madameblogalot

I went Thursday to try cycling with my clip pedals. I had only done this a couple of weeks before I had surgery and so am not completely used to them. Even so, I was determined never to fall, even though my husband has warned me that it would happen.

I left late morning for a short ride, but started getting sprinkled on within three miles. As I did not want to be out and caught in the rain, I came back and decided to wait until the afternoon. Even though it was still cloudy, I thought it was no worse than the morning, which turned out to be no rain at all. As I got about seven miles in, I felt it begin to sprinkle again. I turned a corner and could see it was raining hard at the end of the street. So I turned around and headed back to a community pool I had just passed, hoping there would be somewhere to take cover. There was a small awning covering three steps with the upper step being the most sheltered from the rain. That is, until the wind started blowing in that direction!

After nearly thirty minutes, the rain had almost stopped and the sun came out. I figured that at the other end of the street, it was probably now clear. So I got back on the bike taking a much slower pace. As I was going through one neighborhood, I came to a stop sign. At an intersection, a car was coming, so I knew I would have to stop. If s/he was turning my way, I could have just taken a right turn and not had to stop. As it was, I could not get unclipped and went down on the pavement. Just as s/he turned right next to me! S/he did not even stop to see if I was ok!! I fell his/her direction and s/he just went right past! I was mad and embarrassed and disappointed. And it all could have been prevented. But now I know I only have about one second to get unclipped before going down. I guess I have now been initiated.