Yesterday was beautiful day, wasn't it? The temperature was just right and there was not even that much humidity....which is unlikely weather for Shelby, NC, so Josh and I decided to take advantage of it. I hadn't been on my bike in a while (ever since I started with the trainer at the gym) so I was excited to see what I could do with my new muscles, but I was also still a little nervous about my rusty bike-handling skills.
The ride was awesome. We did a route I like to call "The Goat Loop" because we get to see a bunch of crazy pygmy goats and its a loop (creative name, I know). I was doing ok, not nearly as well as Josh, and was having a lot of fun. I was narrating our ride as if I was Phil or Paul, complete with funny anecdotes and sarcasm. It felt great to be having such a good time with Josh, doing something that he loves and something I've come to enjoy too.
We were racing up the last street before our neighborhood. Its a great one mile stretch, with a few rolling hills, that you can really push your muscles on. We weren't going too fast towards the end of the road (stop-sign was coming up), maybe between 18-22mph. We saw Lou, a friend of ours, approaching on his road bike. We both shouted a friendly 'hello!' and kept on riding...only I though we kept on riding. Josh pulled ahead and off to the left to complete a U-turn to follow after Lou. I was looking over my left shoulder at Lou (because I'm always so nosey) and didn't see Josh turn. And then it happened. I ran smack into the side of Josh's rear wheel. At this point I know that I had my breaks on a little, because I always do that when I look over my shoulder (to reduce speed since I'm not looking at what's in front of me any longer). So I guess my speed was between 15-20mph. It all happened so quick that I just remember being on the asphalt thinking, "How did I get here? Wow, my skin is on fire. Where's my bike?"
And then Josh was in my face asking me what happened and assessing my injuries. This is about the point where I started to get upset and embarrased. I've just wrecked my bike and have a crowd gathering around. I tell them that I don't need an ambulance, I just need them to help me to the side of the road (I had ended up just right across the yellow-line). We're about one mile from our house and about 1.5 miles from the hospital. Lou stays with me while Josh races back to the house to get the car to pick me up. I'm really grateful that Lou was there, he fended off the spectators and answered all the idiotic questions from the natives.
We loaded up the bikes and headed to the ER. Somewhere during the hour-long wait in the ER, I realize that I'm still wearing my full cycling outfit: jersey, shorts, gloves and cleats. Josh managed to grab a change of clothes for me: a texas t-shirt and black leggings. I'm not sure which outfit was worse. I decided to stick with the cycling outfit, but mostly because I'm too sore to change at that point.
Three and a half hours later, my x-rays and CT scan have come back clear. Its at this point that I want to give a serious shout-out to Dr. Mike Wehmueller. Mike's a friend of ours that we met at church. He's a super nice guy who also happens to be an amazing radiologist and it made me feel sooooooooo much better to know that he was on-call that night and was the one reading my scans. He also provided some much needed laughter during a tense situation. So there you have it, if you're in the Shelby area and need a radiologist, this is the man to go to. (He was also way better than the doctor who was actually taking care of me in the ER, but that's a story that Josh isn't going to let me put on here.)
Three and a half hours later, my x-rays and CT scan have come back clear. Its at this point that I want to give a serious shout-out to Dr. Mike Wehmueller. Mike's a friend of ours that we met at church. He's a super nice guy who also happens to be an amazing radiologist and it made me feel sooooooooo much better to know that he was on-call that night and was the one reading my scans. He also provided some much needed laughter during a tense situation. So there you have it, if you're in the Shelby area and need a radiologist, this is the man to go to. (He was also way better than the doctor who was actually taking care of me in the ER, but that's a story that Josh isn't going to let me put on here.)
Today I'm feeling tired, sore and have a headache. I've got some bruising and road-rash on my elbows and my butt and a lump on my head. But don't worry, the damage to the bikes was minimal. Josh's wheel suffered, but I think that's only fair, right?
photo on the left: way the shifter is supposed to look,
photo on the right: my jacked up skifter
my broken helmet. no wonder my head hurts!
praise the lord that the CT scans came out clear. thanks for the prayers last night :)
PS
Mom: We knew the injuries weren't life-threatening, otherwise we would've called you right away---promise :)
Dad: I didn't even break a bone! Aren't you proud?
Josh: The accident wasn't your fault. Promise. I blaim stuff on you all the time that we both know isn't your fault. So trust me, when I do actually admit that something isn't your fault you should take it and run.
Guy at scene of the addicent who thinks he's in the medical profession: You aren't. You are in fact just a guy that was smoking on his front porch who saw me fall off my bike. Just because you've watched 'ER' or 'MASH' doesn't make you an EMT.
4 comments:
Glad to hear you are okay and nothing is broken. I must admit, I laughed some at the recollection. Sorry...I feel a little guilty about it.
My gosh Blair! I'm so glad you're okay. But I laughed, too. You're a good blog storyteller!
you are a wonderful story teller even with a head injury!!! glad you are doing well after all that.
Good grief, Blair! i would've been freaking out. So glad you didn't break your head.
Post a Comment