& the truth shall set you free...

I've had a dirty little secret. Granted I didn't keep it as quiet & hush-hush as I should have, but I somehow managed to hide the truth from my mum.

You see, the thing is, I could never bring myself to tell her how I really broke my foot. The story I did tell her was that I tripped over my overly excitable dog & fell down the stairs. Instead of what actually happened which is my clumsy arse fell off my bike & the weight of it crushed my little bones.

I hadn't intended to lie to my mum for so long.... It's just, I know my mum. At the time when she was already freaking out about the surgery I had just had & the news of the long & vast recovery time, she would have some how found a way to make it all her fault. Which it wasn't. Then I didn't tell her afterwards because I knew I was going to be buying another bike again & I didn't want to argue with her over whether or not I should. & then last week I no longer had any more excuses.... so I spilled the beans.

The reason I'm telling you the back story is because I'm trying to explain why I'm telling you about the whole ordeal now instead of 3 years ago, but why it's all still valid.

I want to go on another rant about biking gear, & this story proves my point....

The day I broke my foot, it was hot. It was the middle of a Greek summer, I'd just gotten married the day before, I was sweating my balls off, exhausted, & cranky that I had to go to work. Panagiotis offered to give me a ride to work knowing how tired I was, & I refused (mistake #1), & in my irritation at having to go in, I decided I was in no mood to make myself uncomfortable by dressing up in full gear. So, I opted for a casual pair of converse, my ripped jeans, & a flimsy jacket (mistake #2).

So there I was, freshly married, overly exhausted, middle of sweltering summer, & had just worked a 10 hour shift (I was a professional Chef back then, & as anyone who has worked in the industry know, there's no such thing as an easy shift. It's pure & utter chaos). 02:00 in the morning & I didn't bother calling my husband to come pick me up (mistake #3), I decided to just soldier on. Or so I thought I would. I took a turn on my bike (going 10kmh) & realised I wasn't taking it tight enough to avoid the parked car on the corner, & in my state I fucked up. I lost control of the MT03, & literally fell to the side... which shouldn't have been a big deal, but in my flimsy convers my foot had absolutely no protection & I fractured my metatarsals. My next mistake was the worst of all. Rather than wait for someone to get the bike off me, I tried to get out from under it & in the process dislocated my metatarsals & ripped all my ligaments.

Do you want to take a guess at what happened next? 6 months confined to the couch. Two surgeries. Three titanium screws. A diagnosis of 70% recovery being the best possible outcome. & three years later I'm still in pain all the time. Oh, & did I mention that I have arthritis to look forward to in a few more years? Yea....

The moral of the story is, by trying to avoid 20 minutes of being in hot, sweaty boots for the short ride to work, I have caused myself permanent damage. So when I sit there ranting & raving about why gear is so important & how you should always wear it no matter how uncomfortable you might feel, it's not because I'm an asshole, it's because I know first hand how one tiny mistake can cause serious damage to your whole life. A mistake that could have resulted in a few minor bruises & maybe a swollen ankle at worst had I been smart enough to put on my gear.

So listen to me when I say that you're an idiot because you'd rather look cool than be safe. Because there's nothing cool about limping around & bursting into tears because you're frustrated that after so long you're STILL in pain.