Scary Ride

Today started out seeming like a good day, an ordinary day in the mountains. Shyla and I had a peaceful morning mountain bike ride. We saw that the past few days have brought snow to the mountains, down to about 1000' above us.

Here's what the Divide looked like on Sunday.

And this was today! Winter is marching downward, toward us.

On our ride, I gave Shyla a new toy, a purple Wubba, and she seems to love it! It was a gift to celebrate her accomplishment of learning how to behave when unsupervised around the house.

Then, I headed home to quickly drop off Shyla and head out for a bit more riding. While I was in the house, a migraine aura hit. It was so visually disturbing that I couldn't do anything but take my meds and go to bed. Thank goodness I had an open schedule so I could just stop in my tracks for it.

Finally, after a long time with my head under the covers, I started to feel a little better, and I thought that I'd go out for an easy spin to keep my spirits up. After all, very soon, it will be real winter when I can't even ride on some of my favorite trails because they build up such deep layers of snow.

During my easy spin, "it" happened. A reckless driver almost hit me.

The loop I was riding was 95% trails but there was a short dirt road section to connect two trails. The vehicle came up behind me on a blind curve and didn't slow down to pass me. As he approached me, he swung out onto the wrong side of the road to pass me (even though I was hugging the right side of the road). At that instant, a car came around the blind curve from the other direction, nearly having a head-on collision with the reckless driver.

To avoid the head-on collision, the reckless driver behind me swerved back into our lane and then I heard a super loud high pitched noise very close behind me. For an instant, I thought the sound was a cop's high shrill siren. I glanced over my shoulder, and the reckless driver was just about to hit me from behind. His brakes screamed as it his car was barely under control. So, I blindly swerved off the road, landing in the deep ditch next to it.

Here's the part that truly put me over the top with anger. The driver did not even stop to say "sorry" and see if I was okay - he looked at me (I saw his face), and he drove on. What kind of human being does that? Not one with a heart or any kind of morals.

I didn't move for a while, paralyzed by the knowledge of what a close call it was. But, I was okay, and I was still alive. So, eventually, I got up and finished my loop, giving thanks for what did not happen. Needless to say, the "event" had not helped my headache.

Both dogs knew things weren't right with me when I got home. I had a loving Labraduo licking my face and snuggling up to me. I am so thankful for them.

Seize the day, for you never know what might happen next.