The forecast called for pain, headed out on a east side 100 miles, down the lake , lakeshore drive,
got to the Seabrook , I normally take Press St to Gentilly Blvd then the Danzinger bridge to 90,,,, Hadn't ever crossed the Seabrook on bike ,only in a car, the sign said walk your bike, I obeyed like a chump, all walking across the Seabrook does is lengthen the time your a target for cars going 80 miles per hour. On the downside I had enough , jumped in the saddle, already put 20 miles under my belt, speeding down the Seabrook ,no one told me the water drainage grates were parallel with no cross pieces, consequently my front wheel engaged, stopped, while me and the bike I was strapped in kept going , over the handle bars, the good news is my face took the brunt, "'its a tough face", my shatter resistant sunglasses did just that pushed into my face and welted up my cheek, cement took care of the rest, I got a close look at the little rocks imbedded in the cement. , my head was saved by helmet, helmet cracked, saved my life, don't ride without one.. When I regained consciousness 3 people stopped to help me, I thank them, I needed help,
got to my feet, shook it off, thanked them, can't tell you what they looked like , was still fuzzy, walked to the bottom of the bridge, found shade under the overpass, took inventory: A, I can walk B.I can talk, C, I can see, D. blood pouring out my nose ,face is bloodied, E. Finger probably broken, F. red kerchief is ok.
G. St Michael the Archangel Jersey didn't save me, can't blame him....
Opened the first aid kit, used Wet Ones to clean face,,,want to be pretty, put cotton in nose to stop bleeding, taped 2 left hand bottom fingers together. felt better. Climbed back in the seat, felt ok,
used the left brake and shifter with tapped hand , felt ok, no reason not to carry on .
Hit Hayne blvd, till it dead ended, knew I was following the lake, "My intention", took a right at the end of Hayne Blvd and soon discovered cars passing me at 80 miles per hour, the sign says I-510, whoops!, took the next exit, Lake Forrest Blvd , finally made it to Highway 90. Felt relieved, escaped death twice so far,
at the Rigolets Bridge I stopped and took a few pics, nose stopped bleeding,, down to hwy 433 along Salt Bayou , beautiful ride, especially if you enjoy boats on trailers flying by at 60 miles per hour and no shoulder, hit down town Slidell, crossed over, decided to go to a friends house in Eden Idles, can't get there from here, went around Slidell to Hwy 11, the to the back of Eden Isles, the front is on the interstate,
crossed the whole subdivision, beautiful place, found my friends house, stopped to take a breather,, the Seabrook was 45 miles behind me figure I'm over it , history, sitting the his veranda, his wife came out and asked if I wanted a drink or an ambulance,, she brought me a mirror,,ugly, took my glove off , hand was twice normal size, I headed for my bike , "Where you going?" going home, "no way", so they convinced me to call Marie to pick me up there and go to a clinic, she did so , went to a clinic, the doc laughed and said pick a hospital ,any hospital, but go to one. We went home , I cleaned up , ate something , changed clothes, didn't want Marie to spend all that time at the hospital , I figured I'd go alone and if it was late just take a nap, I wasn't there long, CT scan of head, no damaged bones , couldn't find a brain of appreciable size, hand x ray, broken 5th metacarpal,,
Great ride, 65 mile ride , trip to hospital , visit with friend in Eden Idles, . 4 weeks in cast, next week is 4th week, start riding again next week, Hey their not all pretty, sometime the forecast calls for pain......
b
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| Can;'t get that left eye open. |
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| On the Rigolets bridge |
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| Whats worse, the weather or my face. |
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| broken helmet |
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| got a green cast to match my Green Lantern Ring. |
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| Shredded and bloody glove.... |
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| already have screws in this hand.. |
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| grew bigger as the night progressed,,,,got me through those 45 miles,,, |
