Can my heart really be broken by my bike?

Answer: absolutely.

On my way home last Wednesday, me and the Super Death Bike 4000 got ourselves into a wee accident. Or really, a rather gnarly accident. It was dark, it had begun to snow at a heavy slant, squarely from the direction into which I was furiously pedalling. Without the most minute picosecond of warning, we both stopped quite abruptly as first SDB4k's wheel and then my face hit something, and hit it hard. That something was the ass-end of a dark brown, and thus nearly invisible, UPS delivery truck which was parked directly in the middle of the bike lane. After gingerly touching my face, which was quickly beginning to ache in a worrisome manner, I began to assess the condition of Ms. SDB4k. At first glance, I thought she looked okay, minus a now very flat tire. Then I tried to move the handlebars and they wouldn't go in one direction - the reason being that the wheel would hit the frame. Not good. Bent fork for sure.

The truck driver, I suppose hearing a large "whump" behind him, came out of the truck. It was then that I groggily noticed the parking lights. I couldn't say if they had been lit at the moment of impact. The driver was obviously concerned about me, and asked if I were hurt. I inquired as to whether he could see any blood, and when he assured me there was none upon my visage, I began to cry. Not for me. For her.

I just kept repeating "Oh fuck. Shit. My bike. I love this bike. My poor bike. Fuck. My bike."

I'm sure he thought I was nuts. But after assuring him that it was okay for him to leave, he did. My angelic friend Dylan came and picked us up, warmed me up with some hot tea and a heat pack for my neck and shoulders, and tried to assure me that what was important was that I did not appear to be hurt badly and that a bike is just a thing. But I love my bike. Shit, tears are welling up in my eyes just to type this all. I got home eventually. There were many beautiful people (B-alicious, J-mama, roomie D and his girlfriend J and her roomie A) waiting for me there, and all obeyed my cooking commands in preparation for the next day's feast, expressed sympathy at SDB4k's condition and worried about mine. True, I hurt a lot. I think that truck was trying to cram my head down my throat. Full-on headache, tight and aching shoulders, back, and neck, some bruises that over a week later are still mightily impressive, a swollen lip, bent glasses and a bruised nose that must have been what the glasses bent against, and a bruised forehead where my helmet (THIS IS PRECISELY WHY ALL CYCLISTS SHOULD WEAR A HELMET) whammed into it.

My other angelic friend whom you should all be familiar with by now, el señor B, rubbed my neck and shoulders for a long time that night, and it really helped to loosen up the whiplash a bit. My neck is still messed up - I've got a history of neck spraining - but it will heal eventually. By the next day my face wasn't even swollen any more, although it was sure tender. El señor also made a quick assessment of my bike. The fork was definitely fucked, hard to say if there were other problems. The third angel of this tale, J the V, actually came and picked up the (still) lovely SDB4k on Sunday, confirmed the original diagnosis, and assured me that he could make her go again. But most likely with a shiny new fork. I guess that her and Little Red will match now.

I'll still love the Super Death Bike 4000 with a mismatched fork. As a rebuilt bike, she was already a bit of a Frankenstein anyway. I'm glad to have gotten my first nasty wreck out of the way. I will definitely be exercising more caution while riding, in adverse conditions especially, from now on. I am grateful that I wasn't really injured and that SDB4k wasn't injured worse - I was going fast, probably around 10mph, when I hit - and I know that I'm lucky (I'm actually a very lucky person in life in general, but that's a different story). Also, it's not a bad story.

Well, I still have a lot of other stories to catch up on blog-wise: Puerto Rico and Thanksgiving Witness the Fitness '07 in particular. So I'll end this one here and get out of my pjs and...sniff...ride the bus into work. Or perhaps I'll take Little Red in if it's not too windy so that I can stop by the Rev to see if they've made any progress on the SDB4k. I renew my promise that there are photos and sass coming in the near future, and now they will likely include Ms. SDB4k after her fork-job.