My Flip-Flop Fixie Fiasco - 3 days later

Here's the latest pic - the result of riding a fixed-gear bike with flip-flops.

You'll notice the new bruise above my hip, and the seeping of the bruise down my leg, towards the cut on my upper thigh.



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Why do monster trucks...

...like to turn in front of me when I'm on my bike?

It happened nearly 30 days ago and I ended up with a separated shoulder.

And today it happened on my commute home from work.
Monster trucks both times.

Can they not see me?
Do they have a sense of invincibility that makes them oblivious to their surroundings?

Good news is that I learned a lesson from my last accident about riding in traffic around here. My mantra has always been to ride visibily and predictably. After my last accident, I added "defensively" to the list.

Today, I noticed that the monster truck wasn't speeding up to match the speed of traffic that was approaching a green light, so I backed off, looked over my left shoulder, saw that the lane was clear behind me, and waited for the inevitable. Sure enough, the driver turned right, across the bike lane. No signal. No head-turn to check blind spot.

I was able to shoot around the truck on its left side.

But not before I yelled at the top of my lungs, "YO!"

Know what the driver did when I hollered? Took her hands, both of them, completely. off. the. steering. wheel. The monster truck, which was about halfway through the turn, straightened out and nearly jumped the curb. I think the driver had a laundry accident.

But better that than the alternative.

If you ride a bike on the road...please do so VISIBLY, PREDICTABLY, and DEFENSIVELY.

Sun., 4/27/08 - LogJam surf contest

Big Stick Surfing Association wrapped up their 2-day contest today at Pleasure Point. Much better waves today than Saturday. Saw pro-surfer CJ Nelson win his division. He's the one in the pink, upside-down THRASHER shirt. I think he used to live in Santa Cruz, but now lives down south.

Here he is on his fixie after his big win:

Other random pictures from the contest:::::::::

I live in a cool place.

My Flip-Flop Fixie Fiasco - 2 days later

I'm such an idiot for riding a fixed-gear bike in flip-flops. Never again. I was in pain immediately after it happened on Saturday, so I knew it was going to get ugly. Two days later, it did. I was curious why I wasn't bruising yet. Well, I woke up this morning and this is what my left hip and thigh looked like:

And here's what it looked like on the same day when I got home:

I learned a little bit about bruises today:

* A bruise is an injury that is forceful enough to break blood vessels, but doesn't puncture the skin. The blood, since it has no place to go, pools beneath the skin.

* A bruise goes through predictable color changes over time - on day 1, it's a just a little red. On day 2, the hemoglobin in the blood changes and you get this really cool blue-black-purplish color. After about 5 to 10 days, it will turn brownish-yellow. After about two weeks it fades, but stays brownish-yellow.

* Bruises on your lower body take longer to heal, because gravity forces blood into the damaged tissue. So if possible, prop the damaged body part above your heart a couple of times a day.