The ups and downs of bicycle commuting

(or, taking it on the chin!)

I had my first mishap with my bicycle commute today (didn't take long, did it?) On my second attempt at riding my bike to work, I hit a hole that I didn't see and flew over the handle bars ZOMFG!

The damages: My helmet did its job and my skull is intact. My chin hit too though:


leaving my jaw swollen and giving me a temporary underbite this morning. It's better now, just a little sore. I also scraped my right wrist:


So far, that doesn't hurt too much. I also bumped my left knee and left pinky finger; they're sore but they'll be okay.

My bike..... well, I bent the fork:


I need to figure out what it's gonna take to fix it (possibly repairable or else a new fork).

Being healthy hurts!

I iz a cyclommuter!

This was first posted on MetaChat.

Well, not officially yet but I had the day off and tried out my new commute on my bicycle. Eight miles, navigating around traffic knots, etc., took 50 minutes one-way.

But like I said, I had the day off so there was nothing else to do but turn around and go back home. I stopped by the bike shop on the way home and got a new helmet and rack pack.

The mechanic at the bike shop took a look and said, "Ooh, a Nishinki Olympic 12! They don't make those anymore! And this one's in great shape!"

Altogether I probably rode almost 20 miles today, probably not a good idea considering it's been more than a year since I've been in the saddle. Weather permitting I'm gonna try it for real on Monday.