It was bound to happen

I crashed.

Hard.

On Friday on my way into work on my bike.

There was this guy in a Lexus SUV who decided that he didn't need to not block the sidewalk / bike path. Its a marked bike path there on the sidewalk. Its common for bikes to be going 15-20 MPH on this part of the trail. Instead of stopping at the big white line in the driveway, he moved all the way up to the front curb.

So, as I approached this intersection, I slowed down to ~12-15 MPH, swerved into the road to avoid the Lexus, and then swerved back onto the path.

Except I didn't make it onto the path. My bike went one way and I went the other. My bike has minor injuries - scrapes on the brakes and left pedal, and both brake hoods were bent to 45 degree angles. No idea how *both* ended up that bent.

I, on the other hand, am extremely grateful that I was wearing my nice gloves with leather padding. For the most part my entire left side is sore. I sorta flew over the bike to my left, and landed first my hands, then my left elbow, then my left knee, then my chin, then the rest of me.

At this point, the chin is almost healed. The left arm has a nice red mark (2" by 1/2") right inside the elbow that's mostly scabbed over. It is uncomfortable My knee, however, is a different story. Its about a 2" diameter circular wound that hurts like hell. The entire kneecap is a huge bruise, bad enough that it hurts to touch it. I cannot bend my knee easily. Sitting is virtually impossible unless I keep the leg straight.

But, no real damage done.

And the guy who blocked the path actually seemed to be a nice guy. He got out of the SUV, checked if I was OK, and offered to drive me to the hospital (not needed) or wherever I was headed (work).

Hopefully he doesn't block the bike path again.