Crash Test Dummy

So some of you know that when I was 7 and 9 years old, I had two really bad bike crashes that ended up with severe injuries - which caused me to stay off the bike for 30+ years, until this past January. I have since gotten back on the bike, ridden a couple hundred miles of training and races, with no incidents. Until today.

Before I write another word, I should say: Mom, I'm fine. (Mom tends to freak out when injuries are involved.)

Long story short: A few days ago we decided to do a bike tour of the Tuscany hills - we were so excited about this and knew it would be one of the highlights of our trip. The people leading the ride were Per (pronounced "pear" - Swedish guy that looks like a hau'oli surfer dude from Hawaii, but you'd never know it with his American English) and Melissa (super nice girl who went to high school in Loma Linda, not far from where I grew up). (Check out their website!) We had joked at the top that my bike was special - not only did it have a bell, but it had just been serviced - so my brakes were good to go. Well... a little too good it turns out.

One minute into the ride (literally!), going downhill at about 20mph - my bike stopped and I didn't. Totally my fault as I had reached to scratch an itch on my face, and my left hand was still on my front brakes, and apparently squeezed a little too hard. I flew over the handlebars, ending up face down, with the bike both under and over me - yeah, hard to picture I know, but it's amazing the things I can do... Kristin was lucky enough to witness the whole thing (see her Sept. 7 blog), and she got there in a matter of seconds, untangled me from the bike and got me to the side of the road. Melissa arrived a few minutes later in the van and took really good care of me, cleaning up the road rash and calming me down. I won't list all my injuries here (no broken ribs which was my first thought, but those of you on the island will get to see first hand cuz the rainbow of colors all over me will still be there when I get home on Thursday), but after a 10 minute break and regaining my composure in the van, I was actually able to get back on the bike and ended up riding all day and having a blast! Probably the best thing I ever did was get back on that bike - I was very shaky for the first hour or so, just cuz my adrenaline was pumpin' - but eventually calmed down and ended up having the most amazing time. Even with the crash, it was our best day in Italy so far - an unforgettable ride through the hills of Tuscany with 7 of the coolest people ever. I won't lie - I'm hurtin' bad now and more and more bruises are appearing all over me - in places I didn't think you could bruise! We had planned to have sushi tonight (hard to eat Italian every single day for every single meal!) - but I'm pretty banged up so the plan was that Kristin was going to get it and bring it back to the room for us. But Per just called and invited us to go with them so I'm actually gonna suck it up, pop some more Advil and go have fun with our new Florence friends!

Things I am thankful for:

• Big boobs. They hit the ground first and saved me from broken ribs. Dear big boobs, I'm really sorry about the bruises you are now sportin' but you saved me. Thank you big boobs!
• Thick waist. Hit the ground second. See big boobs above. If it weren't for you and big boobs, I'd have broken ribs. Thank you thick waist!
  
• Bike helmets. Hit the ground third. As I watched the pavement come at my face at 20mph, the front tip of my helmet very abruptly stopped me from a repeat performance of my last bad bike crash. (And no Dad, I do not have a concussion - I know what day it is and (unfortunately) I know who the President of the United States is... so I'm fine!) My face never touched the ground (but I did end up with dirt in my mouth!). Thank you bike helmet!
  
• Costco. Melissa had a Costco bottle of ibuprofen in the van, and hooked me up all day long. Thank you Costco - and thank you Melissa!
• Kristin. For taking really good care of me and monitoring every new bruise as it pops out. That can't be fun, especially considering the location of some of these bruises. Thank you Stin!
• Italian Farmacias. Bought some ice spray (since they don't believe in ice in Italy except for at McDonald's), so I could start gettin' all the swelling down. Thank you Italian farmacia!
• Per's new nickname for me. "Crash". Nuff said. Thank you Per!
• Chianti. I haven't had any wine yet today, but I think it may be a very good idea tonight... so thank you in advance Chianti!

:) jen