Eatadonut

my camera's batteries are dead, so no pictures yet, sorry.

I'm on the lookout for some commuting-quality flip flops, since anything with a heel is out of the picture...

I had been hearing a creaking all day. My headset is on its way out, so I figured that was the problem, and I was planning on taking a look at it tonight. I turn onto the road that takes me most of the way home, and stand up to keep ahead of the traffic that turned after me. I put down my left foot, and the left toeclip snaps. My foot slips off the pedal and hits the ground, hard. Hard enough to lift the bike off the ground. The bike turns sideways. At this point, I'm still convinced I can ride out of this. Bike hits the ground, catapults me over (a sideways endo!), and somewhere in there, my right heel (i'm in sandals) kicks the chainring, hard. I grab the bike and dive off the road, traffic wouldn't have been going any faster than me (maybe 15, 18 at the most), but they're tired students, and I'm not taking a chance.

To their credit, I got offers of help from a bunch of people. My friend was already on his way with some first aid and a ride home.

Total damage:
1 broken toe clip (my power grips got in yesterday, here's a good reason to get them installed)
1 skinned ankle
1 skinned elbow
1 badly bruised shin (I think the bike landed on it)
1 skinned palm
1 swollen wrist
1 heel, torn to hell. It'll probably be a week at least before I can wear shoes at all. I can wear my sandals with the heel tucked under my foot. Not stylish, but less painful.


I was just thinking how wonderfully this commuting season was going, too. Everyone was being nice, wasn't getting my weekly flat from riding through the beer bottle graveyard...

ryanparrish

I only came up with this

14R 

The way to go is with Havaianas, 2 pairs for 20. If you are in Brazil, 1 pair for US$0.80

Eatadonut

Brazil, eh? Sounds like a plan!

I'll probably borrow my hippie friend's birkenstocks - seems to me they'd be ok for a few days!

LóFarkas

I swear to God I read this sentence 10 times, thinking you need a new hub. I couldn't figure out WTF heels have to do with hubs.

bike2math

based on the smell of my Birkenstocks you'll probably want to just buy your own.

Eatadonut

How about "I'm on the lookout for some commuting-quality thongs"?

ryanparrish

Talk about less chaffing and wear and rash when you cycle, or am I thinking about the wrong thing?

Donkey Hodie

thats just hot.

tuolumne

!!! I would feel totally out of control on a bike if my feet were not firmly clipped to the pedals. I think barefoot would actully feel safer than flip flops since they can slide around. Then again, I can't walk in flip flops either! I'm sure glad that your crash wasn't the worse case scenario it could have been.

NeezyDeezy

They make SPD clipless sandals, I've never tried them because it seems like a horrible idea to me but it might be worth a shot.