Roll on Down the Highway--BTO

It has been over six weeks and the ribs are getting better. In fact so much better that I have been biking again. When I first got on the bike last Saturday I was nervous. Nervous not so much for the expected pain but for my lack of confidence on the bike. The fall I experienced was the first in 14 years of biking in all kinds of conditions. Until July, falling and getting hurt was the least of my worries. I could control anything, I thought. So, Saturday as I sat on the bike preparing to start the ride I was a little shaken with all of the "what ifs". As best I could I shoved those thoughts aside and started out. I met two other bikers, Jean and Pat, at seven am on the corner where we all meet. During season we have as many as ten bikers meet for morning rides but during the summer months it's mostly just Jean and I who brave the summer heat. This year Pat and Vic stayed through the summer so Pat joined us. For the first time out in about two months I did OK. I could tell I've lost the peak condition I had when I left Bardstown but was able to cover 15 miles of the route we normally ride. Certainly not as fast but never-the-less I was able to ride again and without too much pain. I have ridden the bike several times since and am getting more comfortable on it. Perhaps by the time the ribs fully heal I will have pushed the memory of the fall out of my mind. For now, I am just riding the bike without the gear on it but pretty soon I'll load it up and start pushing to get back on the road. I still want to complete the trip before the end of October.