A Little Bee Made Me Do It

This summer I made the move from the Desert Southwest to the Mountains of the Northwest. In El Paso, where I lived and rode my Marin Bobcat Trail for three years, most of the riding consisted of beating my brains out on the rocky trails. One particular trail that I used to ride was called Gilbert's Trail. Riding down Gilbert's trail was an enjoyable experience except that I had a rigid fork which was very unforgiving. However, it was not until I moved to Idaho that I realized that the one thing more unforgiving than riding over those big rocks is riding down a gravel road in the heat of summer.

On one beautifully clear day, I decided to take a ride up to the mountain to check out the trails and get in a little exercise. Since my wife had the car at work, I decided to ride the five miles to the trail-head and that would be my warm-up for the ride to come. The last mile or so of the trip consisted of loose gravel and deep ruts.

I made it up to the Trail just fine and had a nice ride, enjoying the scenery and getting the cobwebs worked out of my out of shape legs. However, as I made my way back towards home (over the loose gravel) a bee flew in my mouth (I am allergic to bees). As I took one hand off the handlebars to swipe the bee out of harms way, my front tire got caught in one of the deep ruts and the bike jumped out from under me.

When I opened my eyes, I looked up at the blue sky that earlier I thought was so beautiful and wondered if I was still alive and if the pain in my side was really there (or was I dreaming this whole day). After realizing that I was indeed alive and the pain in my side was real, I got up off the ground and grudgingly forced myself to get back on the bike and pedal back to town (still four miles away).

After going to the bike shop to get my handlebars straightened (priorities first), I made my way to the emergency room to have the rocks taken out of my arms and upper back(my head was relatively fine since I wore my helmet). Two months later, after my hip went back into its socket, I was able to laugh at how stupid it was for me not to eat the bee and keep on going. After all, it's only protein.

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