Friday night, colder than I'd have liked it for a night ride but, I was compulsed to ride. Donned my expensive black cold weather riding jacket, my cute leotards, finger tipped gloves, and my beanie on my beanhead, I was ready for the cold , the wind , the elements. I made my way to the River Levee at Williams Blvd and topping the levee I was slapped in the face by that infamous north wind, It woke me to a new level of consciousness, the crescent moon was snuggling behind a haze, patches of fog dotted the river area, for about 2 minutes I was in 50 's horror film, looking around for Dracula's Carriage to roar by, seeing none I called on that Valium from earlier to fuzz up reality and got on with my ride. My forearms were cold, my ankles were cold, everything else was ok. I gathered momentum ,my core body temperature rose accordingly , had some new music on my MP3 , picked up a little tail wind , cruising about 18 mph.
My powerful headlight watched for joggers, other bikes, old ladies and their dogs on 50 ft leases, the cigar smoking man, and general buttheads hanging out on the levee smoking crack. No one was out , it was too cold. I let her rip , didn't matter how much my left knee hurt it was cold and I wanted off that levee, Audubon Park's Oak trees protect me from the wind, elements and Vampires, St Charles Ave is warm just from the traffic . I'm concentrating on the blacktop , scanning for debris, bodies, animals , potholes. anything that could rip my handlebars to one side and crash me onto the side of the levee where I wouldn't be found till morning, maybe. No crickets, frogs, gators, cicadas, except for an owl or two it was silent winter.
Made it through Harahan, River Ridge , approached the Huey P Long, decided I had to P, shortly .
200 yards past the Huey P is a path that runs down to the river, it's dry , mostly briar's, blackberries, brush, and water loving trees,, hidden from view of the levee a place I use often for personal relief.
Never in the night , I'm carrying headlight, courage, if I don't smile concealment. Turned off the levee blacktop, coasted down the path to a area out of sight , dismounted , left the light on but moved out of its beam to not attract attention. During relieving I hear a faint panting , then some approaching snarling,
instantly my body went into adrenalin overdrive, shallow breath, dilated pupils, tense muscles, nerves at the ready to react. As the sounds grew louder and closer, it took seconds to think escaped Lion, Cougar, Panther, Chupacabra, suddenly what felt like a 200 pound steel plate slapped my left side and flattened me to the ground.. First instinct was fetal position, sharp pointed teeth sank in my left forearm,I twisted and shook , whatever it was had me. I sat up best I could to draw some strength from support , it knocked me down again and went for my neck, wrapped my hands around my neck ,I knew if he got those fangs around my neck I was done. Still couldn't see what was about to eat me, thought about the light on the bike , can't leave my neck to get to it. The beast grabbed my head and ripped open my scalp, I was helpless I had to keep my neck protected. I felt the hot blood running down my face blinding me more. Clutching my neck thwarted any chance to fight back or feel for what was ripping at me with precision and intention.
In my struggle my left foot felt what I believed to be a tree limb , instinctively I hurriedly let my neck go , he grabbed my neck and began to put a death bite on me. I was free handed to grab the stick and began to wail with all my might on the beast. My fear accentuated my strength , heard the beast squeal with every blow I administered, he let go of my neck, I could only see an outline , we faced each other, I put that tree branch to work , the beast sucummed , laying at my feet panting as my blood dripped onto his body.
Pulled a small rag from my riding jersey , wiped my eyes clear of blood , flipped my scalp back to its original place, struggled exhausted to my bike, removed the headlamp , pointed it toward the creature,
DAMN CHIHUAHUA
