But, when I graduated college and moved back to my home town and tried to bike, it was clear that it was no longer safe to do so. And so I took to the bike/walking trails - and had the worst bike wreck ever. Ended up colliding with a young (12 years old?) boy on his bike (doing the swervy/'suck up the whole trail' thing that young kids tend to do) and wound up in an ambulance on my way to get 13 stitches (my first ever, mind you) over my left eyebrow - 9 outside and 4 to put the muscle back together underneath. Needless to say, my bike was toast.

Though I bought a new bike (a relatively inexpensive Spalding Blade) and got right back on the horse, to say I was put off biking for a while would be an understatement. I took one white knuckled ride along the paths again (this is supposed to be fun, right?) and retired my bike for 10 years. I've long since moved to Georgia. Finally took it out summer '00 to ride the wide, level paths along the Chattahoochee. Once I got over the feeling that I was teetering on top of a high pinnacle, I began to enjoy my rides again.

Since then, I've found the Silver Comet Trail, a railroad line turned recreational bike/jog/walk path. After being laid off in July '01, I had the opportunity to ride long distances on that trail without the crowds (i.e. during weekdays). Last ride I logged 30 miles (at the time of this writing, there are a little over 30 miles paved), though I really should have stopped at 20.... <g>