Very Very Bad Ride-but maybe good?

OK so I decided to do a ride late in the day. For me, that meant at 1230pm. Since time is of the essence today, I did not do my ride at Bird's Hill park but elected for Assiniboine Park instead. That was mistake number one. Ever been to Assinisboine park on a nice sunny Saturday afternoon? Well talk about crowded-not only with people but a tonne of cars. Unfortunately for me, many of the young boys cruising in their vehicles are not really paying attention to the road, as they are scanning the park grounds for chicks. I had a few close calls, but lucky for me avoided a crash.

Mistake number two involved taking my Ipod along for the ride. While I had it at a very low volume, it was very distracting as I could not hear the cars nearly as well as I would have liked.

These two mistakes resulted in a very bad thing. I was not really focusing on my gear changing, and yup it happened...my chain fell off. When that happens, and you are not expecting it.....yup you guessed it, I fell off my bike. The fall was I think a bit more graceful than last but road rash is road rash and it stings!

After I picked myself up off the ground, I had my chain to contend with. After 5 minutes of fiddling (OK maybe a bit longer) and really greasy black hands, I got the chain back on. I was extremely anxious.....Had I done this right....could I successfully change gears again....what if Brad Pitt was in the park and saw me fall????

Well, I managed to get out of the park, and headed back home. However I nearly got run over. It happened when I was crossing a busy intersection and one foot was not clipped in properly. The driver upon seeing me struggle, thought it would be fun to speed up. The result......I panicked, changed gears too fast, and the chainring fell off again, after I got to the other side of the road. Fortunately, because I was not entirely clipped in, I did not fall off the bike a second time.

I can't tell you how lucky I felt at seeing my home, and really am amazed at how rude and inconsiderate vehicles are of cyclists. I had heard this said many times, but now I have had the unfortunate experience.

Will need to ponder this ride some more, but my wise friend, suggested that perhaps this was a good experience. All rides can not be good or perfect, and that it is these lousy situations, that can prepare me for race time. Again, a metaphor for life!