One More Week

It's now been seven weeks since I've been on a bike on the road. Not a sunny day goes by where I do not yearn to get back out there on the road. This is the bane of waiting for bone fractures to heal properly. Medically, they say I should be fine in eight weeks, so that leaves me one more week. Yes!

My knee is still swollen but only mildly. There are still niggles of discomfort moving my right arm but it's functional. Will all this be sorted in a week? I really, really hope so. 

On top of all of this, the weather is increasingly biker-friendly and there are oh so many places to see, roads to ride, places to visit, biker groups meeting up... I could go on. And I just have to settle for being the passenger in a 4-wheeled cage to get around while all of life moves by. Sigh. 

But, I am grateful. I am alive. I am here. I am present. 

Being still (or off the bike... same thing) for weeks on end has given me much pause for thought on the things which really bring me joy. Riding a motorised two-wheeler is right up there in the top three. What's a woman to do but do what brings you joy?  I've also planned the purchase of extra protective gear and full body heating clothing for cooler days. I won't be riding any faster than before and, for sure, I'll be extra cautious. However, I've fantasised that these will make my riding experience even nicer. 

I've mapped out a couple local runs and even an ambitious dash on the continent. I'm not sure I'll have enough time for the latter but the locals are very do-able. Plus, there's the Brighton Burn-Up and a few others similar I'm looking forward to. 

One more week and it's on, baby. Yeah!

Up and Ready To Go

Five weeks ago, I was riding my Peugeot Tweet 125 on private land. It was an industrial estate with a large vacant asphalted parking lot about the size of a football field and a half. There were no cars nor people around, and just great for free riding without obstruction. As I rode up to the far end, turned around to ride to the other end, I turned the throttle to accelerate and out of no-where a man starts walking across my path. Having no expectation of someone appearing, I brake suddenly, the front wheel locks, bike throws me over the front, it rolls over on top of me, and I next opened my eyes with my face down on the tarmac looking through a smashed helmet visor. The bike was on top of me. Between seeing the man walk across, braking and coming to on the ground, I remember nothing. 

Suddenly, my body hurt and I groaned loudly. I heard the man saying over and over, "don't move," as he removed the bike from off of me. He then called for an ambulance and shouted some other men over.  I could hear them running as I lay on the asphalt. 

I clenched both my fists and wiggled both sets of toes; with that, I figured at least they still worked. With the bike now removed, I rolled over onto my back and looked up into the clear blue sky. Not a single cloud to be seen. "What a beautiful day," I thoughtn. "Will I be making a journey up there?" Nope, I was not dying, my gut feeling told me, but I had an unbelievably terrible pain coming from my right arm and lesser pain from my right knee. I moaned, groaned, writhed, and cried like a woman in labour pain. The men were very supportive.

One of them tried to cheer me up as we waited for the ambulance to arrive. He said, "the good news is the bike looks in great shape." I managed a chuckle while shaking my head and thought to myself that he must also be a biker... because really, only a biker would say a thing like that and assume it'd be funny under the circumstances. 

Anyway, (cutting this tale short), having arrived at the nearest hospital by ambulance, it was assessed that I had dislocated my right arm and fractured it: my knees suffered soft tissue damage only. Under anaesthetic, they put my arm in place, fixed me up with a sling and sent me home with my other half who had now arrived, and with very strong pain medicine. The men had given the ambulance crew details of where they'd keep the bike for me to collect after.

So yeah, that was the last week in April. My arm and fingers are now strong enough to type all this and share with you. Heck, I even went to look for my bike replacement yesterday and have settled with a 2015 Honda Forza 125. I'll pick it up in about a month when my arm is 100%, and all the mods I ordered on it are complete. 

The Forza is a great replacement for the Tweet. It is perfect for city runs with a 125cc engine, has 14hp which is great for motorways, and very comfortable seat with huge storage for long haul tours. It's light enough to handle easily and heavy enough to sit solidly on the road. Can hardly wait to get back on the road and get riding it!