Crash! Bang! OUCH!

At least I've got a sense of humor, right?  :) 

So I'm riding along on the path last night, after a pretty hard and amazingly satisfying ride home.  Then something comes out into the path - a squirrel or maybe a mouse or something, and I didn't really wanna hit the little guy.  I don't roll like that, animals are our pals, etc etc.  So I swerve off the trail into the grass and am doing fine.  Then I go to get back on the trail and.. the front tire gets caught in the gap between the grass and the trail.  

Going down was surreal, as I'm - you know, my body - skids across the pavement and heard a loud CRRRACK all I could think was "dang, I'm glad I'm wearing a helmet".  I end up in the grass off to the side, my left shoulder is rippling with intense pain and when I yell due to said pain my chest is hurting.  Crap, etc etc.  Hobbled up, got bike out of the middle of the trail, got cell out of the pannier, call wife, collapse in pain into the grass.  

She arrives and we're walking to get the bike, and I tell her what happens.. she giggles.  Here is where my wife rocks, seirously, she cheered me up big time on the way to the ER.  I'm in loads of pain, my bike is obviously screwed up (more on that in a second), but she can make me laugh - even though at that point laughing was painful.  

After around two hours in the ER, a couple x-rays and some fun times, it's determined that amazingly I didn't break anything.  Rotator cuff is probably screwed up, or there is some internal damage in the shoulder that I may need to see a ortho doc about.  Chest is just bruised, nothing major, and oh.. road rash probably ain't goona be fun when you take a shower (it certainly was not).  Got some good meds so the first 6 hours of sleep last night were like a rock, after that it was mixed as I'd certainly move to some position that would make the shoulder or road rash hurt.  

The bike.. well.. I'm bummed.  Initial inspection looks like the bar tape and at least one brake lever is shot.  And.. maybe the frame.  The bars hit the frame and dinged the underside of the top tube.  That has me super, ultra, uber amazingly bummed out right now.  I'm going to visit the shop and have them take a look, maybe it ain't a big deal at all.  I sure hope so, like everybody, for us money is tight right now and a new LHT frame just isn't in the budget.  

Oh, and a new helmet.  From this point forward, you won't see me without one.  They may be hot, look dorky, and be hot - but man was it nice hearing that loud crack as I hit the pavement, and being able to remember everything after it.  

Time for a little time off the bike.  Right now I can't even move my hands in the proper position to be on the drops without pain (can you believe I tried that crap while sitting in the ER?), and yaknow, I'm goona let myself heal up.  

Coulda been worse.  Truth be told I'm feeling a lot better today than I did after my March '06 car accident.  Be careful out there...