Last night I went on my first local group ride. It is with a local group & is for beginners/intermediates. I invited a friend along, and we had a great time chatting on the ride back & forth! She is a new friend & started riding last year, but has already done a handful of LONG rides, including the MS150 from Houston to Austin.
Well, we got there & the leader, Michael, comes up & introduces himself. He is very friendly & soon all of the riders are congregating around my car as we get ready. There are only 8 of us - 4 guys & 4 gals. And, with Michael's infectious friendliness, everyone is chatting away.
I'd told Michael that I was brand new to clipless, and several people gave me tips. I'd been practicing around my block & was feeling pretty comfortable.
I got a weather report from my hubby that there were storms nearby. The clouds were getting dark & it was cooling off, but it'd been near 100 for the day so it felt great. It started sprinkling then lightly raining while we stood around, but it all felt good!
We finally start to ride. We head towards the street and all stop near the stop sign to exit to the main rode. The 2 in front of me stopped. I unclip my right foot & go real slowly up to them. Then, I realize "Oh, No! I haven't signaled that I'm stopping & I could cause a wreck!" What I think happened next was that I tried to look behind me to my left to see if I was going to make anyone fall. Well, OVER I WENT!!! Bam!!! Ouch!
I laid there for a few seconds & tell everyone I'm OK. My left hip is burning and so is my left forearm. I get up & look. Yuck! LOTS of blood on my arm. My hip...well, it's up too high to really see, so I chose to ignore it. Someone mentions...your right leg is bleeding. Hmmm...chain scractches! About 10 of them...each about an inch to 2 inches long. The middle ones are bleeding the worst.
Someone else says, "Your thigh is scratched!" I look. Yep! A little bloody, but not really bleeding. And, you can see a bruise already.
Back to my forearm...wow...it's really swollen already.
"Are you OK?" Yes...I'm fine. Two people each produce one bandaid & one antiseptic wipe. We do my arm since it is the worst. Then, I'm ready....to RIDE!!!
It's raining lightly and the rain hurts the part of my forearm that isn't bandaged, but I LOVE being out here riding with this group!!!
Less than a mile into it, it thunders. We decide to go a little farther and see if there is any more. Yep! More thunder! Time to head back.
We get back to the parking lot & we only rode 2.3 miles. But, I learned a lot! Biggest lesson: I CAN get back on & finish, even when HURT!
My friend helps me with my medical kit in the car and I get a lot more wiped up. We put on triple antibiotic and a lot more bandaids. Then head home.
Last night, I iced it after talking with my running coach. And, I used hydrogen perioxide & put more triple antibiotic & bandaids on.
This morning, it was still really swollen, and looked really nasty. I decided I needed to see a doctor. I MIGHT need stitches.
Well, here's the report from the doctor's office as I shared on one of my teams:
"Thanks for all of the tips! I ended up seeing a doctor today as I thought I might need stitches on that forearm (I said elbow, but it is really the arm). And, it was really swollen this morning - it was swollen immediately yesterday, too.
Well, the bad news...I waited too late to get stitches! That's a good thing to learn, though. You MUST get the stitches within a few hours!!!
The good news...I didn't NEED stitches. Whew! And, the advice given here was right on...no hydrogen peroxide (though I'd already done that once last night & they said it was OK). Now, I'm supposed to ice it 3-4 times per day & put on antibiotic cream 3-4 times per day. I'm allowed to go back to full activity, as pain allows (which is actually quite painless unless you touch it!), but I'm supposed to change the dressing afterwards & make sure it doesn't get too sweaty. "
I'm taking it easy today. I don't think I'll do any aerobics, though I might try a new pilates video that I just bought. I think the trauma of last night & the fear of the doctor's this morning has me wiped out! Oh...and it's hard to sleep when you're banged up on BOTH sides of your body! So, I'm getting ready to take a nap and then see what the rest of the day has in store!
Take care & don't forget to wear your helmet!!! Now....time to sleep!
No comments:
Post a Comment