I still have both my front teeth

utopia · 22-12-2018, 03:39 AM

My trusty old shoei saved the day.
It was lucky that I was wearing it though .. I wasn't on the bike at the time.

You see, there is this dark, narrow path along the side of my house, from the shed in the back garden to the side gate.
On one side is the house wall which is covered in thick ivy and on the other side is a tall fence with a dense rambler rose scrambling along the top and arching over, with a hedge behind the fence and a dark field beyond.
Its basically a dark tunnel down to the gate.
I have a stack of lengths of handy timber half way along and a short plank had either been blown by the wind or toppled by a cat or fox .. either way it was the perfect rigid trip wire, anchored firmly enough at both ends across the path and about ten inches off the ground.
I was on my way out to the shops after dark. I had switched the Dommie's ignition and headlight on, but it was pointing down the garden the other way.
One moment I was walking toward the gate to open it, the next nanosecond I hit the ground, moustache-area first.
I didn't even have time to move my arms.
After the hammer blow, the metallic taste of blood immediately accompanied the numbness of my upper lip, as my mind was still registering events.
I gingerly probed around with my tounge for the large chunks of broken teeth that I fully expected to find.
Phew.
Double lucky then.
1) wearing helmet.
2) no teeth to spit out .. they're not even wobbly.
Born lucky, me.

The thing is, I had run out of essentials like bread, milk, butter, tea and so I decided that, rather than inspect the damage straight away (which I didn't particularly fancy overmuch anyway), I would continue to the shops and look later, hoping that I didn't look too gruesome to the checkout person.
If anyone remembers Plug from The Bash Street Kids, that's exactly how I felt, but I scared no children in the aisles at Aldi, so that was ok.
I still haven't looked at my top lip, but its all still there at least, despite a severe teeth interface (scuse the pun).

Anyway, its now six or seven hours later, the swelling is subsiding and I can at last drink tea in reasonable comfort and smoke a cig in the corner of my mouth.
The helmet is totally unscathed. Not even a scratch.
And I appear to have no impact reactions anywhere at all, other than the moustache area, which it seems took the full force of the impact.

On the downside, I've just seen the funny side of still being able to say "happy solstice" in all its toothy glory, but grinning at the alternative has split my lip open again.

Happy Tholthtithe, everyone.

22-12-2018, 03:39 AM	#1
utopia No turn left unstoned Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: leicester Bike: M750 Posts: 4,545	I still have both my front teeth My trusty old shoei saved the day. It was lucky that I was wearing it though .. I wasn't on the bike at the time. You see, there is this dark, narrow path along the side of my house, from the shed in the back garden to the side gate. On one side is the house wall which is covered in thick ivy and on the other side is a tall fence with a dense rambler rose scrambling along the top and arching over, with a hedge behind the fence and a dark field beyond. Its basically a dark tunnel down to the gate. I have a stack of lengths of handy timber half way along and a short plank had either been blown by the wind or toppled by a cat or fox .. either way it was the perfect rigid trip wire, anchored firmly enough at both ends across the path and about ten inches off the ground. I was on my way out to the shops after dark. I had switched the Dommie's ignition and headlight on, but it was pointing down the garden the other way. One moment I was walking toward the gate to open it, the next nanosecond I hit the ground, moustache-area first. I didn't even have time to move my arms. After the hammer blow, the metallic taste of blood immediately accompanied the numbness of my upper lip, as my mind was still registering events. I gingerly probed around with my tounge for the large chunks of broken teeth that I fully expected to find. Phew. Double lucky then. 1) wearing helmet. 2) no teeth to spit out .. they're not even wobbly. Born lucky, me. The thing is, I had run out of essentials like bread, milk, butter, tea and so I decided that, rather than inspect the damage straight away (which I didn't particularly fancy overmuch anyway), I would continue to the shops and look later, hoping that I didn't look too gruesome to the checkout person. If anyone remembers Plug from The Bash Street Kids, that's exactly how I felt, but I scared no children in the aisles at Aldi, so that was ok. I still haven't looked at my top lip, but its all still there at least, despite a severe teeth interface (scuse the pun). Anyway, its now six or seven hours later, the swelling is subsiding and I can at last drink tea in reasonable comfort and smoke a cig in the corner of my mouth. The helmet is totally unscathed. Not even a scratch. And I appear to have no impact reactions anywhere at all, other than the moustache area, which it seems took the full force of the impact. On the downside, I've just seen the funny side of still being able to say "happy solstice" in all its toothy glory, but grinning at the alternative has split my lip open again. Happy Tholthtithe, everyone.