My husband who will be 49 in a few days bikes. He bikes to work, he bikes for fun, he takes Scouts on biking expeditions. He also has accidents.
His first big accident happened the day before Mother's Day 2001. He had recently started biking again after several years and had bought a used road bike that he really loved. It wasn't a light weight tour-de-france type bike but better than his old 10-speed. This fine day he had biked to the library, filled his backpack with books (biking books, of course) and headed home. He called me from his cell to ask if I needed anything. I said, "Can you pick up a gallon of milk?" He didn't as he knew I was just joking. So about a half hour later he calls again. "Honey, can you come down the hill by the bridge and pick me up. I fell off my bike and I don't think I can make it up the hill." So I jump in the van and run down to the spot he said he would be. This took less than 5 minutes. I get there and no sign of him. I call home and ask if he had called or shown up. Nothing. I called his cell over and over, I checked the other side of the bridge, I checked up and down the hill, nothing. No answer on his phone, no sign of him. I decided to head over to the local hospital as I keep speed dialing. Bingo, he answers. "Where are you?" "I'm not sure." "Are you in the hospital?" "I don't know" "Are there nurses there? Or Firemen?" "Yeah, a fireman!" So I race into the ER, they direct me to a room and there he is. Ice pack to the left side of his face, but he doesn't look too bad. Then he takes off the ice pack and it looks like raw meat. He ended up with a slight concussion and a beauty of a black eye. The only lingering effect is the quizical eyebrow or as our daughter says, "The evil eyebrow!"
He had a near miss of being run over a couple months ago. He had just ridden 70 miles and was only a couple miles from home, when a jeep with a barking dog passed him. The driver turned around to shush the dog veered over to the other side of the road. An oncoming car swerves directly into the wrong lane, heading right at my husband. He quickly heads across the road to avoid the car only to have the car bounce off the guard rail and clip his bike. Miraculously he only wobbled and did not fall. His bike was damaged tiny bit ($15 replacement part) but he was fine.
Now yesterday, he heads out to do some serious mountain biking, in the mountains. He and a friend head over the pass to where it was sunny and dry. The ride up was hard and steep but the ride down was fast and fun. Twists and jumps and SPLAT! Up over the bike and hard on his arm and face. He tries to get up but everyone says to just lie still for a bit. He's lying there looking at his arm and notices it looks kind of lumpy and bent funny. Maybe its broke!?! One of the riders with took an old inner tube and formed a sling and they all helped walk him and his bike off the mountain and got him to the car. His friend drove back over the pass and to a hospital where they put on a splint and told him to come back today for surgery. So he's got a metal plate, some screws and a few weeks off work. He will be in a cast for quite a while. The surgeon was impressed with the break, she hadn't seen such a spectacular one in a while. The next few weeks should be fun!
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