Sunglasses in blindingly sunny Arizona are awesome. They're like butter for your eyes. Except when they don't have the prescription lenses you need - then they're just hazardous.
Biking to meet someone for an occupational coffee chat, I encountered the never-ending university construction and turned down a side street. I saw a sign that read, "No through street," and thought, Well, that doesn't make sense. Clearly, I can go right through.
Not paying attention to some other white signs and not being able to see the brown chain stringing them together across the street, I ran into the barrier on my bike. I saw the chain right as I approached it and grabbed my brakes. In slow motion, I left my seat, went forward toward the ground, and thought, Glad I have a helmet! However, because I continued to hang onto my handles and apply resistance, I ended up tumbling to the side instead of out in front. I landed on the chain and became tangled in the metal, the bike, and my own arms. I made one feeble attempt to move and then gave up.
I heard a guy say, "Hold on. I'll call you back." I realized I couldn't get out of my self-imposed knot. Then I heard footsteps approaching.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine..." I moaned. "Except for a bruised ego." He helped me untangle myself and we went on our merry ways. Luckily, my bike was fine. I only had a giant, bleeding gash on my hand (discovered once I took my gloves off) that I tried to inconspicuously wrap in paper napkins during my interview-chat. Classy.
I thought about including a lesson for this post, like the dangers of being negligent about one's eyewear...but I honestly wrote it because I thought the whole thing was hilarious. I fully intend to continue wearing my sunglasses while I bike, too.
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