The first one:
Thursday afternoon. I nearly got into my first serious bike accident. I should probably be calling my family and friends from a hospital bed. I had a nice tailwind for a bike ride after work. Seemed like a good idea. About halfway into it, right at A-street, as I was sailing along, I saw the line of cars backed up at the light that had just turned green. I quickly scanned the line of tail lights, good, no right turn blinkers. But, something made me pause, and listen to that little voice that always says: DON'T TRUST ANY DRIVER. Sure enough, a big van decides to turn right just as I decide I better slow down because... I DON'T TRUST ANY DRIVER. Only narrowly did I make the turn with him, my heart in my throat as I almost skimmed the side of the dark whale. No signal, no signal!?! I could not let it go. I raced after the van, and luckily there was a four way stop. I pulled right up to the tinted window and motioned for the driver to roll it down. There he was, a grizzled old guy about my age, gabbing on a cell phone connected by a white cord trailing down. "Man, you almost took me out. You didn't even signal!" Lucky for him he showed the proper remorse and apologized over and over. He was clearly shaken. I shook my head and peddled off. If I hadn't let him know, he would have remained in his half aware world of attempted multi-tasking. FAIL!
Second one:
Surfing today. It was choppy at dawn. Andy and I are on the phone. Mark and him are checking Matanzas. I am looking at the pier. It's crap, onshore, chest high, high tide, pieces here and there. We decide to take our chances on the south side of the inlet. We see some waves that look rideable, it's warm, not too windy yet, let's go. It seems almost fun at times, although weak and mushy. I get this one wave that seems like it is going to hold up, and I race it to the inside to a section where I have enough speed to just go for broke, and I go up and hit it and it feels like my board comes out of the lip completely, but this illusion is precisely that, as we all know that what we feel and what actually is are two completely different things. But, I had some speed, and ended up trying to land whatever it was I was trying to do, coming down into some demonic spin cycle with my board that just wrapped us together into some whirling burrito of doom. I felt the fins in my thigh, then my butt, and the whole time I am thinking; how am I escaping a serious slicing of several of my extremities? I mean, I was rolling with my board over and over. I know I will be sporting some serious bruises by this evening. That was way too close. Thank you, my guardian angel.
Take three:
On my way to work this morning, a black Cadillac (SERIOUSLY, WHAT IS IT WITH CADILLACS?) decides to just move into my lane, and if I had not been expecting it, due to my biking experience with these fat ass whale fails, I would have bought the farm, or at least a shed. I laid on my horn, and he STILL CAME OVER AT ME! Arrrgggh. You have to be extra aware these days out there in the world. Expect the unexpected, and all the time.
On a good note: Check out these shots of Andy from that magical Friday evening when Hurricane Bill was churning it up for us. Remember, Andy, that evening I called to tell you it was offshore as you were stuffing your face, and Bob had me driving all over to check every spot within 25 miles until sundown?
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