Today did not turn out quite as I planned.  Actually, today didn’t turn out anywhere close to what I’d planned.  I got up early, did a few hours work and when it was light enough I went out on the bike.  I was planning so much in my head that I couldn’t have been going my usual speed and suddenly realised if I didn’t get a wriggle on I’d be late getting Charlie Cat to the vets.  I stepped up my pace and at mile 13 I rounded a bend…and came face to face with an enormous lorry.  This particular road is wide enough to pass a car on the bike, just. Lorries don’t use it because it’s too narrow.  Except today, –  the wider road had been closed and traffic had been diverted.  I screamed, slammed on my breaks and as I came off the bike and slid towards the wheels of the lorry, I had a bit of a panic that things might be about to go very, very wrong…

Thankfully, his stopping skills were better than mine and I finished up about 6 foot from some rather huge tyres.  Very lovely people stopped, put my bike back together, made me stay still until I stopped shaking (despite my protests that I had too much to do to be lying in the middle of a country road causing a traffic jam) and one lady even held my hand (which worried me as I figured things must look very bad if I was requiring that sort of treatment).

A recovered Charlie!

I didn’t feel great by the time I got home but I figured if my leg swelled much more I wouldn’t be able to drive and I had to get Charlie checked.  So I showered, packed him up and rushed to our appointment. Charlie was given a clean bill of health – 3 weeks after losing part of his lip, fur and nose, 2 weeks of antibiotics, 1 week of painkillers, about £140 and much gnashing of teeth on my part in case he did have a tumour, it’s been decided that possibly my first thought was right…and he has been drinking out of a neighbours toilet who uses some heavy duty cleaning stuff.  Hooray…sort of!

‘While I’m here…’ and I asked the vet to check my arm (I couldn’t quite see the end of my elbow and it looked like there may be some road in there).  She was very lovely and also checked my impressively swelling leg and offered to clean them both for me.  I declined her kind offer though – I thought that might be more than a little cheeky.  And a bit odd as he was going to use the same antiseptic that Charlie had recently been cleaned with!

Anyway, I’ve ripped my cycling trousers, taken the elbow out of my jacket and the two tops underneath it and dented my helmet.  But as long as I don’t try to walk too much or move my right arm too enthusiastically all is good.  

I’ve taken this as a sign to slow down a little.  People who were also expecting a more exciting blog tonight…that will happen next week instead.  At least it will happen though…those wheels were huge!  Gulp…

:o)