Got a job, Sixth commute training, first accident
 

Ok, so I got a job. I´ll start on september. And of course I´ll be commuting to work.
As I posted in another thread, I got a new bike, and have been doing some skill and route training since I haven´t been on bike in more than 15 years.

Today was my sixth day out, and I´m testing a route to my new job place.
Everything is going fine. Nice weather, not many cars, I´m feeling very confident and proud of the development of my biking skills. I´m also feeling in better shape than day 1.

I´m doing a bike lane that is mainly on the street with cars, but I think it´s pretty safe, no right parking allowed so no doors, and traffic here are very respectfull of the bike lanes, as they are with bus lanes.

But suddenly the bike lane ends. No signals, nothing. The streets just ends.
Further ahead there´s another bikelane that goes through a very wide sidewalk. So to get to that bike lane there is a block and a half through a walkpath-sidewalk-park very confusing place for me, that goes by the side of a park.

I go through there, and suddenly the concrete path becomes rock pavement, like those in the old days.
I start bumping around there, I´m going very slowly but still my butt is starting to hurt. So I stand on the pedals, which is a skill I´m not very good at, because I then start to wobble a bit.

Suddenly another bike came out of the park and crossed me very fast. I make a sharp turn to avoid him, my foot hit the rear of my front wheel when turning. I now start to loose balance. Then there are two couples of elder tourist in the middle of where I´m going to. I had seen them before but they where not on my path so I didn´t mind them.
Of course I panic, hit the brakes and fall.

I got a nice classic knee rash. Not a big issue, I used to get a lot of those while playing football (as in soccer).
I got piece of the skin of my knuckle missing. It´s not a rash. There´s just a piece of skin missing there.
I wonder where it went.

I have a few bruises on my arm and a small cut on the back of my left leg. Which I have no idea how it got there since I fell on my right side.

But what hurts me the most is that I had my wallet and my cell phone on the right side leg pocket of my shorts.
I fell on that. And it feels like someone just kneed me on my right thigh.

Good I was wearing my big-cover-half-of-my-face sunglasses. I could hide my embarassment behind them.
The old couples where very worried about me, and another cyclist came to my aid. It´s kind of cool that people would worry about a long haired non shaved tatooed arms 30 yo stranger. But somehow that made me feel very embarassed.

By the way, Nokia has a new convinced customer here.

So sorry to hear about your accident! It was wise of you to check out your route but too bad it had to be painful. I hope you heal quickly and have better luck in the future.

My advice is to stick to the roads when the bike lane ends. However if you do take that path again you will know what to expect, so your practice is paying off. Keep on practicing and look for some longer routes because you will find after a bit that you will want to get in more riding. Its good to be starting a job again, I was lucky at age 63 to land one last nov.

It's part of the learning curve. I had a few falls like that when I first started riding; one was quite serious. As you gain skill and confidence, these falls will become a thing of the past.

Well . . . not entirely in the past. In fact, I fell just a couple months ago, trying out some new tires on wet grass. Yes, a fall is embarrassing, but at least you can be proud of your scars.

You may find that for commuting, since your goal is getting somewhere, not recreation, that staying off the recreational paths is a better option. Even though I have access to some world-class recreational paths, they aren't suitable to commuter cycling so I stay off them most of the year. Any time a bike lane ends I hold my line on the road in the lane most appropriate to my direction of travel.

Thanx for the advice.
I will definetely not use that path again. It´s too bumpy, and it´s not even a path.. is just some space at a side of a small park.

The problem here is not just that the bikelane ended, but the whole street ends on the park.
I think I´ll just go around the park using the street as cars do. I don´t feel confident on the road yet, but I guess I´ll just have to try it.

And AndrewP, you being able to get a job at 63 (good for you) It´s encouraging and at the same time makes me feel a little stupid when I feel I´m throwing away my life for being 30 and not being able to get a half decent job.

By the way, does anyone knows where my piece of knuckle skin go? :D

This is incredible. About an hour after I posted this, I wiped out pretty bad on a rail-trail. I have no idea what happened. I was probably paying more attention to a front derailleuer problem and am interesting conversation with my sister, when suddenly I was falling. As soon as I hit the pavement I knew I wasn't hurt seriously, but scrapes on both knees and especially one elbow. Also, a sore wrist, which worries me because I broke my wrist last time I fell. At least my sister was pretty impressed that I finished the ride, after she fixed the der.

I guess it's true: pride goeth before a fall. :( but the ride still goeth after the fall! :)

>>But what hurts me the most is that I had my wallet and my cell phone on the right side leg pocket of >>my shorts.
>>I fell on that. And it feels like someone just kneed me on my right thigh

If you carry things in those leg pockets, make sure they are fastened shut so things don't fall out.

The pocket has a zipper. Allthough when I get to commute for real I´ll be carrying everything in a backpack or messenger bag.