Jamie the B.M.X.er that called me earlier had
an argument with me, about something dumb, he said the bicycle shop was open, but
I swore that it was closed. We nattered back and forth about that for a good
ten minutes, until I said "put your money where your mouth is" and I
bet him five bucks that I was right. That sort of shut him up for a bit, but he
liked to argue and said "let’s go down
there and see."
I was hoping it wouldn’t take long because I was invited to the girl next door's house at 5:30. I
was so excited because she and I were finally going to watch some television
alone. I thought I could speed up our bet by calling the shop to find out if
they were open or closed, but nobody answered the phone. I was convinced that
they were closed. Not telling Jamie that I called, I rode over to his place to
pick him up. I told him if the store is closed we would turn around and come
right back; he agreed. I also told him that I was going to Cindy's house and
how I didn’t want anything to mess it up: she hardly
ever had the house to herself. Someone was always there. Jamie said, "Let’s
go then”.
He made it there in a land speed record time
just to find the shop was closed for the evening. By the time I made it there,
I laughed and laughed at him. He got off his bike for a little rest, and he
leaned his bike up against the store front window to wipe his sweaty hands off.
Because I listened to what Cindy said and didn’t ride like I was on fire, I didn't need to rest. Hope you heard that
Cindy, I listened.
As we were preparing to ride back the train
went by a block away. It must have sent vibrations out because it shook Jamie's
bike so hard that the store front window shattered from the metal handlebar
being against the window. We didn't have time to think about what to do,
because out of nowhere the shop owner pulled up in his van. Jamie hopped on his bike pointing downhill, I
was pointing up towards my Mom's work, which was two blocks away.
The van roared its engine 2-3 times, as if he
was trying to scare us away. He didn't try talking to us or anything. Jamie
took off like a rocket downhill. Without thinking, I just took off too, taking
on the hill upwards. My adrenaline was pumping so hard that I could feel it throbbing
in my ears. My 185mm crank set and my
enlarged front sprocket allowed me to manual ¾ up the hill.
The van chose to follow me.
I tried to use my crazy maneuvering
techniques to escape that van. It was getting too tough to get up that hill, so
I decided to turn around and go down the hill. As I was peddling down the steep
hill, with gravity on my side, I found myself peddling for my life. I franticly
made a wrong turn and found myself going up another steep hill. By this time, I
was getting tired and my legs wouldn’t move as fast
as I wanted them to. Suddenly, my rear wheel was nudged. I couldn't believe
that the fool could keep up with my extreme peddling and power turns. By the
time those thoughts were finished running though my head, he hit my back bike
tire again. I was catapulted into the back of a large parked car, hitting the
bumper and the back of the car with my head very hard.
All I could see was a really bright light, it
engulfed everything. I couldn't move it felt like I was not even in my own
body. I could hear the van stopping and him getting out. I could sense him
around me. Then it felt like I was flying. He rolled me over to take my wallet,
to find out who I was, then he was gone; he probably went to report the situation
and just let the ambulance take care of the clean-up. All of this seemed like
it took forever, but it was only a matter of seconds. Still to this day, I
never got my wallet back. It baffles me as to why he felt the need to steal my
wallet. Maybe he was a serial killer and wanted a trophy to remember this
event.
I felt so alone; it seemed like it took
forever for the ambulance to get there. I vaguely remember the ambulance
drivers picking up my limp body from the cold cement. That night the Nanaimo
hospital was full and staff redirected me to a hospital in Victoria that was
also better equipped to handle my injury. My Mom said it was a little blessing
in disguise. The hospital is farther but I’m sure I could handle the drive. The drivers sounded pretty cool, laughing
with each other saying that they hit 210 coming down off the hill. We were
going so fast it felt like we were airborne. If I had been more conscious, I
could have enjoyed the ride much better.
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