GamJams Reviews: Miracle Road Rash Cures

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Much of the time, a studied application of one or both of the above will keep you from the medical tent. I say this not in smugness; the crash which I suffered last year could have been avoided by either in numerous ways. There were plenty of signs that the guy who caused the troubles was more or less assured of doing so. I just chose not to read them.

My least favorite thing in the world is people who dive corners. We are going to be racing at Reston in a couple of weeks, and the left turn at the bottom of the hill is sure to be taken every time to the sounds of "inside" being called by some knucklehead. Hopefully they do a good job with the cones on the inside of that sucker. Highsiding it because somebody wanted to gain 10 spots the cheesy way and caused someone to straighten his line at PRECISELY the wrong moment isn't good for anyone. There's plenty of opportunity to sack up and make your move on the uphill. There is also a chance on the first longer section of the downhill, before the right. Once you make the first left turn at the bottom of the course, that should be your spot for the next turn too. I plan to be toward the front, and promise that when I am I will be pedaling appropriately so the whole stack behind me doesn't bunch unduly and screw the line.

Last week, I had a conversation that got more heated than it should have. The topic basically boiled down to instant karma - if you crack on someone for crashing, that makes you more likely to crash. Personally, I am at this point staggeringly irreligious, and have never been one to borrow bits and pop culture pieces of religions I neither know well nor understand. My fundamental beliefs tend toward the "a life well lived is its own reward" and "do unto others," which may have been arrived at through the distillation of a somewhat structured Episcopalian upbringing. I don't know. Anyhow, perhaps if I wreck soon then I will have been proven wrong, but if instant karma exists then I am getting screwed because I am the poster child for "no good deed goes unpunished."

Wow did I get off track there.

Anyhoo, the TegaDerm stuff is the nuts, you gotta scrub that stuff out and it's going to hurt like a bastige. I know this from precisely one data point. The shower hurts so damn much you'll want to punch the wall. The scrub brush is tough love personified. Then the TegaDerm is the blissful reward. Pretty rote stuff at this point I'd say.

If you have a lot of road rash it means you probably slid on the ground. That, I will tell you with certainty, is a better outcome than an airborne collision or a vertically oriented, slideless incident. When I broke my leg I had one small piece of broken skin that a "My Pretty Pony" bandage easily covered. Now I have a 13" long scar on the other leg. Road rash any day.

I always thought it would be wicked pro to have some of that bandage holder netting that the pros get on their arms when they wreck. If I ever find some of that I'm just going to wear it to be pro. That might be tempting instant karma a little too much even for me.

Sign up for Lost River. Girls and geezers are seriously slacking and those are my two favorite constituencies. Get on this, people.