is getting injured even interesting anymore?

hey homies!

it's been a while, and what could be more fitting as a return post than another iteration of "preston gets hurt snowboarding!", eh, eh? (the third iteration, though the first two aren't documented on this here blog)

yesterday, i faceplanted on a flat rail at mountain creek.

a little bit of background history: a few seasons ago, i decided to try out a flat rail, and then i hit my hip on it. ow. from then on, i vowed never to go on rails again.

back to the present: yesterday was the first time this season that i went to south at mt creek, with all of its new terrain park shenanigans. it was pretty cool.

my first run down south, i rode down the right side of the trail, scoping out the jumps and features and landings and whatnot. the problem is, the trail is wider than just one line of features, so i didn't get to scope out the interior of the trail.

my second run down south, in the middle of the trail(!), i see a medium lip that i want to jump off of. key point: you can't see any of the landings on the other side of the jumps.

i go off the jump, get some air, nothing crazy.

i'm in the air.

WHY HELLO THAR FLAT RAIL rightinthemiddleofmylanding!

i was struck with terror by the sight of that flat rail. and more terror as i instantly realized i was going to land square on it, though i guess that's better than not landing square.

in my head flash a few thoughts.

"crapcrapcrapcrapcrap"

"oh, it'd be convenient if i landed on it and rode off of it nicely like i knew it was there all along"

NOPE.

i land on the rail. i estimate i ride half of the rail. bam! i hit my face on the rail lolol.

i knew i hit my head because, just like when i hit my head in the past, i lost that one second of memory prior to the collision, the memory of me actually falling down.

i'm on my tummy on the ground, and quickly ride out of the landing towards the fork of the trail in front of some trees. oh yeah, textbook bailout procedure.

i'm laying on the snow and i wave arnold over (at this point i'm glad i went first, before arnold and jon[tsui]), and jon stops by shortly after.

i ask arnold, "assess the damage." the left side of my face hurts in general, there's some bleeding, my left contact fell into my goggles, but MY EYE IS FINE!

my goggles are fine, too. here's the crazy part. since the day was kind of overcast, i was considering not wearing my goggles (putting them on my helmet) so i could have extra visibility on the snow. whewwww, i'm sososososo glad i wore them, because my goggles took the brunt of the impact and saved me from a broken nose or cheekbone or something worse. my goggles have saved me twice now, this incident and last time's.

at this point, i put the contact into my mouth to keep it from drying out, and i snowboard down the trail with only one contact. by the time i get to the bottom of the mountain, i've already accidentally eaten my contact. oopsies.

at EMS, i get the scrapes on my face wiped with alcohol, and ice is given to me for the swelling of my left cheek and the area surrounding my left eye. somehow, whenever i get injured, i always hit my face, and always the left side.

all in all, i'm fine. it doesn't really hurt, it just looks worse than it is. it'll be better in a few days! and going to camelback tomorrow will make me feel better :]

today's lesson: always scope out jumps to make sure there isn't a rail hiding behind waiting to be nomnom-ed by your face.

also:

A person with hands crossed over their head while on or near a feature means:

d) It's time to get X-treme!

too ninja for civics

I GOT T-BONED BY A CAR TODAY ON MY BIKE lols

[prep] [today, monday 9/14]
today, me and matthew took a bike ride together to college ave, 'cause i had to go to the public safety building to pick up my parking permit, and also to the university bookstore so i could pre-order an iclicker.

we biked to the rutgers student center and got on the F bus (bikes too), which brought us to the public safety building where i picked up my parking permit.

from there, the plan was to bike back to the scott hall stop and take the bus, or bike directly back to busch.

[set-up] [1:10pm]
at the intersection of hamilton and college ave, me and matthew were waiting to cross the crosswalk. i waited as i usually do until pedestrians start crossing, in order to ensure that cars would be stopping for at least the pedestrians, and i started my way across. a black civic was stopped nearby and the first in the row of cars, and as i started to cross, he started to accelerate. at that point, i was already square in front of his car, but i was just thinking to myself, "yeah, he'll stop. yeah.. okay, he's not stopping oh crap this is really happening --"

[action]
BAM! since i'm very aware when i ride my bike, i was already watching his car and anticipating the collision, and i was able to jump off my bike like i just messed up landing a bmx trick and proceeded to land square on my feet. TOO NINJA.

