{{{Mel}}}

A long time ago there was a Polack story about this fellow who heard that 90% of all accidents happen within 5 miles of your home. So he moved to a new house 10 miles away ;-)

We all assume some level of risk every time we mount a bike and pedal out of the driveway. The real art of cycling is learning how to manage and control that risk, so that we get where we need to go and make it back home safely, whether by walking, by bike, or by car. And how we manage that is going to be different for each of us.

One year ago yesterday, I was hit from behind and knocked clear across an intersection by a drunk driver. While I know how it happened, what I'm not real sure about is how I escaped being seriously hurt. Either I'm just enough of a mountain-biking klutz to instinctively know how to fall off a bike unexpectedly, or maybe the Lord just reached down and picked me up off that saddle and set me down on the other side of the road. Probably a little bit of both, I guess...

I was sore as all get-out for a couple of weeks, but the following weekend I had contracted to teach a kids' class for the local Cub Scouts, and so I dragged out my mountain bike, jacked the saddle way up so that I could pedal without too much pain, and taught the class. The next day, I set out for the club's Sunday group ride, intending to pick back up where I left off. This involved a ride across downtown Little Rock to get to the ride start, and a little extra effort because the city's annual marathon had a lot of the streets blocked and traffic re-routed. In so short time, I had to stop and wait for a red light, and while standing there at the light, this big black SUV pulled right up behind me, with the lady driver yapping away on her cell phone. I had a little bit of a panic attack right there... to the point that I stepped off to the curb and sat down awhile while I got myself back under control. And for a long while, I got very nervous when someone was right behind me, or tail-gating me. And even now, I never go through that one intersection on my daily route without some thoughts about what happened there.

You've been there, too. The one piece of advice I can offer is that you won't forget what happened at that spot. Nor should you. But with a little practice, you'll learn to get by there and on to wherever you want to go. You will always be a little more careful at that place, and just about anywhere else that reminds you of it, but you will have learned to deal with that risk and cope with it.

TIme does heal all wounds, but there's no guarantee that there won't be a scar.

Best wishes,

Tom