Accidents and Good Things Happening

I had my first "official" bike-related accident today, only it was my own clumsy fault. I took my new bike out for a spin yesterday and got a flat seemingly out of nowhere, with no apparent knicks in the tire but one in the tube, hmmm. After being a bit sour and ruining our speed session Brandon had planned for us, I decided it would be best to head home since I was riding on only about 80 psi. (all the tire would take from my trusty hand pump, which is a freakin'workout in itself) This morning I went to pump the tire up to full pressure, and would you believe it, 20 mins later it was completely flat like a pancake.. Um, ok... I usually get annoyed with flats but remained calm since I was at home and could take my time figuring out what was wrong, instead of being stranded on the side of the road with cars zooming by an inch away from me... Turns out the culprit was what I expected- bad rim tape. No problem, B is on it already, and will help me fix the wheel with better tape tomorrow. While that is great, it left me with the choice of either not riding or riding my roadbike, which after getting on the new steed, weighs about 1/3 more... I decided to ride, but needed to switch pedals over since I only own one pair.

I hate taking off pedals, they are such a pain and are always the hardest part of taking my bike apart. Well, today I was determined to get them off myself. I had the tool and the patience in case it would take a while. First pedal came off no problem, and whilst giving myself an imaginary pat on the back for job well done, I moved on to the other side of the crankset, which would prove to be a tad more difficult as I didn't have the same leverage. I don't really know what I did, but next thing I know I slipped with the wrench I was using and full-on jammed my poor, poor right pinky into one of the teeth of my chainring. It didn't hurt all that bad, but as I went to take a look I could see blood GUSHING from my finger onto the floor.

Now, there are a few things that I don't like, such as flying, heights, and open wounds bleeding. I took a few steps over to the kitchen sink and saw the blood running out of my hand like a bad nose bleed. Not knowing quite what to do, I just yelled OMG over and over again, and thoughts of bleeding to death rushed through my head. (lol, not really, but it crossed my mind) Finally common sense set in and I managed to grab some paper towels and squeezed it around my finger, all the while trying to reach Brandon, who was already at work. I had to ring him 4x before he picked up (:-)) but being the good bf that he is, he left work and rushed to Safeway to pick up some first aid things for me to fix my finger up. He came home to me sitting on the couch slightly nauseous. My cut was quite deep ( I think it hit the bone, ewww) and was now becoming painful. We cleaned it out with soap and then applied some special bandaids to keep the gash somewhat closed. At that point, the bleeding had finally subsided and besides being nauseated and thankful I wouldn't need stitches, I was thinking about when I would ride... B took my other pedal off, which I apparently had loosened up enough with my pinky to come off easy, and put them on the roadbike. So much for me ever trying to take my own pedals off again.. or become a bike mechanic for that matter, jeeze... I now have a slightly swollen and stiff finger that is still oozing a bit. It also has a nice black color to it, courtesy of the chain grease I couldn't get out with the soap. Swimming tomorrow should do a good job of disinfecting it though. I am hoping I got my "bad luck" with the new ride out of the way now.

I would also like to announce that I am now a K-Swiss athlete, which is very exciting on many levels. One- I am no longer running on worn -out soles, that are basically the cushioning part of the shoe, two- I think K-Swiss is onto something with their new running footwear and my feet are super happy in their kicks, and three- They are up and coming in the triathlon world and I couldn't be more excited to be a part of it. And four- running happens to be my favorite sport out of the three and so it's a given my shoes and I will always have a special bond!:-) So, if you haven't already, check out K-Swiss.com, and go to running to see all the tri-specific footwear and apparel.

Finally, here are some pics of last weekend's race. Notice the bare feet in the one bike pic, that was the FIRST time ever I did it in a race! And the water exit photo is interesting to say the least, no clue what the hands are doing...