Anyone familiar with my work will know that this is an unusual photo for me, but it has a story behind it, so bear with me.
After a long, cold winter and a rather chilly spring, today was the first perfect day for a bike ride. So this afternoon I suited up and hopped on my JUST tuned-up bike for my first ride of the season. Less than two miles into my ride, an old, florid-faced fat guy in his shiny, new 4,000-pound Mercedes ran a stop sign and banged right into 110-pound me and my lightweight bike. Incredulous, I started sputtering and cursing and yelling, and he (finally) stopped, rolled down his window, looked and me with his rheumy eyes and barked, accusatorially (like it was my fault), “I didn’t see you! You blended in with the trees!
Now, trust me on this one, the bike jerseys I wear do NOT blend in with the trees (and neither my skin nor hair has ever, or ever will be, green). I buy bright, loud and ugly bike jerseys for one reason only: I do not want to get hit by a car. On more than one occasion one or another of my children has quipped as I head out for a ride, “Nice shirt, Mom. You’re sure not going to get hit by a car wearing that thing.”
Not so, apparently.
So, my photo today is the jersey I wore, blending in with the trees. 🙂
Luckily, I was not hurt and my vehicular assailant only nicked my back tire. I was able to remove the wheel and realign it; we parted enemies and I finished my ride. But I’m a little out of shape after a winter of just walking the dogs for exercise, and it took me a lot longer than usual to finish my favorite 26-mile route. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized that my rear brake had been knocked into the side of my tire and had been rubbing against the wheel for the bulk of the ride.
I’m hoping for a less eventful ride tomorrow, provided I’m not too sore. And you can be sure I’ll be wearing a garish, neon-bright jersey.
