September rides

[emily_in_nc]

Got in a ride 28-mile ride today and went over 2500 miles on the year. We are in back in Missouri, where we spent a lot of time in early summer, at a different state park campground this time (Long Branch, near Macon). Nice area for riding, though the north wind was a bit chilly today. Still, some nice rural roads and interesting small towns in the area.

I had a close call today that was scary. There were two men riding horses on the road, and when we went to pass them, they got off the road and continued walking on the grass just to the right of the roadway. DH went all the way to the other lane to pass them. I followed him as it looked safe at the time, then I looked back at the men on horses and waved and wished them a good day. By the time I swung my head around to look forward again, there was a car coming right at me! He had decided to pass between me (assuming I was a wrong-way cyclist) and the horses. But I was already on a trajectory to cut back around the horses to the far right side and basically cut right in front of the car!

Fortunately he was going pretty slow. I yelled "oh sh*t!" and managed to dodge him to the right. A definite heart-beater moment! It was totally my fault as I should have looked carefully before pulling back into the right lane in front of the horses. If I had, I would have seen the car coming sooner and stayed far left. It seemed like he came out of nowhere! Very scary, but a wake-up call to me. I think I've been riding so many bike paths lately that sometimes I forget to check for cars. D'oh!

[azfiddle]

Oh - definitely scary!

[north woods gal]

Whew, Emily! If you ride enough miles ...

We've all done it or, at least, I have. Dang those cars, anyway.

[azfiddle]

Today's ride ended quite suddenly: CRASH!

Very pleasant 28 miles, almost all along the bike path that goes over 60 miles around Tucson. I stopped to look for birds at a park, along the path and at the Sweetwater Wetlands. I rode to my husband's work at the community college, with a plan to meet him in 20 minutes at one more stop. I got about 2 blocks further....

I rode through a construction area on the lane that was just dirt... when it became pavement again, there was a 4-5 inch abrupt rise to the asphalt surface and I hit it hard. I heard the whish of the front tire going flat as I jolted into the curb and landed on my side- got some road rash by my knee, scraped my elbow, and bruised my hip and my ego. I'm a little sore, and the bike is at the bike doctor because the front wheel is making a noise as it spins. I've got a few big band-aids on and some sore muscles still, but a good soak in the tub helped.

It's not too bad- I think i could probably ride the Surly tomorrow along the bike path....but a good reminder to stay focused!

Oh, and I saw about 35 species, including another Peregrine Falcon, possibly a Merlin and a variety of desert, urban and water birds.

[Catrin]

Yikes! Glad you and the bike aren't more damaged. It's also cool that you can still think about all of the different species you saw - especially the Peregrine and a maybe Merlin!

[emily_in_nc]

Yikes, AZ, that sounds painful! So sorry that happened. But like my near-miss, sometimes it takes something like that to remind us to always be in the moment and stay focused. A moment of inattention can cost us way too much!

Hope your boo-boos (and your bike's) heal up quickly with no lasting effects.

[north woods gal]

Been down and bruised more often than I like to admit - sometimes caused by surprisingly little things in the road and other times, as with your incident, more abrupt. Anyway, glad you were able to get up and walk away. Best wishes for a fast recovery.

Been a long time since I've seen a Peregrine. Interestingly, it was in downtown Chicago, sitting high up on a fire escape. They have quite a successful Peregrine program, there, with the birds nesting on skyscrapers and pigeons as their main food source. Previous to that, saw a few Peregrines in their more natural habitat on prairie marshes in Nebraska.

Speaking of raptors, one of the highlights of our recent week in Florida was the awesome number of Osprey I saw. Have never seen so many in one area. Stopped often to watch them dive for fish. We do have them up here, too, but nowhere near those numbers. This one was taken on our honeymoon to Mexico.

[wnyrider]

Sorry for your mishap AZ. I had to google the Merlin. Would I be showing my age with knowing it by its former name-- Pigeon Hawk?! Just did a quick search, so I don't actually know when it became known as a Merlin. Wow, the things I have learned here!