Close Call

We live in an area with an extensive network of bicycle trails, and we take advantage of them regularly. The Hubs and I are out there several times per week, sometimes together, but often with other friends or by ourselves. When the pandemic hit, the good/bad news (depending on your perspective) is that people dusted off their old bikes or hikers and hit the trails, eager to escape the confines of indoor Zoom work and classes. Good that we have such a great outdoors resource for folks, but yikes–we were swarmed by inexperienced new riders and walkers not knowing the rules of the road. Despite posted guidelines, as well as a fleet of volunteer bike patrollers, it has gotten treacherous out there: walking phone zombies wandering cluelessly into oncoming bike traffic, bikers not knowing how to pass or get passed and, worst of all, new e-bikes speeding along with little control.

We’d escaped injury all this time until this weekend when the Hubs got taken out by an e-biker. The e-biker (red arrow) took a fast and wide turn from a side trail onto the busy main one and ended up in the wrong lane just as the Hubs approached (blue arrow). The Hubs yelled and swerved but the e-bike rider panicked and wham, the Hubs went flying ass over handlebars.  

I’ll skip lots of crazy details, but I ended up driving frantically round the area trying to find the Hubs who I thought was walking 15 miles home (in bike shoes) with his damaged bike and body. I confess that during this search, I thought oh no, what about our vacation? but due credit to me, I didn’t think of this until an hour in. I was plenty freaked out wondering where he was and how badly he was hurt (one crazy detail: no phone).

Things have turned out more or less OK. The Hubs has plenty of road rash, bruises, and stiff muscles but nothing broken or seriously sprained. The e-bike rider (not a young whippersnapper but a guy around our age) got patched up too, has admitted responsibility, and vows to make things right. 

And our vacation is still a go!