My Birthday!

"I chose this road because it was the safest for us." - - Josh, 2006.

Today I am celebrating another revolution about the sun. I do this after a weekend of ups and downs, mainly ups, a big down, and no dull experiences.

Saturday was fantastic. I got up early and met Josh for coffee before he had to do to work. After he left, I had a quality journal-writing experience and then wandered home where I went on a cleaning rampage. Some time before the noon hour, I walked to the downtown music store to do some research on some musical groups. Then I walked to Satchel's for some lunch. While I ate, I read a story from my science fiction anthology of 1981. It was about a distant time in the future when humans have achieved immortality, but the immortality had to come at the price of losing their need to be immortal...losing the ability to be creative. A few hours later, I went to the Art Museum with Devlyn and afterwards we enjoyed some beverages on the patio of Gernika, where Sara later joined us. That evening I played a hardcore version of badmitten ("smashmitten") with Josh at the Fort Boise Community Center.

The next day, I met Josh for coffee at our favorite coffee shop. By the time that I arrived, he was waiting out front for me. I noticed that his bicycle was propped against a pole unlocked. "Why is your bike unlocked?" I asked. "Because I'm using it to lock up another bike," he responded. Jumping the gun, I assumed that he was referring to a birthday gift for me. I was standing next to the tree to which I always lock my bike and saw an ugly crap cruiser locked to it. Mockingly, I gestured to the ugly bike and said with a big smile, "Is this for me?" Almost laughing, Josh came over to me and the ugly bike and said, "Yes, do you like it?" I fingered the torn grips and stroked the chipped paint and said, "It's beautiful." Then Josh said, "Seriously, do you see a cool bike anywhere around us?" And I scanned the area, and off in the distance, I saw a beautiful white glow shimmering in the sunlight. And it was the most beautiful bike in the world.

After we had coffee, we drove out to the Sawtooths to go on my very first road ride. Josh decided that we would go riding on what he considered to be the safest road for us. It was a long open stretch, with a wide shoulder, and no turns with blind corners. Plus, the Sawtooths are amazing. It was beautiful and so much fun. I've never ridden a road bike before so it was quite the experience for me. I was kinda wobbly, but glowing about riding such a beautiful bicycle. Ultimately, we rode about 30 miles.

At some point nearing the last 10 miles of our ride, we were struck by an unfortunate incident. I was riding behind Josh, in his draft, and after getting some energy back, decided to pass him and take the lead. I looked back to verify that there was no motorized vehicle that was going to hit me. I saw one far off in the distance and determined that it was safe for me to pass Josh. About two minutes after passing Josh, that vehicle that I had seen, a large utility truck, sped past me, less than five inches away from my person, clearly having crossed the white line. My life flashed before my eyes and I screamed. I also heard Josh scream. I turned my head and looked back. I saw Josh lying in the gravel along the side of the road. I realized that he had been sizeswiped by the truck and I had a heart attack. I pulled my bike over, unclipped my feet from the peddles, and ran over to him. His bike was off to the side a few feet away, his belongings were strewn everywhere, and he was propped in an awkward position. He was saying that he was alright and I was panicking over all of the blood. His legs and arms were all scrapped up and his hip and left buttock looked like they had been shredded by a cheese slicer. Here is an unpleasant photo of his road rash. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The truck had stopped and a very old man came over to ask if Josh was okay. Josh asked the man how he couldn't have seen us, "I chose this road because it was the safest for us." The man just said he was sorry. I noticed that one of Josh's leses for his glasses was right next to my shoe and I picked it up and began hunting around for the rest of his glasses, which were conveniently the same color as the gravel. I asked the old man twice to give us a ride to our car and he said that he would have to reload the equipment in his truck, indicating that it would be a hassle for him to provide us with such assistance. As I was gathering Josh's belongings which were strewn everywhere, the old man gave Josh $50. Josh said, "Well, thanks but these cycling shorts were $80 and it's going to cost me over $100 to replace my helmet." The man shrugged as if it wasn't his problem and walked to his truck. I was still in a state of shock and wasn't understanding where he thought he was going. As I saw him start up his truck, I made a point of memorizing his lisence plate.

Josh and I then had to ride 11 miles to get to the car. To me, it seemed like a million miles. I felt so shaky on the bike, because I was still not used to riding a road bike but also, you know, because my boyfriend had just been hit by a truck. When we got to the car, I drove us to Stanley, where I purchased a variety of items for his injuries (hydrogen peroxide, non-stick gauze, a spray-on bandage thing, etc.) and while Josh cleaned his wounds, I called the police. We spent an hour making our police report, which was probably pointless because other than filling out some forms, I doubt that anything will be done about it.

We decided to drive over to Red Fish Lake to have dinner at the Lodge. We wandered along the beach, sat on the dock, admired the scenery, used the $50 the old man gave Josh to buy dinner, goofed off in the gift shop, and then drove back to Boise.

I've had constant anxiety since 1:45 yesterday because I keep replaying everything in my head. I've got all kinds of thoughts, anger, anxiety, that just won't go away. My stomach is in knots over this. I haven't spoken to Josh yet today to find out how he's feeling, but it can't be good. Anyway, today is my 26th birthday.

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