharmed.