Then I Fell

The last time I fell off of my bike was really anticlimactic. I was riding my bike home from work/school and was just turning from Liberty onto Murray Ave. I think it was fall time- I remember seeing red leaves. My tire passed over some imperceptible stone or crevice and I slid out VERY VERY slowly. I think I half-hopped and half-fell in the street, tearing up my handlebar tape but nothing else apart from that. My very nice neighbor ran to my side and asked if she could help but I was embarrassed and I think kind of rude to her about it. It was especially embarrassing because it happened just past the house of not-really-cute guys who were drinking beer on their porch and who, for some reason, I always wanted to impress despite the fact they were neither cute nor interesting. Anyway- the point being that the last time I fell off of my bike was in Ann Arbor, Fall 2006.

So I was kind of disappointed to fall yesterday...but am kind of proud at the same time. My first fall in San Francisco! This must mean I live here now. Not only did I fall, I fell in the rain because of those darned streetcar tracks! How SF is that? It was a source of pride that I had never gotten my tire caught in one before but now I can join the ranks of bicyclists who warn other bicyclists "Dude, you gotta watch those tracks man, they'll grab ya. The trick is, see, to hit 'em perpendicular, at a right angle, you know? Then you can't get yer tire trapped." I wish I could add some gnarly detail about how after my tire got trapped I flew 20 feet, skidded on my face and ended up with 3 major cuts that I sutured up myself (using my own hair), but I'm afraid this fall was just as uneventful as the last. A few scrapes here and there but utterly boring apart from that.