The Adventure Continues

After becoming one with the pavement, I picked myself up, bent over and tried to collect my thoughts. In spite of the encouragement of the motorcycle escort, and the person I was riding with to wait for someone to pick me up to get medical attention, I decided to get back on my bike and finish the 27 mile ride.

At first my bike was making noises and difficult to ride. The chain then lined itself into the correct gear and I moved the computer cable contact so it wouldn't hit my spokes. My handles were bent in but my gears and brakes still worked well enough to shift and stop. I was on a mission, and I was going to finish this ride. I had rode 180 miles on a mountain bike with my knees in severe pain (I bought a rode bike after this) and had ridden many "centuries" in worst conditions. I was strong enough to go the remaining 17 miles.

Within a few minutes after beginning again, I felt intense stinging in my right ankle. Apparently after the crash, I was standing near a fire ant colony. As I was riding I then began to pick off the fire ants. I removed all of the ants and decided it was just one more thing to deal with. The ride must go on.

The motorcycle escorts rode beside me to make sure I was okay, I waved at them, they waved back, and continued on. As I rode, I began to gain my strength back and everything seemed fine. I made it to the next rest stop, but decided to go on. I looked for a first aid station, there was none, so I rode on. I still had water in my Camelback, so I could make it the next 7 miles.

Why did I decide to ride when I obviously needed some medical attention? First, I didn't look at my wounds closely. I thought it was just "road rash" and not contusions. Second, you don't get many opportunities as you get older to "play through pain" and I wanted to take advantage of it.

My crash became a metaphor for life. Even though I had many crashes in my life, I have always gotten up and moved forward. "Keep moving forward in spite of the pain" became my theme for this ride.

With a few miles to go, another motorcycle escort rode beside me and tried to get me to pull over. I told him I was fine and wanted to finish the ride. I didn't stop, and finally I convinced him to go ahead. I didn't see what he saw. With only a few miles to go, I knew I would finish. Other than working through some cramps, I felt good. The finish line was in full view, I rode across it and into Willow River Farms. My next goal was to get my "free" barbecue lunch and then go home and clean up, and head to the Katy football game for the 1:00 PM kick-off.

Next: "I don't have time to bleed."