When we started out it was the first time we were able to just walk out the door, get on the bike and ride away from the parking lot. I was on the bike pedaling as the sun came up and made great time to Galena, KS. I gave a little fist pump as I crossed over the state line both going into Kansas and leaving it to go into Oklahoma. We passed quickly through the less than 20 miles of Route 66 in the state of Kansas and reached the second stop ahead of schedule.
After leaving a place called Dallas Dairyette I was heading toward Miami, OK for our lunch stop when I came up to a fork in the road and the route I was on curved but the navigation said to stay straight to follow the route. I had the phone in my pocket to keep it from overheating in the sun. I reached in to pull the phone out but it caught on my pants and fell to the ground. Before I could stop her, my mom, who was right behind me on the shoulder to keep traffic pushed away from me, ran over the phone. It was destroyed. That is how I use my navigation and all my apps for the bike so there was nothing I could do but rack the bike, use her phone to find the closest store, and go buy a new phone. I had been considering it at some point because my old phone was 4 years old and needed to be replaced anyway, but yesterday was not when I envisioned that happening.
Once we left the store we got lunch and I let my new phone charge up so it would be ready to take on the rest of the route with me. We went to a place called Otter Cove where we met a group of sweet and very supportive women who asked about the ride and were so thrilled to meet us we gave them wristbands to wear and postcards they promised to share to tell people about what I am doing. After that we were off to get back to the stopping point so I could start riding again.
While getting the gear on the bike a man from down the street rode up, very excited to see another cyclist. We chatted for a few minutes and his wife joined, taking pictures of him with me and my car then they also asked for information because they wanted to follow my progress. Then, I was finally back on the road. I began cruising and was back to making good time. The sun was intense and I used my cooling towels a bit but I was enjoying myself again. The breeze from riding was dancing in my hair, the trees swayed around me. The farm fields stretched for miles and everything was serene.
I climbed a hill and was enjoying my reward of coasting down when my tire struck loose gravel on some uneven pavement. Everything became a blur as I slammed down. I don't know what the crash actually looked like but it hurt a lot. I remember seeing the road ahead of me then lying on it and not being able to move. I could hear my mom and eventually others around me asking about calling 911 and moving traffic around me. I remember hearing that a sheriff's deputy had arrived and he came over to talk to me but I could still barely move. I was lying on my left side and my arm hurt like hell. I was able to force myself onto my back and take some deep breaths. Nothing was making it hard to breathe. My head hurt like crazy but I wasn't feeling dizzy. Still, I knew I had hit my head pretty hard and there was the possibility of a concussion so I mentioned that when they asked what I was feeling.
They went through a series of questions about what happened, at least what I remembered, and several people stayed with me and even helped load the bike onto the rack so my mom could follow the ambulance when it arrived. By that point I was talking and they got me to my feet. I walked myself into the ambulance, sat down on the gurney and immediately asked the EMT if I would be able to ride the next day. He smiled and said that was up to the doctor. When we pulled up at the hospital I was determined to go check on the bike but the doctor and 2 nurses were at the room waiting for me. Once again I got up and walked from one bed to another then they brought in a portable x-ray machine to check me out. Thankfully I didn't break anything or even dislocate it. I was millimeters away from potentially shattering my orbital socket but mostly I am just banged up. The doctor was not ok with me riding again until I could put solid weight on my shoulder and comfortably raise my arms above my head so I have a day or two of driving my route while promoting it with people I meet but I will be rolling again as soon as possible.
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