I finally made the commute all 5 days and while I had slowed down by the end of the week, I was doing OK. It really seemed like the county was out to make sure I could not succeed between their poor maintenance of the gravel roads and fresh chip seal on the paved ones, it was quite the challenge.

Well on the way in on Friday, I hit about 3" of gravel around a corner. Not something you expect on a paved road. Fortunately, I was already going considerably slower than usual due to the chip seal. Even so, I went down hard and cracked a rib and ended up with 8 stitches on my knee and elbow. The bike's fine and only needed to have the handle bars straightened out and the chain put back on.

After the crash, I opened my backpack to get my cell and call for a rescue only to find no cell phone. Figuring I was a bone head and forgot it, I rode the next 10 miles (700" climb and several miles of poorly maintained gravel) to get to work. After showering, I realized that the wounds would need more than a simple cleaning, so I had a co worker take me to the ER.

Turns out, I did take my cell phone, it just popped out of the backpack when I crashed.

The doctor cleared me to get back on the bike as soon as it does not hurt too much to do so.

So, I have made it IN all 5 days, but not in and back.