One tough kid

Jordan and I went out for a ride last night to enjoy the record temp. He's been bugging me to let him wear his iPod, but I have explained to him he needs to be able to hear traffic, etc. For some reason, I caved yesterday, and let him wear one earbud, so he could at least hear out of one ear.

About 45 minutes into the ride, were simply cruising along, and I feel Jordan rub my back tire. I look back to see him sliding across the road (a quiet one thankfully). He rides pretty close behind, and has touched my wheel once before and ended up in the ditch (unharmed that time). This time, he got a good dose of road rash. Right knee and hip, both elbows, and his shoulder. I've seen lots of people go down, and I always feel bad, but when it's your kid, your emotions run quite a different gamut. I can't quite explain it. It certainly made me appreciate the quiet roads we ride on, since he ended up in the on-coming traffic lane.

I quickly turned around, put my bike in the ditch, and went to help him up. His feet didn't clip-out, so separating him from his bike was the first order of business. He was moaning a bit, but no tears. He stood up, and I could tell he was pretty scraped up, but had no trouble moving. Nothing was broken, so I asked what he wanted to do. Call mom, head home? "Keep going", he says. His bike was fine, levers scratched up a bit, and one bent in. I made some quick adjustments and we were off.

He kept his distance from me the rest of the way, which forced him to suffer more than he needed to in the wind. We rode another 20+ miles to home, and then it was time to tell mom. She was unexpectedly calm about it, and glad to see he wasn't hurt too bad. I asked him how it happened, and he stated "I was looking at my shadow, and not paying attention." What a tough way to learn a lesson. Carla bandaged him up, and Jordan Say's "I'm wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt tomorrow to school. Chicks love scars."