Battle Wounds for the Non-biker on the trip

Greetings from Anson, Texas!

It has been a good couple of days, including a visit with the Rotary Club in Post, Texas yesterday.

Today we took part in a very southern worship service (complete with a fiddle!), and were warmly and gernously welcomed. After the service, as we were carrying things in, I was wheeling bikes in to the church to rest there for the night. As it got dark, I decided to carry them because I could not see what I was wheeling them over in the grass (and road bikes are pretty light).

Unfortunately, I didn't realize there was a pump under the frame, and when it slipped and fell, I did my best to catch it. I caught the chain ring on my leg, picked up the bike and walked inside. I felt terrible about the bike, but I was certain it was fine. I walked inside and David (it was his bike) put the pump back on, and then noticed my leg. "Is your leg bleeding?" he asked, with blood running down it. Hmmm. I didn't think it hurt THAT much! SO I went into the bathroom to clean it up - and it was REALLY bleeding! Running down my leg, it took a while of sitting there with pressure on it for it to stop enough to even walk without worrying about getting it on the carpet (it was coming out quick!)

I made my way to the house we're staying in and on my way in asked Criselda to grab the first aid kit. Skipping details, I soon had quite a crowd checking it out and making sure I was ok - and I had to warn them not to look of they were easily queasy! Thanks to Criselda's assistance and Mike's expertise (he's a nurse!), we realized I even had a shard of metal stuck in the deep wound. Fortunately (maybe?) it was hurting enough that it was still kind of numb, so I used that opportunity to scrub it out and clean it before I could feel it more. I also sanitized my tweezers and did a little mini-surgery to get the metal shard out of my leg. It was a quick, easy success!!

Scrubbing all of the grease out wasn't as easy, but I think we got most of it. Its got a good bandage on it, but its bleeding through, so I need to change it before I go to bed.

A bit of pain, but I'm fine. It could have been worse! ha, I actually think its funny, and feel SO bad about it! After all, the one thing I have failed to mention is that my biggest concern throughout (Criselda kept getting after me to stop worrying about it) was David's bike. He said its ok, just needs the bearings adjusted. I dunno. I hope its actually ok. Whatever it is, I'll pay to fix it up. But seriously... my leg will heal fine (and hopefully I'll have a great battle scar, haha). I just hope the bike is ok too.

As I re-wrap it for bed, I can see that it is already healing really well. I couldn't get a very clear, detailed picture that shows how deep it is, etc now that the bleeding has slowed and begun to dry up, but you can see the perfect marks of the chain ring! ha. Anyway, if you're squeamish, you should have stopped reading by now...