Those who follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook will know that I had a spill from my bike today. The only surprising thing is that this is the first since I got it seven months ago. It was my own stupid fault, the details are tedious, suffice to say that I swerved at speed to avoid a tree and hit a railway sleeper (that had been laid down to mark the path).
The worst aspect was the dent to my ego and the realisation that it is much harder to take a tumble at 41 than at 14. No great damage done, other than a trembly feeling that took some time to go. I have a grazed knee and a few sore points that will turn into bruises by tomorrow or Wednesday. I broke one fingernail, but not seriously - not down to the quick, or loss of blood or anything. My toenails hurt when slammed against the front of my trainers. The best bit was that I bumped my head. Not in any serious way, but I did wonder, if I hadn't been wearing a helmet would it have hurt a bit? If I carried on hurting during the week would I develop hyperchondria? A cycle helmet is never going to save one from a collision with a 12 ton lorry but it takes the hassle out of trivial spills.
Then Pewari twittered me some virtual medicinal wine, which inspired me to demand gin, large and several, which then caused much of the rest of the evening to descend into farce, as I randomly misplaced kitchen utensils and became extremely philosophical about science, religion and social science (a programme recorded a few weeks ago where Professor Colin Blakemore theorised that one day, science will replace religion - I exclaimed that that was a typical scientist's reaction when any social scientist will know that people behave irrationally, want something that one might call a crutch, or social networking, or community, or comfort.
