Ouch.

I was bicycling to work this morning on Milwaukee Ave, coming up to a T intersection. I was going straight, along the right hand side, while the intersecting-part of the T was to my left (in other words, no car traffic crosses my bike lane in the intersection). I had a red light, but no cars were coming and there weren’t any pedestrians around, so I was going through. There was another cyclist coming towards me on the sidewalk, and I saw her, but since she was on the sidewalk, I didn’t pay too much attention to it.

She turned into the crosswalk. She did have the walk signal (remember the part about me running the red?). We collided, I swore and went over my handlebars. And onto my face. I really wish I had a big gash on my helmet to show off (I was wearing one), but it seems as though my face will have to do. The helmet is absolutely untouched. My sunglasses even had a few scrapes—at least they were trying to pull their weight.

She was fine… but I think I mangled her front wheel. She felt really bad, and offered to take me out to lunch or coffee or something. I pointed to my teeth and said that I didn’t think I’d be eating much anytime soon, but thanked her for the offer. Maybe she was just trying to hit on me; I don’t know. I was a tad delirious at the time.

Interestingly enough, just yesterday morning NPR ran a story on the number of bicyclists on Milwaukee increasing. It’s one of the highest trafficked bike routes in the city during rush hour. The section that I ride on is currently under construction, meaning that cyclists find new and creative ways to get around the traffic—including riding on the sidewalks.

Thankfully, my roommate doesn’t work on Thursdays, so I gave him a call, and he took me the rest of the way to the ER. I had an enjoyable sit in the dentist’s chair, where I was actually happy to be getting the Novocain shots… the first real dental procedure in my life. She (the dentist) kept commenting on how much of a shame it was that I had perfect teeth before… and now am going to get pretty much every dental treatment under the sun. Yeah, yeah, yeah, tell me about it. Pity. She put in temporary crowns, but I already have several more appointments to get more permanent things done. So much more fun in the dental chair is yet to be had.

My bike is pretty mashed up, too. Somehow the front wheel came off in the collision. I’m not surprised, given how warped it is. And the chain is funked up, too. I really haven’t looked at it much, but it will take a bit of work to get it ready for the Bike the Drive that I’m soo looking forward to.

Oy. But I’m okay. And I’m on codeine. So I’m more than okay. Heh.