(no subject)

Today we went over to Poughkeepsie to rent bikes and ride along the local rail trail.

It was a very nice ride! And here is what happened:

I was slightly distracted, and got way closer to the edge of the road than I was comfortable with, because I'm always scared of getting the tire caught along a vertical drop-off. For some reason it made more sense in my head for me to slow down than to just steer the other way, except the brakes on my rental bike were really sensitive, so what I intended as fast braking turned into panic-braking, and... luckily I was riding quite slowly to keep pace with my sister (who's scared of going fast due to previous bike trauma), or I could've sent myself over the handlebars; instead I just stopped fast enough that I went down on top of my bike. I got some good scrapes on one toe and a tiny bit of road rash on the heels of my hands, and then I yelled "I'M FINE" and got up as soon as I could disentangle myself from my bicycle.

I understand that a Sunday rail-trail ride is different from a daily commute, but I can't help but be a little annoyed that nobody stopped to help me when I was lying at the side of the road with a broken arm and a bloody nose, nobody stopped to help me when I had a minor altercation with a car, and everybody stopped to help me when, other than my horribly wounded pride and dignity, I had no injuries worth mentioning.

I used to get "DO YOU NEED HELP?" a lot on rides when I was just resting (the central-to-western portion of North Carolina is quite hilly, and I am neither light nor strong of leg) but I don't know if I'm seeing sexism where there's just genuine helpfulness.

My mom keeps being surprised that I'm in good shape, LOL.