first bike bail

Yesterday, I got up and started making tea & coffee…then realized we didn’t have any half & half. Damn! But the grocery store is less than half-a-dozen blocks away, so I hopped on my bike, rode like a madwoman, bought the half & half, came racing back, took the turn into my driveway a little too fast, slid on some wet leaves, did a 360 and slid to the ground.

Ow. Ow. Ow.

Started screaming bloody murder, and some guy ran out from across the street to help me up, ask if I needed help, etc., etc. C thought it was just noisy neighbor kids, btw. Hobbled inside, half-crying. The bike was mostly okay — one pedal pretty scraped up on the end, plus a nice scar on the edge of the deraileur (sp?!) — and I was sore, with a good scrape on my ankle.

So back to making breakfast beverages, and starting on the day. C had one last paper due, so I was available in my role as grammar queen. Interesting stuff, too, about wireless networks and human development. Leg still sore, mostly in the knee, but also in the butt. It’d get stiff (the knee) if I sat too long, so I moved around from time to time.

In the evening the guys showed up for our regular game, and I got all set up, and we got started, but I totally couldn’t concentrate on what was supposed to be happening, because my knee just wouldn’t. stop. hurting. So the game was called; they hung out while I watched Stepford Wives (the new one; it’s okay). After they left, we watched some of Elf and the rest of American Pie 2 (yeah, really), while I tried to relax.

No such luck, really; couldn’t go to sleep, even staying up extra by myself watching the end of Elf. (Santa wins.) I think I got maybe 2 hours of sleep total; I’m only sure of any because I distinctly remember dreaming.

So this morning I went to the Group Health Urgent Care, where I found out that it’s definitely a sprained ligament in my knee and probably some torn cartilage. Prescription? Pain meds (ibuprofin/vicodin), ice, rest, and try to keep moving, but carefully.

What kills me now is that today is abso-fsking-lutely gorgeous: blue sky and everything. The perfect day to finish putting in the bulbs (but I’m not supposed to squat) and go for a long ride (but I doubt I could even mount the damn thing).

I feel like such a wimp, too; people bail on bikes all the time, don’t they? And I’m such a drama queen that it has to be something all crazy. And I’m annoyed, because I don’t want to be grounded: I was trying to get back into the stretches that the chiropractor and physical therapist have given me over the last couple of years, and to do lots of biking. Grrrr.