Weather - 32 degrees, cloudy, snowing. I know it is officially spring, but I am still in winter mode - running in long underwear, hat, gloves, and snot dripping from my nose. Ran 4 easy miles to the Zendo, meditated for 2 hours, then ran 3 easy miles back to town. My quads are sore from yesterday's race, so this will be another easy week of training, although I would like to get in session 5 of the bike intervals, maybe I can do that on Monday or Tuesday. Even with sore legs, I was able to hold a quick easy pace today. Strange thing happened yesterday evening. Towards dusk, basking in a post-race glow, I rode my bicycle to Family Video to return a dvd. As I rode into the parking lot I followed 2 cars. They inexplicably stopped, and I continued pedaling. As I passed one of the cars it decided to turn into a parking space, and headed right into me. I swerved quickly and stopped, and fortunately the driver saw me and stopped, a horrified look on her face. I parked my bike, dropped the dvd into the return slot, and as I walked back to my bike passed the woman. She apologized to me, but I said "no, it was my fault, I like living dangerously". I was feeling lighthearted and easy, and rode out of the parking lot. I turned into another parking lot 400 meters away, planning to cut into a park. I looked up and saw a man walking on the park path about 100 meters away. I calculated that we were going to intersect each other's path (this happens to me almost daily, crossing someone's direct line, even though there is hundreds of yards of empty space between us - it is absolutely freaky, I am convinced there is a lesson to be learned from this horrible sense of timing on my part, and I have finally concluded that I am living in an incorrect way, and must find a better path to travel), so I decided to speed up and thus reach the path before he arrived at my point of entry. As I sped up I took my right hand off the handlebar and moved it across my chest and plunged it into my left pants pocket, so that I could adjust my iPod volume. Just as my hand was going into my pocket my left hand pushed right, I guess to compensate for my right hand going left, and the wheel also turned right, but it was too sharp of a turn and before I knew what was happening the bike was crashing to the ground. I landed on my left knee and right shoulder. I remained on the ground without moving for about a minute, I was not sure if I was injured or not, and wanted to see if I felt any pain. I seemed to be ok, although I was in a state of shock. I wondered if the man had saw me fall. I shook my right leg out, extending it, then the left. Both legs seemed fine. I got up slowly. I had not hit my head. I did not even seem to be scraped. My right calf was a bit sore, but it did not seem serious. If the man had seen me fall, he hadn't bothered to stop, because I could not see him. I guess falling off of my bike is one way to avoid a crossing of paths. I rode home slowly, feeling charmed, because although I had experienced two dangerous things within 5 minutes time, I had escaped unharmed.
On my run today I did not suffer any ill effects from yesterday's fall, so onwards with training. #128 z.m. - #42
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