Anyone who’s been riding for long enough will have a wipe-out; and when that day happens, you want to be ready. Always wear a helmet.
I’ve been riding for years, and I’ve had the occasional mishaps, but there will always be that one spring ride. I drove to my usual starting point at the corner of Grant and Homestead in South Los Altos. It was an overcast morning, but I took off none the less; it’s California, and the sun eventually peeks out. As I rode and got further from my starting point, the weather turned wet as I climbed the Los Altos hills up to Skyline Blvd. Across Skyline Blvd was a good stretch, the rain let up to a light mist, and I was feeling good. As I turned onto Page Mill Road, the rain stopped, but the roads were still wet. Anyone who’s ridden on Page Mill knows it has some steep segments and a decent number of curves to contend with during the descent. I thought I was keeping my speed in check, but on one particular straight-away, I hit “something.” To this day, I still don’t know what that “something” was; a little imperfection in the road, a wet piece of tar, or a small rock. Whatever it was, I landed hard on my left side and slid for what seemed like forever. If it wasn’t for my helmet, things could have been a lot worse. I walked away from this spill with a sprained shoulder and a severe case of road rash on my hip and thigh.
Left side of my helmet after the crash.
Inside of the helmet, shows damage where the foam has cracked and pulled away form the rivet.
Ride on. #centralcoastrider @cencoastrider