Sunday, October 28, 2007

bike + bike


Wrecked jeans
Originally uploaded by the gladdings
After 16 years of owning and riding my '84 Ironhead Sportster, I finally had a wreck. And despite the proliferation of SUVs and pickups in H-Town, I was hit by a...bicycle. My new friend Alvin was cutting across a 4 lane street on his bicycle pre-dawn on Thursday, and although he beat the Metro bus in the right lane, he hit me in the left lane about a second after we saw each other. I laid the bike down, and slid down the road with it on top of me (see jeans) and Alvin's bike on top of mine. Thankfully neither of us are badly injured, although he has torn a couple of ligaments in his ankle. I just have some nice road rash, and a few bruises. I'm waiting on news about the state of my bike - lots of cosmetic damage, smashed clutch, dented tank - I think the insurance company will total it, but I have hopes that I'll get it back on the road. We'll see...
I was mad for about 5 minutes after the wreck, but then I started feeling a bunch of compassion for Alvin, and my anger diffused quickly. We've talked several times since the wreck, and are going to drink some coffee together sometime this week. I started playing the 'if only I'd...' game a couple of days ago, but no one wins that one, so I stopped sharpish. Maybe it's just one of those things. I'm hoping something unexpected comes out of all this - and that it's a good something! Again, we'll see...

2 comments:

geoff and sherry said...

well said mr. gladding and might i comment that you are very gracious. glad there was so little damage to your person (and alvin). the upside...you might take the opportunity to switch to a bmw :)

Kelly Efurd Lawson said...

thanks for the comment on the blog, sean. definitely made my day. i wanted to talk to you after chapel that day, but was still processing and praying about everything that had just happened. have a good one.