Always Wear Your Helmet!

Two Saturdays ago, I was riding my bicycle with a friend.  It was a lovely morning, and we were nearing the end of our ride through the wine country and orchards in Palisade, just east of Grand Junction.  We took a side trail off of the main road to get to the riverfront pathway heading back to the city, and that's when the trouble started.

A patch of gravel sat at the top of the trail, which the heavy rains had brought across the path the night before.  I skidded for a moment on the gravel but regained my balance.  Heading down the side trail, I barely noticed another patch of gravel before I began to pick up speed.  Actually, it was too much speed on the short downhill switchback, and by the time I'd applied my rear brake, it was too late.

Have you ever had that sickening feeling in your stomach that the thing you've been treating like part of your body - a bike, skateboard, skis, etc. - isn't actually part of you but could actually hurt you?  That's what crossed my mind as gravity took over and the inertia of my body overmatched the movement of my bike.  I flew over the handlebars as my tire skidded over the second patch of gravel, landed on my face and right shoulder, and dragged my right knee under my body.  Dirt spilled into my mouth, and hot blood began to run down my face and chest.

My helmet saved my life.  I landed on a relatively-soft patch of dirt and mixed gravel, which provided me with a better cushion than the asphalt trail - although it still put quite a few scratches and cuts on my face.  I immediately felt around my body and checked my teeth, all of which were miraculously intact.  My riding buddy, Michael, saw the whole thing and hollered for me to stay down and try to relax.  Lying on my back for a moments, I felt my muscles tighten, so I picked myself up, then moved over to the shade and tried to rinse my mouth with water.

After we figured out that I could walk (my knee was skinned up pretty well but wasn't swollen just yet), we hobbled over to the main road while Michael called for a ride.  I noticed that my lip was split, so I asked Michael to watch me and see if I demonstrated any concussion symptoms, which thankfully I didn't.  About 30 minutes later, I was sitting at urgent care, talking with a great doctor and caring nurse who helped me get cleaned up, stitched up, and wrapped up.  I'm very grateful for their care and patience as we figured out what I needed to do.

Urgent care selfie.  I feel and look a lot better now.

Since then, I've been watching my face heal up nicely.  The knee is still swollen and sore, and I'd be grateful for your prayers for continued healing and that no tendons or ligaments would have been damaged in the crash.  I keep telling people, "It could have been so much worse," which is true.  My helmet saved my life, and my sunglasses took all the damage instead of my eyes.  I couldn't have made it to the finish line of crash and it's aftermath without Michael, his family (who picked us up after the crash and saved me a $1000 ambulance ride), and the staff at urgent care.  I thank God for them.

In one of his letters to his young friend Timothy, the missionary and church planter named Paul wrote these words: "Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come" (1 Tim. 4:8).  That's been my prayer lately: focusing on recovery from my injury while keeping the pursuit of godliness as primary.  I love to exercise and keep in-shape, which I'll be able to do by swimming as often as I can.  But I also need to be reminded that the pursuit of Christ is immeasurably more important than even the best physical training - like riding a bike through Palisade on a late summer morning.

Solo Dei gloria,

Travis