Jan 2nd, 20000007 First post of the year.

Well, I hope everybody survived the Holidays and that you all met your goals for 2006.
I will begin my post today with the events of last Thursday the 28th. I went for a ride with good pal Billabong. We decided to ride fixed and took an easy ride down to the I+M canal. We did the loop which is 10 miles and enjoyed the fresh morning, the lack of rollerbladers and timetrialists, that somehow seem to dissapear when it gets below 72 degrees. There was a weird vibe in the air and I just could not grasp what was up. Bill's litespeed was running like a charm as he methodically churned his 42x15, I was running my wreck Gunnar also on the same gear. I thought about a lot of stuff on the ride and at times I wondererd while looking at the dirty water in the canal. I mainly thought about how fast 06 went by and how time just slipped by again. I also thought about how my finances keep dwindling while my expenses keep escalating. At times I felt guilty about riding but I thought that otherwise I would lose my mind. I did get rid of a bunch of bikes, I did ride to work all the time, I did take lunch to work. I don't smoke, don't engage in drugs, I am hooker-free. So the guilt feeling went away.
I also thought about how much I like to ride fixed and how the 10 spd drivetrains are slowly becoming a faint lust of mine.
I thanked somebody, somewhere for my kids, my beautiful wife and my good pals.
And then......Fuck..........I almost lost Bill.
We were heading back home and took the sidewalk to avoid the morning commuters. We had crested the bridge and I was ahead, I saw some mud and at last moment realized it was a raised manhole cover covered in mud and debris, I think I went over, around it somehow, while the cars are whizzing by me. I hear a noise and turn to see Bill on the ground holding his head........his bike 20 ft away from him. I run to see what is up and he can't speak to me. He saw the manhole, panicked and grabbed his only lever and locked the front wheel. He endoed and landed on top of his head, exploded his helmet and then landed on his back at full speed on the concrete sidewalk. It was the worst moment of riding ever.
I flagged down a driver and asked for help. Seconds later 10 vehicles were there.
Bill, being the Vietnam vet that he is refused to go to the hospital. Dazed, bruised and sore, he remounted his fixed and we gingerely rode home.
Billabong is resting home,after been taken to the hospital, with a compressed vertabrae, hyperextension of the neck muscles and soreness that keeps him up at night.
I hope we never go thru that kind of a situation again. When you are out there be safe, ride within your limits and be prepared for an emergency.
I hope my pal recovers soon. I really got messed up with this one.
Happy New Year,
Ari