Just after midnight Friday I posted about an embarrassing crash I had over 30 years ago. If I'd just waited a few hours, I could have posted about a much more recent (and more embarrassing) crash.

I'm just getting back into riding after being away from it for about 20 years (I'm 53). Saturday morning I went to take a look at a vintage Univega that was listed on craigslist. It looked like just what I wanted, so I took it for a test ride, without bothering to adjust the too-high-for-me seat. It was only a short ride, so why bother, right? Stupid, stupid.

I got a few houses up the street and wiped out. It wasn't anything dramatic; just stopped, tried to turn around, and fell over. I couldn't reach the ground with my foot, so I reached it with my shoulder, arm and leg instead. Immediately I heard voices asking, "Are you all right?" It's then I discovered that I had managed to crash right in front of the only house on the entire street (other than the bike owner's house) where anyone was outside. The whole family was sitting in the front yard in lawn chairs facing me. All that was needed was to complete the illusion of spectators at a show.

So I jumped up, said I was fine, checked the bike for damage (there wasn't any), mumbled something about not being on a bike for years, and finished my test ride. I bought the bike, but a visit to the doctor that afternoon confirmed that I had broken the head of the radius bone in my left elbow (the same elbow I injured in that other crash in my teens), so I won't be riding my new bike again for awhile.

The best part? Just before starting the test ride, I told the bike's owner, "Hope I don't embarrass myself."