Ugh. I hate Mondays. I hate when the weekend ends and I have to return to work to support my expensive cycling habit. I could be predictable and tell you all about my very first group ride on Long Island but that’s boring and sooooo not me. Instead I’ll tell you all about the time the football boy took me out on Centre Island.
It was a Friday and, due to a religious holiday, my office was closed on Monday. That meant I got 4 days of cycling in a row! Score! Woohoo! My work day ended early so I got changed and got to cycling.
It was a nice ride. I went to Centre Island to the end and turned around at the mailboxes. I stopped by the beach on the way back to take some pics. While heading back into Bayville I noticed a car driving erratically. It was an SUV with three young adults in it, two girls and a boy. They were wearing white t-shirts with magic marker writing on them. They were pulling over quickly and speaking with neighborhood people and pulling away. I was very aware of them and ready to react.
They pulled away and I didn’t see them for a while. I was taking advantage of the tailwind and speeding happily. I saw them up the road. The car was pulled over. The boy was talking to people on their lawn across the street. Once he was done he turned and started to cross the street. He was halfway across when I was about to pass. He saw me. I saw him see me. As I was about to pass he got right out in front of me and took me out.
I don’t know how long I was lying in the ground. I was disoriented. There was a runner lady that came. She was reprimanding the boy for not giving me the right of way. He simply said he though I would stop. She explained I couldn’t stop because I was moving too fast. He clearly didn’t understand that people that ride regularly move fast….. I really don’t remember this but the first thing I asked was “is my bike ok, how’s my bike?” My bike was just fine. The Garmin mount broke and my Garmin went flying but both the Garmin and the bike were just fine.
I wasn’t sure what the extent of my injuries were. I had a cut on my knee and elbow. The inside of my lip was sliced open. I didn’t wanna ride out of there. I called my friend, The Senor. He was moving into his new house that day but agreed to come get me. He offered to take me to the hospital but I couldn’t afford the visit and didn’t have insurance. He called his sister who is an RN and she advised that I not ride and don’t drink alcohol in case of a concussion. She also advised that there is no treatment for a concussion. Great, I didn’t need to spend money to find that out! The Senor took me back to his place and fed me pizza and then drove me back to my car when he was sure I was ok to drive.
I was fine. Everything is fine. Kenny got my helmet for his crashed helmets wall (he does this to keep track of how many lives have been saved by wearing helmets). I went to Victoria Secret the next day and did what I always do when I’m very sad, I bought new panties at the semi annual sale! I was back on the bike by Sunday and still got some great riding in.
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