Riding to Pullman

Today RAW riders had a layover day. Most went on a variety of routes offered or or just went for random rides. All rides were officially unsupported, and as such, I had the day off. I joined a friend and a few others on a ride to Pullman. We were in the rolling hill country of The Palouse and we started up a hill just as we pedaled out of town. I reached the top of the hill a bit more quickly than my ride partners and planned to turn around and ride back up with them. The road was making a sweeping left turn at the top where I made my turn-around. I was going a bit fast to start with, only made worse by the banked turn. It became obvious to me that I was going to run out of pavement before completing my turn. Usually no big deal, I planned to make a controlled entry to the gravel, stabilize, then jump back up on the asphalt and continue on my merry way. Unfortunately, the gravel shoulder that appeared firm was as soft as sand. My front tire sunk in about 4" and I was going down. I did manage to unclip before I hit. I rolled over a fiberglass road reflector, and landed on my back, knocking the wind out of myself. The asphalt had about a 4" drop to the shoulder and my tail bone landed right on that edge. So there I lay, tangled up with my bike, unable to breath, head laying right where a car's tire would run, and on a corner. I decided I should move out of the traffic lines quickly! In the photo of the crash site you can see the impressions in the gravel of my two tires and leg!

 I was sore after the fall, but decided the best course of action was to ride.  I was back up on the bike before my riding partners were able to round the curve and see me down.  We continued up to Pullman where we stopped at a local ice cream shop near Washington State University.
I found that I could pedal reasonably well, but walking or lifting a leg over the bike was almost impossible. Non the less, it was a good ride.

 ........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..........35..............0.............0..........0...........35 Jan..........105.............34.............0..........0..........139 Feb...........428............108.............0.........24..........536 March.........809..............0.............0.........22..........831 April........1010..............0.............0..........0.........1010 May..........1000..............0............20..........0.........1020 June.........1500..............0.............0..........0.........1500 July.........1558..............0.............0..........0.........1558 Aug............43..............0.............0..........0...........43 YTD..........6379............142............20.........46.........6598