THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - Can you really teach an old dog new tricks?
We'll see!
My sister Cindy, from Virginia, (remember, she ran the New York Marathon in Nov. 2001) is in Sacramento visiting our Mom. Yesterday morning she came here to swim with me. We participated in the one-hour conditioning class then swam during lap swimming time. Kim, the pool manager, came up during the lap swimming and was so nice to give us instructions and watch us swim freestyle and breast stroke. I really needed some help. It seems that the way I learned to swim 60 years ago is no longer valid. They've improved the strokes and it will be to my benefit to learn to do them properly. It will save energy (mine) and propel me further and faster. The only problem is that it is very hard to unlearn what you've been doing for 60 years. I listened carefully and came home and wrote it all down. I will now stop swimming for time and distance for a while and work entirely on my form. I hope this old dog can learn new tricks.
The Journey - Installment Fifty
The day after we didn’t ride because of the rain, we rode just before daylight. We had just left Hollen and Morena’s house and were starting down the street. A car was coming from the opposite direction with its headlights off. Riding in the lead, I kept to the right edge of the road as far as possible but found it necessary to go around several parked cars. The oncoming vehicle kept coming toward us and began to veer towards me. It appeared that he was going to hit me and I didn’t have time to click out of my pedals so I grabbed the side mirror of a parked car and stopped myself. The car came within inches of crushing me between the two vehicles. I could have easily been the proverbial pancake as in "flat as a pancake". The good Lord was watching over me again. The poor man driving the car must have gotten distracted with his radio, cup of coffee or something and hadn’t realized that we were also sharing the road with him since it was not very light yet. He slammed on his brakes and kept saying over and over how sorry he was for almost hitting me. Later in the day we drove (with the car) to Honolulu to the bike store to purchase reflectors and headlights with rechargeable batteries.
The Journey - Installment Fifty
The day after we didn’t ride because of the rain, we rode just before daylight. We had just left Hollen and Morena’s house and were starting down the street. A car was coming from the opposite direction with its headlights off. Riding in the lead, I kept to the right edge of the road as far as possible but found it necessary to go around several parked cars. The oncoming vehicle kept coming toward us and began to veer towards me. It appeared that he was going to hit me and I didn’t have time to click out of my pedals so I grabbed the side mirror of a parked car and stopped myself. The car came within inches of crushing me between the two vehicles. I could have easily been the proverbial pancake as in "flat as a pancake". The good Lord was watching over me again. The poor man driving the car must have gotten distracted with his radio, cup of coffee or something and hadn’t realized that we were also sharing the road with him since it was not very light yet. He slammed on his brakes and kept saying over and over how sorry he was for almost hitting me. Later in the day we drove (with the car) to Honolulu to the bike store to purchase reflectors and headlights with rechargeable batteries.
Scary, scary, scary..... Again your story has conjured up an image of you hanging on to a side mirror of a car for dear life!!! It's truly a miracle that you actually lived to make the "official" ride!!!
ReplyDeleteKeep those stories coming.... I am nervous about what might be in the next episode!!!!