Another one bites the dust . . .

Recently our car's relay switch died and so we have been traveling around on our bikes. We were headed to Albertsons to get some hamburger buns and shredded lettuce on wednesday. We also just moved closer to campus in a basement apartment. We were coasting down the hill in front of the hospital and about to jump a curb to get onto the sidewalk when the rope holding down my front fender fell off and fed between the tire and spokes. I ended up hitting the curb and flying through the air because the tire was wrapped in rope. I was flying through the air with a confused thought as I saw the sidewalk get closer and the back tire ride over my butt. I arched my back and threw my right arm in front to shield myself out of reflex and I hit the sidewalk chest first and slid across it. I hit it so hard I had holes in my jacket from sliding across it. I am missing a few layers of skin off my elbow and have some nasty bruises on the right side of my body. I hit the sidewalk while Justin was riding ahead of me. He didn't notice that I had biffed it until he looked to see if I was following. He was let down that I didn't scream or cry out when I hit the sidewalk and all he heard was, "Oof!" He turned around and asked, "What happened?" I was still lying on the ground trying to figure out how I got there, "What does it look like!" I was so confused and amazed that I actually crashed my bike. The thumb handle for my shifter broke off in the crash so now I have to grab it with my whole hand and use some muscle to switch gears. I also broke off the flashlight that we use at night. I do not like crashing my bike at all. My body is still sore and I have the nastiest bruises. But I am also very grateful that I didn't break any ribs or an arm. Justin is trying to fix my front fender since he said before that it would be impossible for the rope to feed through like it did in the crash Clearly anything with the slightest possibility WILL occur. Our apt is FREEZING! Our landlord left for Utah this week and she left it on at 60 degrees all day and night. We closed the vents but everything was made in the 70's so its not very efficient.