Ice Capedes

I went out with Coach, Denny, James, and Stoney for a snow covered gravel road ride this afternoon, the gravel sections were really fun to ride once you got a feel for them. It was a lot of fun to get out and ride with a group. The ride heading out of town was a bit sketchy with some slush sections that would let your front wheel drift and float instead of roll through. The first downhill after we left Coach's house was a bit intense for me, I almost got my skirt caught in the chain (it had to be creating drag because everyone was pulling away from me). Everything was going really well until we hit the ice covered paved section of blacktop, the majority of us hit the ground early on this section. Denny was the first to go down, the bike just slid out from under him (I know, how does a bike slide on a solid sheet of ice?). Not long after that James went down very quickly......did I mention that he was right in front of me and it sure is hard to react when your riding on ice. I hit his leg and the impact shot intense pain into my left shoulder, it felt like the ball joint had shifted in the socket and then released when I finally got up. After I hit James' leg I quickly went down on my right hip and upper arm, I have a pretty good strawberry on my hip but the pain is in my shoulder. It is the same pain I had when I went down on Humpty Dumpty and also when I bit it hard on the service road (the impact pushing my arms into my shoulders), it wasn't as bad this time but it was still extreme pain. It took me much longer to get up than anyone else, I must have been auditioning for a drama or something. If that was my best catlike reflexes then I must be that 35 lb cat that just lays next to the window and soaks in the sun. Denny went down again a bit later, I think he hurt his thumb pretty good and James called a little bit ago to check on me and said that he hurt his wrist. I rode very cautiously until we got to gravel again and then had to ride into the wind (it was great training). Every time I would grip my handlebars tight while trying to accelerate I had pain shooting through my left shoulder, it wasn't very pleasant. The ride through town was the worst for me, it was dark and most of the streets were ice (it took me a long time to get home).

Did I mention that Stoney was on a single speed? I bet his legs are feeling it right about now.