Guess what I did five years ago
tomorrow? And if you immediately said to yourself, “Well, knowing
you, Jim, probably something stupid”, you'd be absolutely right.
For those of you who haven't been
reading these for years now, five years ago tomorrow I had my little
bike accident. I was riding on the west Marquette bike path behind
Loraine, wasn't looking where I was going, ran the front tire of my
bike into the rear tire of hers, and watched one or two laws of
momentum take over. She didn't even know anything happened, while I
hit the bike path face first, losing a front tooth, getting six
stitches sewn around my right eye, tearing up my right hand (causing
my fingers to swell up, which led to my first wedding ring getting
cut off), and generally filling my shoulders and legs with cuts, the
scar of one still sitting on my left knee.
Ah, that was a good time.
Like many things in life, it doesn't
seem like it's been that long. It doesn't seem like it's been five
years, but it has. Thankfully, aside from the scar and a new wedding
ring, I've made a full recovery from any injuries I had. I was
actually quite lucky; I was able to resume working out a few days
later (although the only thing I could do pain-free was to ride a
bike, ironically), and all the external injuries healed shortly
thereafter. In fact, every time I went to see the dentist after
having my front tooth replaced, he had to look and see how well it
turned out (because it turned out AMAZINGLY well. You can't even
tell it's not a real tooth).
In all, though, it's not something I
recommend anyone else try.
And it's led to a very weird reflexive
action on my part. It hasn't affected my bike riding or anything,
but it has changed the way I watch a certain sport on television.
As you know, I love watching the Tour de France on TV each year (just
as I'm currently watching the Tour of California this week), and as
happens during professional bike races accidents occur. Sometimes,
really bad accidents occur. And whenever they happen to show a crash
I have to look away from the screen right away. I just can't watch
it.
It's weird. I had no problem getting
back on the (metaphorical) horse a few days after falling off, but
whenever I see a bike accident on TV? I cringe a little. Go figure.
Anyway, that's the anniversary I'm
celebrating tomorrow. Maybe I'll mark it by actually getting my bike
out and riding it for the first time this year. I think it'd be a
perfect time to do that. I'll just have to remember NOT to ride into
Loraine's tire this time.
Have a great (and accident-free)
weekend!
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