Get Up

Parting words from a guy who sold me his road bike – "Eventually, you'll fall."

Considering it’s a road bike, meant to ride up to 40+ mph downhill, and maybe averaging 15+ mph overall, that didn't sound too inviting. Especially on some of our rural back roads. They're the oil and chips kind. Know them? If you fall, all skin and likely other critical fleshly matter will transfer to the road very quickly. Might as well be glass chips! Not a good place to fall. Seriously.

I'm used to running. If I fall, I have some vote on how badly, feel a little silly, check who saw me, get up and go. Haven't fallen much, and definitely more painful to the ego than the body.  Plus, I'm much more in control when running. If a deer comes out, I move; if a squirrel or other small rodent runs across my path, I can jump (can't say that actually happened); if a motorist is veering my direction because he is texting (that's happened a few times!), I can move quickly.  On a bike – nope. Any of those at the wrong time and down I go. Ego aside, it could be pretty bad.

So, when he said I'd fall at least once...

I was grateful when I did.

I was at my mailbox, rolling to a stop as I prepared to start my ride. At the point of stopping, I smoothly twisted out of my right clip but was leaning slightly left. That's a problem. And it took a millisecond to decide what to do. Take the fall. I was not moving at that point, so any attempt to push or fight would have created movement, and on our road – oil and chips – it could have been much worse. Fortunately, I just fell dead left. Yep, it hurt, a little. And yes, I looked around first. Clear. And fortunately, with little damage, I ventured out for a nice ride.

I'm glad I got that fall out of the way! And I sure hope there are no others...

But isn't life like that? You do your best, and you will fall. Sometimes, it's good to fight; other times, maybe it’s better to just take the fall. But every time, at least figuratively, if not literally, it's always good to get back up.