Magnetic Personality?

Do I attract blood and gore (and other bumps and bruises)?

Today, I went on a lovely ride with some of the integral members of our MS150 team: Kim, our team captain; Stacy, who inspired us to ride our bikes; and Keisha, their friend from junior high who is remarkably unflappable and optimistic.

We ride through Como Park, on the U of M transitway, on the Dinkytown Greenway, over the river, by the Guthrie, over the stone arch bridge (see photo), through St. Anthony Main, on Nicollet Island, over the Hennepin Ave bridge (by the cool Grain Belt sign), back to the Guthrie, and back towards Como.

It was a nice relaxed ride, good for chatting.

And then, on the Transitway on the way home, a college kid waved us down. The guy he was near had fallen off his bike, over the handlebars, face first on the pavement. Quite the bloody face and hands.

We asked this guy in his 50s how he was, we offered to call his wife, we offered to sit by him or walk him home. He was quite crabby. I attributed this partly due to the fact that he may be introverted (although it appeared he was a waiter), that he likely was embarrassed, and that he almost certainly was in shock, clearly was in pain, and had a concussion.

He called his wife, bitching at us for telling him he should try to reach her. She didn't answer. We got his bike working. He rode it a little. And then he started riding home.

I rode along his side, asking if we could ride with him to make sure he made it okay. He agreed. He didn't chat, but when I asked him midway how he felt, he said, "Better. My vision is coming back. It was all yellowish and weird." He made turns without warning, and we got him home.

When we got him there, despite his sullen and hostile behavior, he shook my hand and thanked me warmly, asked me (after Stacy yelled to him to watch for signs of a concussion) what to watch for, thanked me again, and pointed at my helmet and said he thinks he should start wearing one (although it wouldn't have helped much with landing on his face). Once we left and he saw himself in the mirror, I'm sure he figured out why we were worried.

Didn't I just say yesterday that I need a first aid kit? And this incident was almost exactly one year after my cousin and I had to call 911 when an old lady tipped over when I called out, "On your left!" Sheesh.

I think he will be okay. I felt bad harrassing him at the beginning, but didn't feel that we could just leave him.

It still was a fun ride, and all the weird vibes were erased by the wonderful steak dinner I had afterward with my friends Mary and Jane and their families.

I have been thinking the past few days of some new routes for our training rides for next year, and can't wait to explore them.