by sova » Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:22 am
I fell off the bike on Thursday. Me and my dog were on 35 miles long ride, through forests and fields. It was perfect and totally worth it, but the fall itself was really silly. Buffy always runs without a leash next to me, but we were reaching a very frequent road so I clipped a leash onto her harness and attached it to the front of my bike. Usually we cross road without leash, she's responsible enough, but she's a border collie so she has herding tendencies towards cars and it was road where the cars were going really fast. Don't even start me on how she was as a puppy. It's much better now, but I don't want to risk - hence the leash.
So, we were going down the hill and suddenly the leash got caught in the front wheel, dragging Buffy INTO it, and stopping the wheel altogether. And I was in the air, before having rather intimate acquaintance with road, earning nasty road rashes on my left knee, right forearm and shoulder. I was pretty knocked out and I nearly couldn't breathe, but in my haze I focused on act of breathing, before Buffy came to me and I inspected her; fortunately she was uninjured and she was kind of at the edge of freak out, because I fell. She looks at me troubled even when my bike squeaks. She's just.. like that.
Then I lifted myself off the road and even though my left knee was really weak from the impact, I was basically OK. My bike's front wheel was jammed and I tried to wind the caught leash off. And then I saw Buffy's harness in the wheel, stuck there as well. God, if she wasn't so agile and slender, she wouldn't made it from the harness...
So, screw leash. I sat on the bike and we did the remaining 5 miles to home without leash. It started to rain, so we got home soaked. I'm never gonna use the f-ing leash again, because the next time it could be lot more worse, and I don't want to injure my dog. I don't use leash very much, only in public transport and on such occasions, IMHO leash is a barrier of communication. I don't attach a leash on my friends, so why would I do it to my dog who's a friend too? But when it comes to fast moving cars, it's dangerous. It's a conflict I'm facing frequently. My beliefs vs. my dog's safety. I shouldn't worry so much... Buffy's a big girl now. She knows her trying to herd cars freaks me out. I'm sidetracking, ain't I.
Now I have angina and my whole body hurts. You wouldn't believe how painful a road rash could be. I've never fallen like that and I don't seem to recall showering being so painful. Not to mention sleeping and moving. It sucks.
But on the other hand, I'm glad I didn't plow the road with my chin or nose. And I'm glad Buffy's such a fantastic dog!