Can You Say Road Rash!?!?

Well, the inevitable happened today... My dad finally had a serious bike accident. I say finally because it was bound to happen sometime, right? I mean after all... He rides his bike hundreds of miles a year, how could it not? The timing couldn't have been worse (Not that there's ever a good time for a bike accident!) as he's finishing up his training for RAGBRAI.

If you're familiar with this county, you know that we have some of the worst roads in California and probably some of the worst roads in the US. Our roads are filled with cracks and pot holes and are lined with high weeds. The county claims that they can't afford the upkeep, but don't get me started on the county. (For the record B and I both work for the county, so we see some of what goes on behind the scenes.)

Anyhow... My dad was riding down a hill on one of our chunky country roads when he hit a pot hole. My fear was that he'd gone over the handlebars, but he actually fell to the side and continued sliding down the hill with his right side acting as a buffer between his bike and the pavement. After a few seconds his head hit the ground which actually stopped the forward motion, and he tumbled into the weeds on the side of the road. Scraped, bruised, bloodied and in shock, he managed to gather himself and his bike and make his way across the road to a more visible and open area where he could assess the damage to both himself and his bike.

He was in the middle of nowhere with few cars passing and no cell service so after a few tweaks to his bike he determined that it still worked and he was able to ride to the main road. He made it to the main road without incident and the bike was riding fine, so decided he could make it home and kept right on riding.

If you're interested, he tells the story much better than I do (I can't imagine why!). You can read his account of the story here.

All in all.... The bike is fine and Dad is in pain but handling it like only my dad can. All can say is THANK GOD FOR BIKE HELMETS!