On my run last night I had a head on collision with a bicyclist.

[DickWadzinski]

And came out of it completely unscathed!  I was on North Ave in Burlington running south on the sidewalk.  As I approached the old Burlington College building near the police station a few teenagers walked out from around the side of the building.  The building sticks right out next to the sidewalk and there is a parking lot on its side up against the building too.  After the kids walked out they were followed by two teenagers on bicycles.  I was still about fifty feet away and approaching them.  Right as I got to the corner of the building another kid came hauling out on a mountain bike, cutting the corner.  When I first saw him he was maybe about three feet in front of me coming in at a two o'clock angle going nearly fifteen mph.  My instincts took over and with no time to get out of the way I managed in a microsecond to get my left hand on the center of the bike's handlebars and push the bike to my left.  I started to jump to clear my left leg from his pedal.  If that pedal would have hit me in the shin it would surely be a broken leg.  His head and shoulder hit me in the chest and somehow avoiding any contact with the bike (other than my hand on the handlebar) I stumbled to the side and fell to the concrete.  I got my hands down to cushion the fall and rolled onto my back and tucked my head to avoid hitting it on the ground.  I immediately took stock of things.  I was completely unhurt other than a tiny scrape on one elbow.  But no blood!  The kid went flying and stopped against a parked car.  He looked okay too.  Probably had a few scrapes though.  I picked myself up, grabbed my water bottle, asked him if he was okay, and said don't do that again!  And went on my way.  I guess I still have those Ninja reflexes!

 

[cherietree]

Wow!  That is scary…I am happy your cat-like reflexes got you out of that unscathed    Good job telling that kid to not do that again…I'll bet he was as freaked out and surprised as you.  I am very glad you are OK!

I was actually just coming in here to start a thread to ask about everyone's recent/most embarrassing/scariest falls and lo and behold yours kicked my ass.  But, here goes anyway:

Last Thursday I was out for a run before work.  As I was approaching the VERY BUSY four way stop near the elementary school in my neighborhood, I was thinking about mentioning to the crossing guard how nice the weather was that morning.  Very low humidity and temps in low 70s.  Gorgeous.  So, I'm about fifteen or twenty feet from the corner (two lanes each way on one street, three on the main thoroughfare due to turn lane…I mean, cars EVERYWHERE).  Aaaaannnnddd…

The toe of my right shoe catches on some uneven concrete around a storm drain and I go down.  Now, I've fallen before but not like this.  You know that moment where you know with complete certainty that you are absolutely NOT going to recover and that you are DEFINITELY going to fall?  Yeah.  I barely got my hands out in front of me and it took every ounce of strength to keep my face from completely planting on the concrete.  As it was, my chin bit it and my visor flew off. 

So, I'm laying there on my stomach, arms straight up in front of me, looking at the crossing guard who looks absolutely horrified, and I just start laughing.  I stood up to assess the damage and did not immediately see anything too bad.  I replaced my hat (no small feat since I was now shaking like a leaf and several fingers on my left hand were completely numb), took a moment to compose myself, and went on about my run.  Four more miles.  My jaw hurt for about five minutes but gradually stopped.

A little ways down the street I noticed I'd actually skinned my right knee up quite a bit and when I made it back to the crossing guard we had a good laugh as he mentioned I might want to invest in some knee pads.   When I got home and looked in the mirror I realized I had skinned my chin up pretty good.  And I somehow managed to get the top of my right hand…no idea.  But the worst was Friday…holy shit!  My shoulders and neck hurt so bad it was actually difficult to move my arms or turn my head.

And my chin just looks worse each day.  And I start a new job tomorrow…HA!  Guess I'll have a good story 

Now…you go!

[DickWadzinski]

And my chin just looks worse each day.  And I start a new job tomorrow…HA!  Guess I'll have a good story 

Here's looking at you kid.   

[wherestheportojohn]

{{{Wu}}} 

{{{Cherietree}}}

[radial]

New job?

[nadra's babydaddy]

I had a pretty sweet one last weekend while trail running in the Tetons.  I'm bombing downhill as an older couple is coming up the same trail, lady just sort of stands right in the middle and doesn't move, forcing me off to the side.  I try to hurdle a tree stump, but catch it with my toe and went completely airborne.  I was very proud of myself because I almost did a perfect roll to land back on my feet, but couldn't quite pull it off.  After gathering my phone, total down time was still less than 5 seconds.  The best part was that it all went down right in front of this lady, whom I think was too shocked to say anything.

[Mom of Scooby]

No police? Was thinking my nephew the new Burlington cop might have responded!


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