Last night coming back from my ride, I'm riding down a busy street that has 3 lanes going in my direction. Cars are stopping for a light up ahead and I didn't notice that a gap had been created. A truck took a left turn thru the stopped cars and suddenly is right in front of me. I tried to do an emergency stop (I was only going about 12 mph) and trying to unclip at the same time. I lost my balance and went down (hard). Luckily my helmet took the major blow and I was able to ride away with only minor road rash and a few bruises. It must have looked kind of comical though, there I was laying on the side of the road, one leg in the air and my bike completely upside down, wheels in the air on top of me. The man felt really bad and kept asking if I was ok. He made the comment "I hate when people do that" meaning the maneuvue he just did, going through a gap in traffic. It seems like I always have to learn my lessons the hard way. I am always watching for people pulling out from a driveway, not thinking they may come from the other direction through traffic. I will certainly be more aware from now on, especially on that section of road and I need to practice my emergency stops. Right now I'm thinking, maybe I'm to old for this (53) and I should find something safer, like gardening, but I know I could be in a traffic accident in my car which would be about the same thing. It will take me the rest of the day to settle down but I will be right back on my bike probably tomorrow, with eyes a little wider open.
