Our pain and suffering can be greatly reduced by simple precautions.

On my bicycle yesterday, while cruising home from work, I was moving fast across a busy street and beginning to brake hard as I pointed the albatross [my bike’s name] up over a curb onto the sidewalk just down the way from the restaurant in the map/picture above.

That’s when the handlebars gave way.

My entire weight was thrown over the bike and all I really remember is watching my wedding ring go flying off my finger, it’s gleam shooting across the street perpendicular to the one I was fortunate enough to make it out of before wrecking.

I laid there at first, wondering if my knee was dislocated [it has an unfortunate tendency to do this] and to make sure I was ok before moving. I could tell I was bleeding a lot on my knee because it stung very much and just had that “bleeding” feeling.

While lying there, the wonderful smells coming from Brasa [that’s the place in the map above] across the street wafted over me and helped distract me from thinking the worst [now, the smell of the place is embedded in my brain and I will forever associate them with the incident. Smell is a powerful sense].

Next thing I realized was a fella standing over me asking if I was alright. He had stopped his giant truck in the street, hopped out and had been the buzzing sound in my ears. How long had he been standing there? I didn’t consider this at the time, I was just beginning to get my wits about me again. I was jubilant once I realized I had no major injuries, thanked him for stopping though he didn’t look too sure. I think he’d been standing there for awhile.

The bike is remarkably intact, however, last night by bedtime I could hardly walk – but I could walk! The infamous knee is quite swollen but in its proper place. For that I am joyous.

This morning the black and blue inside my thigh, on the outside of my thigh, the two center ribs on my left side and a baseball-sized patch above my stomach have emerged, though the cuts and scrapes on my legs and knee have already begun to heal.

Lesson : periodically go over and tighten EVERYTHING on your bicycle, whether it needs it or not. It could greatly reduce our pain and suffering.

Reducing our pain and suffering is a very good thing, indeed.

Perhaps, I will celebrate my full recovery with some *premium rotisserie*

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