Not The Kind Of Anniversary You Want To Mark

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

 Today marks an anniversary of an event in my life that I would rather not have had happen. An event that still affects me to this very day both physically and mentally. Many of you know the story, but in case you don't, here is the post from ten years ago describing that day. 

The hills North of Edgewood are spectacular.

I was struck by a drunk driver behind the wheel of a 4X4 GMC pick-up truck and flung through the air about 8ft, (according to eye witness account), and landed on my butt in the ditch. Funny thing was, I wasn't actually riding my bicycle. I was walking it alongside the gravel roadway. 

Major injuries were avoided, but ever since then my digestive tract hasn't been "right'. I think things got jumbled around inside of me and well, by this time all of that is 'normal' day-to-day life for me now. So, on this weekend ten years ago, my life was forever changed. 

I'm not complaining. I've got nothing to complain about regarding that incident. Like the title of the blog post ten years ago states, "it could have been worse'. Very much worse than it was.

From July 4th this year.

Like Elton John, "I'm Still Standin'", and I'm blessed to be out there on two wheels yet. I shudder to think of what may have been, but it wasn't meant to be that day. So, a lot of things are still going because of that. One of them is this blog. 

I did not say a lot about the aftermath of what I went through mentally immediately afterward ten years ago. There was stress over the fall-out from the crash scene. I wasn't the only person affected. Aaron Schnee had his helmet crushed and his titanium Fargo run over. Dan Buettner was also flung into the ditch. The others had to witness that and deal with the drunk driver afterward. Their memories are marred by that incident as well as mine. 

Insurance issues went on for several months afterward. Hospital bills were being pursued and we were waiting on the insurance that the driver had to take care of this. Thankfully the driver actually had insurance. These are things that you don't immediately think about after a crash with/on your bicycle. But it is more than just 'that day' that haunts you. 

Aaron Schnee at Gravel Worlds in 2021

Ironically I have found that these incidents kind of have a way of bonding you to people that were a part of the event. A great example of this happened in 2021 at Gravel Worlds. 

I ran up upon Aaron Schnee. He of the run-over Ti Fargo from the 2014 incident. Turned out his bicycle was okay. In fact, it was the same bicycle he was riding that day! 

This was fantastic news for me at the time. Catching up with Aaron, who I hadn't seen or spoken with since that incident in 2014 until that day at Gravel Worlds, provided a bit of closure for me. I was happy to know his bicycle was intact, still around and being ridden, and that I actually got to see Aaron riding it. 

As for my bicycle, it wasn't damnaged significantly. A bit of bar tape rash, really, was all it had done to it. But I was hesitant to go out on a ride on the Tamland Two for a couple of months afterward. Finally I forced myself to ride the bike again. I'm glad I got over that hump, but I still find it troubling that I went through that due to a random act of a drunk person behind the wheel of a vehicle. 

Probably one of the most confusing and troubling aspects of this being struck by a motorist event for me was that I was informed that year that my name would be read at the annual Ride of Silence. The ride which honors cyclists that have been killed at the hands of motorists. Apparently if you are struck by a motorist, you also get on the list, but I found that to be confusing and - in my opinion - unnecessary. I felt that took away from those who actually lost loved ones. But I don't make the rules for that. It just was one more thing I had to wrestle with. 

Maybe I'm not alone in this, but I think about dying at the hands of a motorist almost every time I ride a bicycle these days. Sometimes I almost don't ride because it would just be easier not to deal with the crazies. But I keep going..... 

Be careful out there.