2010, in review

While last year marked an unusually high frequency of falling off my bicycle—what with getting hit by a car twice, crashing within a race once, endo-ing into the transition area in a triathlon once, and falling off at least two or three more times with no one around to notice—this year I managed to avoid crashes altogether. However, the year wasn't without accidents; one can still have a bike accident while remaining fully mounted.

The first accident came on a Saturday long ride during spring when a lone dog herded me to a stop and then, in a flash, came up beside me and bit my leg. No provocation, just a darn sneaky attack. The bite required me making a stop at the med clinic and left me with a indelible dog-teeth tattoo on my left leg just above the ankle. Supposedly in another year I'll know for sure that I don't have rabies. If, during that time, I begin foaming at the mouth, don't come too close.

The details surrounding the second accident are a little hazy in my mind, possibly owing to the aforementioned dog attack. Not long after that dog attack, maybe even the following weekend, while riding with Laura on the Cave Creek bike path, I suffered a golf ball attack. On the portion of the path that runs parallel to the golf course, I just happened to ride my bike into the path of an errantly struck golf ball. Admittedly, this attack was no big deal because the ball took a few hops on the ground before striking me, so the blow was hardly painful. But what are the odds? I suppose the answer to that question depends on the golfer.

What I remember being interesting about the golf ball attack was how time really did seem to slow down as it happened, just like in the movies. I first heard the solid thud of the ball hitting the ground, followed by my eyes locking in on the ball and my mind realizing that the ball was headed right exactly in my direction. Little league baseball fielding skills did not take over as I flinched futilely, failing to evade the ball as it took one final “bad hop” and entered onto a trajectory that had it go right between my flailing hands and hit me square in the chest. I think I saved that golfer a stroke plus distance, and I didn't even get a “thank you.”

This year most of my riding was recreational rather than utilitarian, but I did get to see some interesting urban “wildlife”: a four-foot snake crossing the road (so close I may have even ridden over it!) on the way home from work late one night; a seven-inch-long turtle ambling in the grass along the canal path; and a dead, bloated fish lying on the dirt mere feet from the canal water. That fish was probably about thirty inches long, and I have the photo to prove it! The smell was awful, especially considering it took the SRP guys three or four days to get around to disposing of it.

I also got to see a drowned car in the canal. Someone presumably pushed a car into the shallow water, and predictably the top of the car didn't submerge before the tires parked themselves on the bottom. What remained was the top twelve inches or so of a sedan, unmoving amid the nearby ducks and fellow-drowned shopping carts (and other debris) along the canal floor. I saw the car on my way to work in the morning. By the time I arrived, police and towing crew were already there on the scene.

In non-biking news, this year I had two resolutions, and I succeeded with both of them.

1. Watch no more than two movies in the movie theater.

2. Blog each Monday and Thursday.

The movie-limit resolution I came up with in order to cut down on passive entertainment expenses (both in time and money) as well as simply cutting back on my Hollywood addiction. The regular-blogging resolution I came up about a month into the year, thus making it something of a post ex facto resolution. No bother. It was a worthy goal, and with the exception of messing up the auto-post scheduler when I was in Houston for the Thanksgiving holiday and thus being late one Monday, I succeeded in my goal. Hurray to me.

Looking forward to the future, as far as blogging goes, I aim to respond to each and every reader comment on Just Enough Craig in 2011. I won't guarantee any timeliness of the response, and I won't guarantee the quality of the response's content, but I will respond.

That's the JEC wrap-up for 2011. All in all, it was another good year.