[aftermath]
i think both me and the driver took a few seconds to collect ourselves and take in what just happened. he steps out and apologizes and says some other stuff that i didn't take notice of, but then i'm just like whatever, and i pick up my bike and move it over to the sidewalk to check it out. the bike is fine, except that the back wheel is a little crooked where the car's bumper hit it. i had to disengage the rear brakes because they would touch a part of the tire on each revolution. it's okay, i never really used those crappy rear brakes anyway! my bike just got even ghetto-er, and i didn't even think that was possible.

[questions?]
you probably have a lot of questions. lemme give it a shot.
-the driver was male
-he was going straight
-yes, he had a green light
-no, i wasn't on the crosswalk, because his car was already stopped ON the crosswalk before i even attempted to cross it
-pedestrians were crossing despite the "red hand no walk" sign over the crosswalk
-no, i didn't get his info or plates or anything
-yeah, i know, i'll get it in the future from now on no matter the severity of the situation
-a handful of people probably saw, though it wasn't a big scene because a) the collision wasn't that big, and b) i landed on my feet
-he had [quickly] accelerated for about a second and then hit the brakes just a split-second before hitting me
-no, i wasn't scared
-matthew was behind me watching the whole thing and was greatly concerned for my health. what a good friend! not once on the entire bus ride home did he even do so much as crack a smile about the situation.
-my bike still runs well, and you wouldn't even be able to tell there was something wrong with the back wheel

[morals]
snowboard. it gives you a good sense of balance and teaches you how to fall well in impromptu situations.

[modnarrandom]
-maybe two years ago or so, i was at home taking out the trash. i was barefoot and took a step out the front door, and with the first step that landed on the ground outside, i stepped on something squishy. IT WAS A SLUG. i immediately freaked out and limp-ran upstairs to the bathtub to start scrubbing my foot with as much soap as i could. after a few minutes of soaping and scrubbing, i realized that the sole of my foot was squeaky clean, except for the one sliver print of where i stepped on the slug. MAD NASTS. i asked my mom what to do and she said to use baking soda. so i did, and it came off, just like that. moms are so smart.
-once, i stole a contacts case from baldwin pharmacy. i needed one, and it was like a ridiculous $4. not that that was what i used as my rationale, but it was my incentive. i don't remember ever stealing anything else.
-one time, i was in my room (the room which is now the guest room) and staying up late. it was like 4am. i needed to pee, but didn't want to open the door because it was gonna make a lot of noise. so, i stood up on my bed, opened the window, and peed out. the window was facing the back of my house, and i heard the long splatter on the pavement 20 feet or so below.

how would YOU react?

sometimes, people seem unfazed and simply continue on their way.
typically, people yield a little bit, but still stay on their own path.

occasionally, people freeze in their tracks, unsure of what to do, and wait for it to pass.

