They day after we arrived in Ile d'Yeu, Pascale and I rode bikes from Jacqueline & Pierre's house to Port Joinville. During the summer, most people ride bikes on the island because driving is so infuriating difficult with all of the tourists during July and August.
After we ran our errands and did some shopping, we left. As I started to pedal, my bike was a little wobbly. When I veered to the left a little bit, a car whizzed past me with only a couple inches to spare. (See post titled, "Driving: like shooting a bullet through a tunnel".) I was startled and veered to the right. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my foot down off the pedal fast enough and I fell. I smashed my knees, left elbow and left lateral wrist.
I ended up with bruises on my knees, a HUGE bruise with a radius of about 4-5 inches around my left elbow that lasted a long time, and a weird swelling on my wrist. The picture of my bruised elbow is too ugly to post, but I have posted the picture of the weird swelling. (It is the odd bump on my arm on the right side of the picture.)
When it happened, I thought that I'd take a while to get back on a bike with French drivers. However, the next day I wanted to go into town. I had a choice of riding a bike or taking the local bus. I decided that I'd go ahead and get back on the bike. I figured that if I fell again, I'd take care to fall on the other arm.
Anyway, I'm mended now.
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