I had been looking forward to riding in the Bike for Sight ride, a ride we participate in every year that we can, and the Novemberfest ride, which we somehow miss every year. But my dreams were crushed. The week of the Bike for Sight ride I took a nose dive in our manufacturing building and rolled my ankle so badly that I was hunched over crying. I wound up in physical therapy for a week but was unable to finish it because we were so short handed at work and I’ll be honest, I hated it. There was a time that I thought about being a Physical Therapist but I no longer want this. Not all of them do this, but I felt like they were taking advantage of the workman’s comp. Needless to say this took me out of commission for both of the rides. Actually, my ankle is still messed up and I’m considering seeing a private doctor.
After almost losing the ability to ride due to an accident that messed up my balance, and is still an ongoing challenge, I refuse to let this ankle thing kill my love of riding. Both issues are detrimental to the sport. You wouldn’t believe how important it is to have good balance on a bike, or even walking for that matter, and now an ankle injuring is trying to defeat me. I have to be able to clip in and out of my pedals and all of your ability to ride relies on your ankles to push and pull the pedals.
Still, I’m hopeful that I can recover so that I can ride in the Gator Ride out in Baytown. I absolutely love this ride. The 40 and 60 mile rides go over the Fred Hartman Bridge (yes it is possible to get up that thing on a bike) and you cross over on the ferry. Afterwards they have food and drinks in the park and it’s one of the best supported rides I’ve been on. The benefits go to the YMCA of Baytown so it’s another ride I consider worthwhile. Oh and the shirts you get are always super adorable, adorning a gator riding a bicycle. The last one we got even had him wearing bicycle gloves.
Please pray for my recovery so that I can ride in this fantastic ride. I’d love to share my experience with you when I’m done. Here’s the link if you’re interested in riding.
http://gatorride.org/