I crash into religion

Today I fell down hard on my road bike. I figure I was going about 25
mph when I hit new paint at the end of a wooden bridge I’ve been over
dozens of times never finding any traction issues. However, sometime
recently, the City decided to put new wood and paint on the bridge. Add
some dew at 0600h and it made for a slippery surface. I skidded sideways
and then, when I hit the tarmac again, I high sided. I was not wearing a
helmet, but have good reflexes in the curl and roll. I ended up with a
terrible case of road rash, my eyeglasses embedded in my cheek (the lens
came out and stuck into my cheek right at the cheekbone) and a lot of
debris embedded into my muscles plus other injuries. I truncated the
ride returning 20 miles instead of the planned 40. My bike sustained
minor injuries with the saddle being the most badly damaged.

Evaluating the crash, I figure that I may have been more badly hurt
wearing a helmet, but ironically, I’ll will buy and from now on wear a
helmet when riding. This sounds paradoxical, but here is my logic. The
only place I hit was my face from the cheek down. I hit the glasses very
hard, scraped away a lot of skin from my face, nose, upper lip and chin.
There are other lower body injuries as well including a badly hurt right
arm and leg. I would guess that had I hit just that way with a hat on,
the visor would have exerted rotational force on my neck making for,
perhaps, much more serious injuries.

However, what will remain with me for a long time, and it was the first
thing I remembered when I woke up there on the bike trail, was the sound
of my face / head hitting. It was a loud crack-like sound. I had some
time to review things on the ride back home and then waiting in the
hospital urgent care to think on things.

I was mentally unprepared for the suddenness and ferocity of this crash.
Had I hit higher up on my head I surely would have had a great chance of
sustaining serious brain injury. Instead of a little nap and a hideous
headache now, (along with at least two weeks off) I may have been
looking at permanent injury or even death. It was the realization that
even at bicycle speeds, something I dismissed before, one can get badly
hurt.

Yes, I’m still opposed to mandatory helmet laws, but I doubt you’ll be
seeing me ride without one from now on.