I wanted to start by doing two things, showing you this photo on the right, and asking you to read the excerpt below in italics. It’s from the book I wrote about my accident and condition, and one that I never tried to get published as I decided to start my website instead. The important thing here is this was not about the accident. It was in December 2012, a month prior and the first time I had used proper cycling facilities as in a dedicated centre with tracks and trails. The strange thing I now realise nearly nine years later is how similar it was to the accident that changed my life.
I know I was doing okay, but one of the things that I found a little strange was that occasionally you would come across a tree trunk in the middle of a path. If you went one side, it was still a nice smooth path, and if you went the other side, the roots were bared with the ground worn (or dug) away, creating a hole and the need to jump the obstacle. Late in the day, I came across one of these exposed trunks, which I didn’t see until the last minute, and rather than run into the trunk, which was the direction I was travelling, I chose left. Please remember that this is all happening very quickly, so quickly that I didn’t even have time to brake – anyway I chose left, which was the wrong way, there were the roots and the hole. I didn’t lift my front wheel in time, and as I realise now, and even knew, then it was all due to a lack of experience. My front wheel dipped into the roots and the hole, and I went flying forward over the handlebars as my wheel stuck!
I landed flat on my back, and I lay there looking up at the tree’s I couldn’t help but smile to myself at what seemed to be the silliness of the accident, and also thinking ‘why am I doing this at nearly 50 years of age, this is for youngsters?’ How I wish I had been able to think the same on the 6th January 2013!
Very similar to my accident; in fact, the more I think about it, too similar. But the difference was drastic, there I was smiling, looking up at the trees, and a month later, I was getting carried off a hillside on a stretcher, and the changes the accident was going to make to my life were massive, changes that still affect me nearly nine years later!
Why that photo? Well, it was taken today as I was lying flat on my back on a grass verge on the side of a busy road, yet again smiling at the silliness of what had happened.
It wasn’t a great morning here weather-wise; my cycling buddies decided they didn’t want to go, mainly as they only have road bikes with narrow, treadless tyres offering no grip in muddy wet conditions. Fortunately (or not), I have two bikes, a trail and a road bike, the trail bike gives me some decent grip in wetter conditions, so I decided I was going out for a spin. Since 3rd October, I had only done thirty-six miles over three trips for various reasons. Not so good for a guy who did forty miles in one day only a month ago!
So off I went, and it wasn’t great conditions, and I did wonder if I should have stayed at home, but I have never been a fair-weather cyclist, although I would draw the line. It has to be right when we enjoy doing something, so why go out and cycle in the pouring rain and high winds and not enjoy what we enjoy doing. It could put us off from what we like to do.
So it wasn’t that bad, but cycling up a busy main road, preparing to turn right, I
looked over my right shoulder to see if there was anything behind me. With my head turned one way, my front wheel had turned slightly left, and it hit the somewhat higher grass bank to my left. As my bike was veering left, it stuck on the verge, and again I went flying over the bike and ended up flat on my back, once again staring up at the sky and again smiling at the silliness of it all – or was I?
Going back to the accident in the paragraph above, was I smiling because I was unscathed and had got away with no injury. There were differences, the one above was in a forest, and a soft landing was normally guaranteed. On this occasion, I could have gone over the handlebars onto the tarmac road, what if the bike had twisted slightly and I had gone right, and into the path of an oncoming car, or a car that was overtaking me, as at this stage I hadn’t started my right turn signals?
Who knows what could have happened, so on this occasion, was I lying there smiling because of the relief as well? I think I might have been, although I’m sure part of the smile belonged to the silliness again.
I didn’t lie there very long; the last thing I needed was a passing car with the driver
stopping to see if I was okay, only to find me lying on the grass verge, smiling for no reason. And so I jumped up quite quickly, and I couldn’t help but hold my arms out from my side as a stage star may do after a good show, and in return, the first couple of passing cars who must have seen what happened gave me a mock round of applause. All good-humoured, a little bit silly and funny and generally a light-hearted incident that could have ended quite differently.
So off I went, battling the wind and a little bit of drizzle. Up here in the West Midlands, we had torrential rain for a lot of the night, and it means I come across scenes like this on my cycles. I don’t know the roads well enough to remember what is under the puddles each time, so it is very much head down and go for it; I rarely take the option of walking around. The roads aren’t that bad, so I know I will be okay!
But it was a struggle, no more than with the wind, and that’s not much fun, it rained more, and at eleven miles, I decided it wasn’t going to get any better, so I came home. But I have ticked a box. I went out, I pushed myself, even against the wind, I kept going through the puddles, and I came home and showered, changed and felt better for my cycle, even though I wasn’t feeling bad in the first place. It can work in two ways. If you’re feeling down, the physical exertion can make you feel good, and if you’re feeling okay, it can make you feel better. I then received a phone call from my daughter asking me if I could dog sit, which I always like to do, so off I went to collect the dogs.
She volunteered to bring them down, but her mother was at her house. This meant she probably wouldn’t bring her daughter, my three week old (tomorrow) Granddaughter, who I wanted to see, so with a little method in my madness, off I went to collect the dogs.
We were in a house, my daughter, her mother and me, and a situation we hadn’t
been in for some twenty-five years since we had separated. There was the new addition to the family who has melted me completely, feelings I never thought I would ever experience, how she has changed me. My ex-wife made me breakfast, another first in some twenty-five years, and I just smiled at another strange situation to be in. I wanted a photo of the four of us, the blood Grandparents, the Daughter and the Granddaughter, but two from the four weren’t in a photographic mode, so it will have to wait.
And here I am doing something else I enjoy, and so today has been a good day, maybe except for that split second when I was flying through the air, but it happened too quick to have any time to worry. We are meeting an old friend tonight whose daughter is preparing a painting of the four dogs we used to have, which I am looking forward to seeing. And another old friend of some thirty-six years is coming to stay with us on Saturday night for a few beers and a bite to eat. Initially supposed to be coming with his life partner; however, she isn’t feeling great right now, so he may come on his own, we shall see.
Nothing exciting has happened, and nothing overly exciting is going to happen. Still, sometimes it doesn’t get much better, and that is why we have to embrace the good times, stick them away in a ‘good memory box,’ and bring them back into our mind when the times aren’t so good.
I hope we can ALL have a good weekend. Thank you for reading, and stay safe.
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