Things didn't start off so badly today. I was running a little bit behind, but I wasn't too worried, since I had made blueberry muffins to bring in to work (excusing or at least explaining my tardiness). The weather was ok, so I rode in. I realized that my shoelace was about to get jammed in my spokes, but I pulled over before anything terrible happened. Nonetheless, I probably do need to buy a pair of shorter shoelaces.
I had a meeting up at College and Bay in the middle of the afternoon. I debated just taking the TTC, but decided to bike up. I didn't want to bring the full pannier, since I only had a notebook to bring, so I tossed it in a bag on my front handlebars. This ended up being a costly mistake. While it's never a great idea to have stuff hanging on the handlebars, this was a large notebook and incredibly stiff. About two blocks away from College, it jammed up under my knee and I lost control of the bike. I rolled the entire bike. It really was just like one of those movies with 360 degree barrel rolls, but happening in real life. I basically jumped up, untangled the bike and got over to the sidewalk. I was incredibly fortunate this happened north of Dundas where Bay St. widens a bit (and also most cars avoid the right-hand lane, which is technically reserved for bikes, buses and taxis). If it had been south of Queen, I absolutely would have been hit by a car, though I also might have been travelling a bit slower. I was pretty shaken up, as you can imagine, and quite sore. Once again, I was saved by my helmet, though I mostly hit my elbow and side on the pavement. A couple of people (a pedestrian and another cyclist) stopped to ask what had happened (and to hand over my bike lock, which got separated from the bike) and to ask if I had been hit by a car. I said that No, I had just been very foolish. I probably ought to invest in a backpack or a messenger bag for these small things that don't need to go in the pannier.
I walked my bike on the sidewalk the rest of the way. While I was certainly shaken up, it could have been a lot worse. I went ahead and went into the meeting. It was fine, though I did have a bit of trouble focusing. There was someone there who was going back to our offices, so I handed over my notebook. While I wasn't super eager to get back on the bike, it wasn't too bad (aside from some soreness in my side and a small bit of scabbing on my elbow -- it could have been a lot worse). I don't want to get too spooked or I will just stop riding altogether. (Probably my next serious accident will be the last time I get on the bike.)
As it happens, there was a terrible crash (caused by an Uber driver) with several pedestrians hurt, but I think they must have gotten the time wrong in the article. This must have happened closer to 3:15 rather than 2:30, since I had to cross that intersection to get my bike after the meeting was over, and it was definitely not closed off. Here's hoping for a full recovery for everyone involved in the accident.
I did wait an extra hour before leaving work, since Front Street is just too hard to deal with with the traffic at 5 and even 6. It was a fairly uneventful ride home, which was fine by me. I did decide to skip the gym, given that I am pretty sore. And I will take the subway tomorrow, though this is only partly due to my mishap today, but also because I will be taking the GO train to a BBQ after work. Anyway, I am definitely hoping there are no more incidents like this next week. I have enough to deal with already without falling off my bike into traffic again...
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