This morning was so purty. A little cold, but wasn't windy, nice sunshine and a light white covering over grass and road. I got up early this morning; had a quiz and exam to finish preparing for. Headed out the door feeling plenty warm with my WVU Cycling hoodie on, and opted for glasses today to keep my eyes from watering.
While on my ride to class, I was looking down at my fenders thinking how great they were. The roads were beginning to melt as salt had been applied. I was so excited that I wasn't getting that brine all over my legs, back and in my mouth as used to happen without those fenders. I thought about how perfect my tires were for commuting. Nice 1.9" tires gave enough cushion to the bumps, while the smooth tread gave little rolling resistance. I was a little upset that my brakes didn't feel smooth from all the frozen crap that had accumulated. The roads sure looked slick, and I wondered how badly my bike would stop given my brakes and the frosty roads.
As I got onto the engineering campus, everyone was hustling all bundled up with winter jackets and gloves, and I had on a hoodie. WVU takes pretty good care of the sidewalks, and they were pretty clear. I could see the salt crystals on the wet concrete. As I rounded the last left corner near the PRT to go into the grassy inner area between ESB and MRB I thought, man, I'm glad this turn it well salted, I'd hate to wreck.
Then it happened, the bike dropped out from under me to my right, and while my fender drug on the concrete with a loud screeching sound, my left foot touched down. I stayed upright trying to run out the momentum I had no traction to slow down. The concrete landing pad ended and I saw bushes and a brick wall rapidly approaching. I opted to fall into the grass to scrub some speed before impact with much harder things. As my knee went into the grass, my momentum carried me over and I landed upside down in the bushes.
My ego was badly injured. All those bundled people definitely heard and saw that. I got up, completely covered in snow. As I dusted off my pants, I realized my knee was all muddy, can't wear these pants the rest of the week. I picked up my bike, and proceeded VERY cautiously to the rack, locked my bike and went inside. As I got to the door, I saw my reflection and realize my entire upper body was covered in snow, including my head. I brushed it off while walking to class, with just about everyone I saw making some comment about it.
Then I thought, that coulda been bad. I think I'll start wearing my helmet on my commutes to class again. But as it turned out, my day only got worse once that exam started.
