Most of you know that David is an avid bicyclist and has found a way to commute to work in most places where we have lived. Come to think of it, he has biked to work everywhere we have lived; Washington DC, Virginia, Mpls and now Shanghai.

The thought of him riding his bike through the busy streets of Shanghai gives me the chills but David thinks there's nothing better than being out there in the open (my view: surrounded by hundreds of other cyclists going in multiple directions), breathing the fresh air (seriously? you might as well have a ciggie in your mouth for cleaner air) and peddling to your hearts delight for an hour each way (well, beats sitting in a warm, comfy vehicle for an hour I guess).

He has had a few flats on the route and a couple of minor accidents where someone has turned right in front of him and caused him to slide or trucks stopping and turning without a notice. After a few incidents with the beloved track bike, he now has installed a front brake that helps in those tight situations. Still, I don't know if there has been a week when something hasn't happended but luckily up to this point it has been minor.

So I wasn't caught completely off guard when he called me last week and told me he had had an accident.

"I hit a concrete wall on my way to work".
"What? How?"
"There is this retaining wall along the river and apparently last night someone decided to make a whole in the wall with a sledge hammer because this morning large blocks of concrete were sprayed all over the road. I drove over one of them, flipped and hit the wall with my head".
"How fast were you going?"
"Maybe 20 miles an hour"
"Are you hurt?"
"I don't know. Maybe."

It's not good when David says "maybe". That means he is hurt. The only other time he agreed that he was hurt is when the broken glass jar sliced a tendon in his toe. But that's another story....

So turns out that he must have broken a rib or two since after he returned home, everything was aching: breathing hurt, lifting his arms hurt and touching his chest hurt. He also displayed a bruised ear lobe (haven't seen that one before) and a respectable dent in his bicycle helmet.

A week and a half later he is definitely feeling better but hasn't been able to hop back on the saddle. While I keep telling him ribs will take time to heal I'm afraid he will go stir crazy before he is in shape to ride again. And it doesn't help that the weather is getting nicer and nicer. Low sixties forecasted for next week again...I may need to misplace his bicycling shoes for at least another week or two. Wish me luck.