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About a month and a half ago I was cruising on my bike on a series of concrete trails we have throughout the area called the greenbelt. A tropical storm was blowing through so it was wet. I hit a patch of clay, but I didn't think anything of it. I got about 20 feet further and had to turn sharply on the trail. It turned out to be a slick spot on the concrete and the clay didn't help. My front wheel came out from under me so fast that I barely had time to react. I hit the concrete hard, with the impact mainly on my hands, my left elbow and my left knee. I slid for several feet and the concrete, instead of being rough, had sharp edges in that area instead, which shredded my knee and elbow into a bloody mess. Since it was slick, my left hand slipped out from under me, shot forward, and nearly ripped my arm out of socket as my ribs slapped the ground. I laid there for a second, got up and assessed the damage, took a deep breath to make sure I hadn't broken a rib, and turned around and rode the 5 miles home. By the time I got home the rain had drained my shredded skin of blood, and it was gray like hamburger meat where I had slid on the ground.
My knee took a month to heal, and even then I knocked the healing skin off 3 times just being clumsy. The tissue was still forming underneath, which appeared spongy when the skin was removed. Kinda weird and cool at the same time, but VERY painful, even just being touched lightly. It's a nice dark spot now, but not nearly as sensitive as before.
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-Winston Churchill
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