Getting Old is not all that it is cracked up to be.

My wife is laughing at me, as is my son.  I think, or would like to think , that part of it is out of sense of relief that I did not kill myself, more likely  though at my stupid trick.

I decided to take advantage of the weather last Sunday and go for a bike ride and do some Geocaching.  Geocaching is described as a scavenger hunt for nerds.  You go out take your gps find an object in the woods and sign a log sheet in the container and also sign in on line.  It is fun in that you have to think about your process and work out the details and find the object which is often hidden very well.  One's powers of observation are honed finely by the game.The weather was spectacular for this time of year, blue skies, bright sun, pleasant breeze.

It just so happened that someone had placed a bunch  of them along a pleasant bike path locally.  I thought that I would go out ride the 15 or so miles needed to find them all.  The weather was clear and bright and wonderful, but the glare was making it difficult for me as my cataracts have gotten worse over the last several months.

I had been fitted with new glasses intended to compensate for them about 6 months ago with the promise that I should be good for about a year.  That year did not come through and my vision has deteriorated once again.  I had , only on last Friday , been seeking out a proper eye surgeon for the fix.  But I wen out on my ride, I met up with a couple of fellow geocachers at one point  and they compared some notes on the day, asked if I was continuing  I declined as I had already found 10 and I told them that I was having a difficult time with the glare and my vision and wanted to head back to the car and go home.

I headed out  and was nearly back to the car when I ran into a traffic gate made out of a steel I beam.
I slammed into it without braking and I was thrown into it by the force of the impact,  My hands were cut in numerous places, and I fell to the ground.  I was beyond stunned as I only saw the beam a foot or two before impact and had no opportunity to brake. So much for the finely honed powers of observation I mentioned above.

I hit the beam with enough force to bend back my handle bars in a twist of metal, my brake levers had disintegrated.  In that curious mental state between occurrence and realization I saw blood in a large amount on the ground and my hands. 

The first thing I really noticed after coming to was a woman yelling  ""Are you allright ?"  She repeatedly asked over and over until I responded out of my fog.  Should I call an ambulance ?  she questioned.  She quickly handed me some towels from her bike bag.  Two men also had come up , and I said I think I can get up, and they helped me to my feet.  After taking stock of my situation I thanked them for their help and told them that I would be able to make it back to my car.  The woman was concerned about my ability to drive or even if I would be able to get my bike on the rack.

I assured them that I would be ok and walked my crashed bike back to the car and from there I was able to drive off in search of some medical care.  I was lucky, very lucky . But thinking back I wondered, was it luck of something else.  For earlier in the day, while I was geocaching  I happened upon a small object nailed to a tree out in the woods and I thought it odd .  I reflected on what might have possessed someone to place the tiny object , no bigger than a matchstick, in that spot and how was it that I would find it .  I thought it odd so I took a picture.  The serendipity of the situation later hit me.

The next day I went back to see what it was that did not allow me to see the gate.  It was the backlit nature of the gate at that time of day that produced a blinding glare coupled with my declining eyesight.  Oh, I was and am pretty banged up, but but it could have been infinitely worse, for how many people survive a full speed ride into an I beam.

Someone must be watching over me.    And now I am left wondering. Coincidence some would say, others say there is no such thing as coincidence.

I have made the appointment to get the cataracts taken care of.  Can't always rely on being watched over, Gotta do it for myself once in awhile even if a couple of weeks late.