and rarely (but amusingly), people instantly dart onto the grass as though a truck was passing through.
personally, i'd probably go with the second approach listed above.
as my totally sane math teacher would say, "CLEARLY", i'm talking about me biking around campus.
now lemme tell you, i have always enjoyed biking, and anyone who has known me in middle school or high school can tell you that the bicycle was my preferred (and only) method of transportation to just about anywhere i wanted to go. that is the beauty of parsippany, in that it is such a bik-able town. things are spread out and spacy enough for comfort, but at the same time not too far for anyone to sanely traverse on a bike. middle school, high school, tennis courts, friends' houses, church, strip malls, restaurants, all within biking distance.
oh, and one random journey all the way to not-so-nearby livingston with my good friend johnny, on which he almost got run over at an intersection by burger king. oops.
since i am such an avid advocate for bicycling, i'd like to name just a few of the benefits: no need for gas money, little to no maintenance, great exercise (sick calves and thighs), and great for enjoying nice days. plus, as i mentioned two blog entries ago, biking in the snow is a unique and awe-inspiring experience that you simply must experience at least once in your life.
now even though i'm all into biking and whatnot, what's funny is that my bike is super ghetto. my parents got it for me a long time ago from a family friend, and it belonged to her son (who is now a retired Marine and whose biceps alone would probably break the handlebars of the bike if he tried to ride it again).- the handlebar grips slip off if you pull on them, and moreso when it's raining.- the rear brake is pretty bad, and the front brake is only decent, which averages the quality of the brakes to be on the poor-mediocre end.- there is no suspension whatsoever.
- adding insult to injury, the old bike seat broke so we had to replace it with one that is rock hard. it hurts.- the spokes thingies are really rusty (and have only gotten rustier from bringing it to college, where there's virtually nowhere to put it where it won't get rained on), and thus i can only use two or three different gear combinations of the possible 21.- the gear shifter is actually not ghetto! it's an expensive top-of-the-line shimano gear shifter thing that we had to buy to replace the original one when it broke.- the kickstand is a wobbly twig.
however, the bike itself was free, and it's functional enough for me (ooh, it's tricky to rock a rhyme to rock a rhyme that's right on time it's tricky, it's tricky tricky tr-r-r-r-r-r-ricky).
there was a period when i didn't bike, though. (that is, when i got a car. duh.) instead, driving was the cool thing. driving to tennis, church, people's houses, giving rides, etc. (and also infinitely cooler when i would leave the car in the driveway and the gas would "accidentally" be low, only to have it magically filled up within a few days. parents are so nice.)

but alas, upon coming to college, and spending the first week or two without my trusty set of wheels, i realized my life just isn't meant to be like this. we were meant to be together. i brought my bike from home as soon as possible, and it's simply been like a dream ever since.
seriously, i can get from metzger to arc in four minutes. FOUR minutes. do the math. (i was considering doing the math of how much time i save weekly and yearly by biking instead of walking, but i'll do it some other time. i have enough math to do today.)
that was a brief (!) desription to bring all of you up to par regarding my bicycle affairs. NOW, back to my original topic.

i was inspired to blog today (even though i have to study for calc and chem exams on monday and tuesday respectively) because just a while ago, i was biking back from the dining hall, and i was cruising along and listening to music on my dandy bike ride, and just as i enter the crosswalk, i nearly get hit by a car coming from my left. my fault? in a word, no. i always wonder what would happen if i got hit by a car. sure, maybe i can avoid getting hit by looking both ways every time when i cross the street (which i do 90% of the time), but the point is that cars must yield to pedestrians, including pedestrians on bikes! (just kidding, that would make me like, a cyclestrian. or cyclist?) yes, wow, amazingly, that is actually what they are supposed to do! it's as if since i'm on something with wheels, drivers automatically no longer have to yield to me even as i'm crossing on the crosswalk. here, let me draw a picture of the inverse hierarchy that is what i deem the pyramid of yieldality*:

*not pictured: wheelchairs, rollerblades, skateboards, my car

now, if you recall the statements from the beginning of my post (yes, way back there), people react in a variety of ways when they see me on their sidewalk approaching ahead of them or alongside them. first of all, i believe i am a good cyclist, because, where applicable, i treat biking the same way i do driving. i always have complete control over where my bike is going and how close it is to others. granted, of course other people may not know that i'm so careful and considerate when i bike, so i don't blame them for how they react. however, there ARE signs directed towards cyclists that say "yield to pedestrians" posted every now and then, and i follow them dutifully regardless of where they are or aren't posted. i'm willing to take alternate paths, weave between people, bike on the [dry] grass, bike on the street, bike along with a crowd at a walking pace, and pretty much any other method that i can think to employ in order to make those traveling on foot around me as unhindered, uninconvenienced, and unscared as possible.
so please, if you read this and you see me biking, know that i'm not going to run you over if you don't dive out of the way or something ridiculous like that. i've only once accidentally nudged someone with my handlebar because someone else in front of me cut me off. i said sorry and i felt dumb.

now you may be wondering, if two people on bikes are approaching, how do you know who has priority? well, you know what chicken is right?
and thus, that concludes the history so-far of my biking adventures to the present day, though the journey is far from over.
don't you wish you had a bike now?