I fell...

I had kind of a bike wreck yesterday.

I was tired when I started on my ride. But that's not unusual. I'm fatigued and tired most of the time, but I muster up some "get 'em" and pursue, judging along the way how my body is responding and how far I'll go on a ride...or whatever activity I'm undertaking. Oftentimes a ride helps my energy level. It used to really help my pain too, and I'm sure it still would except that I have less nerve-damage pain these days, for which I'm very thankful.

But now I have pain from my fall. I told myself yesterday, At least it's injury pain, so should heal.

I begin my ride in my typical fashion - a slow start down one section of the Greenway near Winston-Salem State University which is where I park Edward the Explorer. I notice the abundance of kudzu and think about maybe taking a picture. But I don't. I often forego pictures these days when riding; it's too much work and energy to stop and click. So I repeat a line which I often tell myself, I'll take a snapshot in my mind. Which I do.

I pass by the mulberry trees and think about next year when I'll eat some of the berries. I missed their fruition this year. I think about snakes and that I haven't seen as many this year. But I still keep an eye out for them.

I slowly ride, only maybe 1/4-mile, and get to the spot where I turn around to begin my ride of about 12-miles to and around Salem Lake and back. As long as I'm doing well enough, I'll ride the 6.5 miles around the lake on its dirt-and-gravel road. Like the rest of the Greenway, on the gravel one-lane road around the lake, only park service motor vehicles are allowed. Horses too are allowed.

I arrive at my turn-around spot and go into the grass on the right to then turn left, making a u-turn.

But, as I round my u-ie, I cut short to avoid the fence, that is always there, and my front wheel jack-knives to the left. Boom! I'm down. First my body and then my helmet covering my head hit the pavement. My helmet causes a slight bounce. My immediate thought is, Thank god for my helmet...thank god I wear a helmet.

A few years ago when I started riding Greenways I didn't wear a helmet, figuring I wasn't in much danger since I don't ride with automobiles. But after a couple Greenway adventures - a German shepherd lungimg me and tearing my pants at my knee (I felt his teeth touch my knee, but he didn't bite) and after an eight-point buck jumped across my path on the Greenway - I decided to always wear a helmet to protect myself from wildlife accidents. Ever since then, I always wear my helmet. Always.

After a stunned moment, I pick myself up. Still stunned I access my situation.

I fell on my left side, which is my titanium hip side. That's good. It's stronger than my right side, which is my born-with hip side where I have bone loss. My biking gloves protected my hands from scratches, but the bottom area of my left hand under my thumb is sore. I must have used it to help break the fall. I have bright red blood under my left knee. But it's not flowing; it's a scrape.

I take a deep breath and call my son. He's visiting this week before he heads on a backpacking trip for a month  to Sweden. He arrived home Wednesday after working this summer in Alaska. He looks like it too! Full beard. We plan to see Guardians 2 in 3-D at the $2.50 theater later in the day.

I just want to tell someone I fell. So I tell him. He makes sure I'm okay, which I am. I call Hubby and we talk a bit. I tell him how shook up I am and that I'm so glad I wear a helmet. And how hard pavement is. And I hope I never fall when going full speed down a hill or something.

A cyclist I've met in the past rides by and sees me slowly pacing back and forth with a hobble, which I always have, while I'm on my phone. He stops. I tell Hubby I'll call him back. I tell Cyclist what just happened. He fell at the same place yesterday doing the same thing, except his handle bar got caught in the wrought iron fence which sent him a'tumbling.

After our chat about cycling and some of our adventures - one of mine being when I got caught in the swollen creek as I was trying to cross it near the picnic table in 2016 and how another cyclist just happened to be there to help me because he had just lost his $2000 bike in the rapids of the creek - I call Hubby back, then head back to Edward the Explorer to my first aid kit. In route I discover my left hand in my thumb area is a bit screwed up - I can't grip and my thumb is weak. Which really discourages me because my left hand is my good hand. Unlike my right hand, I've hardly had to wear a brace on my left hand the last couple months. Due to nerve damage being worse in my right hand, my right thumb is too weak to squeeze things - like fingernail clippers, so Hubby and I have a bi-weekly nail-clipping session which is somewhat exasperating. My pinkie and fourth fingers on my right hand remain partially numb all the time. So, even though I'm right-handed, I really depend on my left hand and thumb.

Back at the Explorer, I pull out my first aid kit to get some Arnica cream, but it's not there. Must be at home. But I do have my travel homeopathic remedy kit and find the bottle of Arnica pellets. Due to my left hand being messed up and the weakness that is ever present in my right hand, I can't open the bottle. Two people happen to be walking by so I ask one of them if they can open it, which they gladly do. I pop some Arnica pellets under my tongue. I treat the scrape and cover it with a bandaid securing it with medical tape. I'm determined I'm going to ride the lake and I don't won't the bandaid coming off and exposing the scrape to all that dirt. I take another dose of Arnica and then set off on my ride.

But, I only ride another few miles on the paved section of the Greenway that approaches the lake. I forego the lake itself. My left hand can't grip without pain and the lake is a somewhat rugged ride. I stop at the picnic table beside the creek-crossing. I'm still shook. I think, I need a brace. Well I have that. And I have plenty of practice living with disabled hands. I sure am thankful for my helmet. And I'm glad I landed on my left side. And I didn't break my wrist, which is a good sign considering my bone loss. I was bound to fall sometime with all the riding I do. I think of the 3000 miles or so I've ridden in the past few years and how lucky I am.

A park employee drives up the Greenway in a pick-up truck. It's not often I encounter park employees driving the Greenway. She stops and asks if I'm okay. I tell her yes, but that I had fallen a few miles back. She offers to put my bike in the back of the truck and drive me back to my Explorer. I decline the offer. I want to ride back; it's not far. I'm going home to soak in Epsom salt, ice my left hand and thumb, and apply Arnica cream.

A couple hours later Son and I make it to the movie. It's my third time seeing Guardians 2, but first time seeing it in 3-D. I like the 3-D. After getting home from the movie I discover more bruises on my legs and another abrasion framed in a bruise. Weird how I didn't see that abrasion previously.

Again, I'm grateful for how lucky I am. And that every time I find myself in a kind of dire straights, how another person always magically appears to offer help in my time of need. And I think that someday, someone may not be there. But that won't deter me. I'll keep on trucking the best I can.