Beware the Weed Whacker!

I have been trying to get in more exercise lately, and have recently decided that it should include bike riding. I have a great 1960s hot pink American Eagle bike that I got about 12 years ago. So I came up with a plan! I'll take Yankee for his exercise while I exercise too. We've been out riding a couple of times and we both come back pretty winded. Yankee starts out riding up front, but by the time we turn back into our driveway he's lolling back a bit.

Today I decided to ride down a long street in our neighborhood that ends in a group of condos. Yankee and I are still working out the kinks in our signals as I keep him on a leash and need to watch that he zigs when I do so we don't become entangled. He's also had to learn that other dogs can't distract him so I don't get "taken for a ride." He did have a little trouble one time, but for the most part we've both been successful...until this morning.

I turned down an alleyway between some of the condos so we could turn around and head back to the house. All was well, we'd been out for about 10 minutes and we were just about to hit the street when a gardener with a weed whacker stepped back into our path. He hadn't seen us, so didn't power down his equipment. (The gardeners I've encountered are usually very courteous when pedestrians and bikers go by and they cut the power back to reduce the noise and flying debris.) Anyhow, back to the story.

Yankee doesn't care for loud sounds and this was too much! He shied away and boom! Took me with him. I didn't know pavement could jump up at you like that! Splat...I was facedown on the blacktop with my left eyeball staring into the gritty road. My glasses had gone flying and my bike was entangled in my legs. I know I put my hands out to brace for impact, because they're pretty tender, but my head just couldn't fight gravity.

The gardener cut his trimmer and came to my aid, as well as three neighborhood ladies. I clasped my hand over my eye, because it really hurt. I didn't think it was too bad until I took my hand away and the ladies all gasped! Now that's a sound you just don't want to hear. I looked down and saw that my palm was covered in blood. It really didn't seem like it was that bad, honest! One lady ran home and brought me a couple of paper towels. The gardener loaned me his cell phone and I called for back up. Then I gathered up my glasses, bent them back into shape and popped the lens back in place. Everyone was very concerned that I was okay. I reassured them, reattached my bicycle basket (it has a release mechanism so you can use it as a shopping basket) and collected Yankee. He was just standing there waiting to see what happened. I knew something was up when I could see my eyebrow hanging down into my eye.

I got back on the horse (I mean bike!) and headed back home. Thomas met me about half way. He pulled over and I walked up to the car. Because my lenses were dark the damage wasn't apparent until I pulled off my glasses. He was pretty shocked. Then I loaded my bike into the van, shooed Yankee into the middle seat and climbed in.

When I got home and surveyed the damage I realized why everyone was so concerned. It looked pretty bad. I iced it for about an hour, and am now applying arinca gel to help reduce the swelling. Isn't it pretty? I told Thomas that I think I'll dress up as a prize fighter this year. No makeup necessary! But tomorrow we'll be back out riding (this time I'll put on my helmet) and I'll be sure to stop the bike and walk past those pesky gardeners.