crash...

October 16th started no differently than most every Saturday. Up early, off to the pool for a 4k swim, quick walk for the kids and then I was off for an easy 35 mile ride to the rez to support Dee in her first 100 miler. All good.

Then it happened...less than 3 miles from home (true to the eerie statistic that most accidents happen withing 3 miles of home)...riding in the bike lane, I hit a hole...a deep, wide hole...that I must have ridden by 100s of times before...a sunken water utility cover.

It happened so fast. I went over my bars and hit the deck. I remember feeling really calm, calculated as I called K...I was sitting on the grass, a runner helped me...helmet in pieces, clothes in shreds, bike frame cracked...having broken my collarbone before I reached for it and could feel it thru my skin...i felt like a roughly busted stick...

I then thought about Ironman...its 3 weeks away...I am not that hurt....please let me not be hurt....

People started gathering. Which was irritating me...(except for those who really helped me...I'll never know who you were, but thank you)...Things were getting surreal...I looked down at my legs and thought "wow, they look hot...super fit" and the "oh shit, my favorite bib shorts are toast."

In the meantime, the ambulance got there, strapped me to a board, as I was spinning in circles in my head...they asked me a bunch of questions...all of which I felt like I could answer...unless there were numbers involved...no clue how old I was, what my house number or wife's phone number were...it was almost funny to me...

I barely remember the ride or getting to the ER...the painkiller they gave me made everything wonderful. X-rays confirmed my collarbone was broken in such a way that I needed a surgeon, 3 pieces they thought from the x-rays...Tim gathered up my bike. K gathered up me. And so began my pity party.

BSG told me there are really only two types of cyclists..."one's that have wrecked...and one's that will". I've had my fair share of minor tumbles...this one will be filed in an all together different category.

Thankful for everybody who helped me that day (literally and figuratively with good vibes)...and really thankful that I am alive and mostly in one piece.