So, on election night, Nov 4th, I was on my way to an election night party. I was on my bike heading west on Division and as I passed a car that was stopped at the intersection at 66th that car accelerated. The impact, all things considered, was not much; but, it pushed my bike out from under me and I went flying over the hood, maybe another 5 feet or more. I hit the asphalt, connecting in a few places, including my head, knee and wrist.
I soared through the air, screaming: “VOTER SUPPRESSION!!!”
Yeah, not really. I’d already voted weeks prior …
Ironically, this was my very first bike ride since my last biking incident when I bruised a rib back on Oct 18th. It was like the end of The Professional … I felt so free and wonderful riding along again after a long hiatus and then … blam-o! (That’s strike two of Goldfinger’s trifecta, but I’m not so sure I want to tempt my enemies into action a third time just to prove the point.)
Further irony can be had because I just switched from my old helmet and was wearing my brand new, expensive winter helmet for the very first time, which is now ruined.
Yes, that’s a big-ass crack in the front. So, you know, word to the wise: wear your helmet. And, yes, that’s a cast on my wrist.
Of course, when it happened I was so peaked on adrenaline that while I knew I was hurt, it didn’t feel like anything at all. So, you know, word to the wise: go to the ER, just in case.
I did go and found out that I got an avulsion fracture in my left radius. The damage was to the bone, not the ligament, which is apparently odd for someone as old as I am. (The ER staff kept coming in and asking, “You’re 39?!”) Subsequent x-rays have shown that the fracture branches into joint space, but it originally appeared quite cleanly broken. As long as the joint-space break doesn’t start to separate, I’ll have this cast off in mid-December. FREEDOM!!! Blah. I’m so very ready already for the cast to come off.
This is the first broken bone since I was a kid, back in the day when they still used plaster. Now, they’ve got a keychain of 10 different plastic mesh colours to chose from.
The fracture appears to be healing well enough, though it really is still quite sore. I ran out of vicodin over the weekend and, even though the break is in my other wrist, typing this is actually not the best idea; so, I’m going to stop. Being broken is really exhausting.