Cycle of Life

 

I was in a bad cycling accident a couple of years ago. I looked ok in the left pic due to my camera filter but it hid the bruises and the blood stains.

I loved biking then as it was the only form of exercise that I could tolerate. My first bike was a mountain bike and it was cheap. I remember taking it out and riding down the streets. I was too embarrassed to join any cycling clubs as I felt my bike was not at par with the other two-wheelers that is prevalent in our village. 

I then decided to upgrade to an honest-to-goodness road bike which seems to be more comfortable and easy to use. I bought an entry-level Trinx for less than Php10,000 and happily cruised down our roads. 

However, our water utility company decided to replace our pipes and suffice to say, the roads were not as smooth as before. The pavings were uneven and more often than not--there were gaps and holes everywhere--which was the culprit of my accident.

I just turned right going down our street when I saw the pothole. However, it was too late for me to brake so I went through it. Since the hole was too deep and I was going too fast (it was a downward slope), my front wheel went flat and I lost control. I crashed towards the ground with my face kissing the rough pavement. 

I fortunately did not black out but it took awhile before I could stand up. Somebody saw me and rushed to help me up. As I didn't know the extent of my injuries, I refused his help and gingerly got up. 

I sat down by the roadside and was suddenly surprised when I felt liquid quickly dripping down my face.  I wiped it and almost panicked when I saw it was blood. Apparently, the sunglasses that I was wearing cracked and a piece of it pierced that side near my eye. I took stock of my other injuries and saw that I had abrasions on my arm and shoulders and even had cuts on my legs. Even my lips were not spared.

I quickly called my husband for help. Fortunately, our house was just a few meters away so he was there in no time. He quickly brought me to the village clinic where they cleaned up the wounds and patched me up. However, they wanted to sew the wound near my eye as the skin tore open. I refused and just had myself transferred to the nearest hospital where they just glued the skin down.

The water utility company visited my house to apologize and replaced my bike. They also reimbursed my hospital expenses, although I haven't rode that bike yet. 

Maybe one day, I can ride again.