And nominating myself for today’s lucky b*****d award ...

I was going to entitle today's blog: 'I have killed ... and I think I like it'. The intention was to make statements about how I got fed up that her constant whining was keeping me awake, she was damn irritating in general, and on top of it, a right little blood-sucker. The reveal would be that on Saturday night I terminated the life of a mosquito which had been driving my wife and I insane. I would have gone on the discuss whether my grim satisfaction in seeing my blood, my wife's blood, and a smattering of the insect's blood on the back of my hand, constitutes blood-lust.

But no, let's concentrate instead on an incident which happened about twenty-six miles into my cycle ride today, at about half-an-hour after I decided to turn to home because of how inclement the weather looked.

Let's concentrate on what happened ten seconds after I'd just been doing over thirty miles an hour.

Let's concentrate on what happened a mere second after I'd begun to negotiate one of the worst roundabouts in Ipswich and a split second after I'd indicated to the driver rapidly approaching me that I intended to turn right whether he was stopping or not, because I had right of way and I am damn well fed up at all the Grand Theft Auto Zombies out there.

Let's concentrate on the fact that my handlebars suddenly turned one way, while my front wheel pointed in another as I lent over to turn right.

Just saviour that exquisite sensation for a moment as you imagine yourself experiencing an identical event and then consider what crossed my mind in that instant.

Now, as I gingerly managed to brake and came to a stop in the cycle lane laughing in relief that I had not come off, I had one of my epiphanies.

For the past few months I have noticed that I have become increasingly clumsy. Not the I'm-losing-it-and-should-go-see-a-doctor lack of coordination, but those the-saucepan-handle-is-sticking-out-just-too-much and that-door-handle-will-snag-your-clothes type of misfortune, to the extent that I've exhibited bouts of temper that I have not been proud of. But, as I looked down to inspect what the hell had just happened (during a recent upgrade, I had only nipped the screws holding the bars to the stem and had forgotten to tighten them), I remembered that I quite like the idea of karma in all its variations. Perhaps all those annoying toe-stabs, trips and other recent stress-inducing incidents were an accumulation of bad karma as a prelude to counteract the stunning piece of luck that saved me from serious injury.

I'd like to think that instinctive skill somehow assisted me, but I know better.

I got lucky ...  

 

Don't do stupid – it's just not clever.

Total recorded miles cycled since 21st July 2012: 1607