bridge of doom
long ago in a faraway place, well, the French Alps, okay, more like the Ecrins, perhaps Combe de Queyras if you're picky, there was the Bridge of Doom. The new road over an arm of a reservoir, the sign underneath for saling boats put the height retriction at 13 metres, plus about a metre or so of concrete up to the roadway, and add a metre or so below, as it had been a long hot summer, and teh water level was lower than usual... 15 or more metres i reckon.

I suppose it was a Rite Of Passage, we must have driven over it several times one week we were on holiday there. Being macho students we discussed jumping off it, legend had it that friends had gone before. Then one day we actually stopped to look at it, "just to see if it could be done" and then the jumping began. Not only that, the injuries began, but not mine, yet.

I suppose my first mistake was jumping in the first place, and my second mistake was enjoying it so much I should do it again. The first time, after a lot of umming and aahing was perfec, almost, pencilled in, went a bit deep, felt my ears pop a bt more than was comfortable, still, what a rush, again again!

The second time was my undoing, clearly instead of landing cleanly, my feet must have been pointing downwards, leaving physics to take its toll and my vertical movement of 9.82 m/s/s became horizontal as my feet shot out from under me, leaving my arse to connect firmly with the water, which didn't part as swiftly as it might. All in all very painful.

I pulled myself to the side to assess the damage: one thoroughly bruised backside, not suitable for spending a week sitting in a car pottering around various southern French places, let alone 12 hours back to Calais and then more beyond. Of more concern was the whiplash, I could barely move my head without being in agony. And then there was the mystery bruise in the middle of my chest, about the size of a coaster and livid purple - it was only later that I realised that the only thing that could have made that bruise was my chin, which meant that my neck must have extended 5 or more inches more than its normal travel, and whacked my chin into my sternum.

That would certianly explain the whiplash...
(Cocococho, Sat 31 Jul 2010, 0:07, Reply)