Why I'm riding the bus

EDIT: I'm talking about BICYCLES here except for one mention of motorcycles. Bike == BICYCLE, not motorcycle, in this post.

About 20 years ago or so, I was waiting at a busstop, minding my own business. Some guy walks up to me and asks: "Do you know why I'm riding the bus today?" I wasn't sure what he was up to, but figured it didn't hurt to chat with him. "No, why?" "Because I'm alive."

And he reaches into his backpack and pulls out the two halves of the bike(as in BICYCLE) helmet he was wearing the week before, the helmet he was wearing the day a car ran into him on his bike.

I had always been pretty conscientious about wearing a helmet when on a motorcycle but hadn't been as much on a bicycle. I hadn't really been biking much lately, so didn't even own a bike or a helmet.

But ever since then, whenever I get on a bike, the helmet goes on. Period. Or I don't get on.

I'm really glad I met him. Especially last Wednesday, when someone in a car ran into me on my bike. I knew my bike helmet was on, and I think that allowed me to relax enough to just go with it and not tense up much. So nothing is broken. My back is sore, my shoulder where I landed is a bit bruised. But nothing is broken. Including my head - which I think connected with his windshield and I know hit the ground when I slid off his hood flat on my back on the ground.

My thanks to the man with the two helmet halves - whoever he was - and I wish him a long and happy life. And thanks to my friend Jacquie who tightened my helmet straps a few days before the accident.

There may be long-term effects to my back or things that haven't shown up yet. But my head ain't cracked open. And I'm alive to tell this story.

Time to get a new bike helmet.