The Inevitable.....

In China, one thing is for certain....at some point you will get in a vehicle accident. Whether it is in your car, in a taxi, on your bike, or walking down the street....it will happen. The people in Shanghai like to follow the "no rules" policy. They do whatever works for them, and somehow it turns out okay MOST of the time. We have seen things that you would not believe. There is order, and disorder, all at the same time on the roads of this city.

Earlier this week Bill went out and bought a bike. He was the last of the family to get one, and now that the summer weather has broken, it was time to start riding. That statement seems odd, I know, but in Shanghai summer is the time you DON'T want to ride. It is over 100 degrees out and the humidity is as close to 100 percent as you can get. ALL THE TIME.

Today, Bill and I set out on our first bike ride together in our married life....sad statement, isn't it? Neither of us has had a bike in a long time. Carleigh was also along for the ride, on the back of my bike. We went just outside of our compound to a long, narrow, park along a river. There was a nice breeze and the view is beautiful there. At one point we were crossing a bridge to get to the other side of the river, and we were on a downward slope. As I turned the corner on the other side, a Chinese women was getting ready to cross the path in front of the bridge. I did not have time to stop, and the Chinese DON'T stop. I veered according to the laws of traffic in the states, trying to stay to the right, hoping she would stay to her right. Not so much. She veered in the same direction as me. I went wider to try to avoid her and hit the concrete railing on the side of the path.

I haven't had the wind knocked out of me since elementary school. I never missed that feeling. I could have done without that feeling for the rest of my life. However, today was the day I was reminded of how that feels. Luckily, Carleigh was unscathed. Besides a little bit of whiplash and a scraped elbow, once I could breathe again, I was okay.

The lady who unintentionally ran me off of the road disappeared, along with a gentleman who witnessed my malady, which is not surprising here. Once Bill turned around and saw the carnage, he actually thought I had just had trouble taking the corner. My daughter did not help when she claimed that mommy always crashes......WHAT! The first time I had her on my bike, I almost tipped it with her in it while getting off! That was it! Thanks, gal pal. The women, surprisingly came back and said she was embarrassed in Chinese, which was nice, although technically the accident started with my not seeing her. She actually did have the right of way.

We continued our bike ride, although every bit of me wanted to go home, lay down, and watch some "Scrubs", I didn't want Carleigh to be afraid to ride with me, and I wanted to show her it was all okay. Although, she did say several times that we should move her seat to dad's bike. Thanks again girlfriend, way to stick with me!