To be hit is every cyclist’s biggest fear, worry, nightmare. I was hit by a car August 2, 2021 riding a route I have ridden hundreds of times.

I am not yet recovered, physically or mentally. Not even close. My physical recovery could take a year. My emotional and mental recovery will take longer I expect.

If you have spent any time here, or just peruse this blog now, you will easily see that I love cycling. To put it quite simply, cycling is near and dear to my heart. Riding my bike is a core part of who I am and how I live. My thirty-one years of cycling had me at a fitness level that would be unachievable without those thousands of hours of sustained cardiovascular effort and tens of thousands of miles. Cycling is why I have a resting heart rate in the 40’s and a blood pressure of someone in their 20’s. I do not look, move, act or feel anywhere near my age – all because of cycling.

That has now changed. Time will tell to what extent those changes are permanent. I wonder sometimes if the driver ever thinks about what he took from me. First, even if he does think about me, he has no idea what he took away. What he took from me in the present and the future. I am unable to find the words even to explain it to you in this blog post, but I feel it and only a cyclist who has been seriously injured while doing what we all love can understand. If you are one of those cyclists, or have ever been part of this horrible club no cyclist wants to be a part of, I could use some encouragement from you or to hear how you made it through. Because presently I do not see a way forward to being who I used to be.