No Teeth!

I'm no stranger to falling off my bike these days although, fortunately, it only happens when I am stationary or manoeuvering slowly and damage is usually limited to cuts and abrasions to my legs and elbows and bruising of my dignity. But one particular tumble last year, when I measured my length only a few yards from my garage, was to prove mightily inconvenient and expensive. I was carefully, or so I thought, negotiating my way down the rough track that is the access road to the rear of my house when my front wheel sank into loose gravel and I was launched face first onto the stony driveway. My composure in tatters, I refused all help from a neighbour, who seemed overly worried about me especially when I announced that I was going to continue on my ride. It wasn't until a couple of hours later when I returned home that I discovered why the neighbour had been so concerned. One side of my face was dark grey, the colour of the driveway, and the other was covered in blood from a wound on my lip where a tooth had gone through. I subsequently learnt that three front teeth had been so damaged by the impact with the ground that they would have to be removed and a plate fitted until my gums thoroughly healed and settled down – about 6 months.

That time has, thankfully, now passed and I can begin the process of aquiring some permanent replacement gnashers so that by August/ September time I should be able to jettison the plate and flash a Hollywood smile: all for the price of a new small family car.

With that level of investment in my gob and given my propensity for unconventional, involuntary dismounting perhaps I will have to consider riding with a gum shield.