i won't back down

It is thursday morning April 9th. I am cycling the usual route down wellington and across the train bridge into Omand park. I want lots of speed to ensure an easy hill climb onto the bridge, and so i pedal hard, picking up a lot of speed. As i begin the ascent the path becomes rough as i go over the jagged, still quite frozen, sheet of ice covering the hill. I manage to make it halfway up the hill, but i lose control. i panic, and suddenly i am launch forward. First my ribs smash against handle bars, then my my legs scrape over as well. in split seconds time if in myself scrunch up in a ball on the cold, hard, sharp ice, with my bike coming to a rest on top of me. I lay there for a few seconds unable to move. in my chest i felt a piercing pain. slowly i pushed my bicycle off of me, sat up and leaned against the chain-link fence. i could feel the ice i was sitting on begin to melt and seep into my pants. my wrist hurt, one of my knuckles was bloody and my other wrist scratched up as well. my arms felt weak. "the meeting" i thought, "i have to get to the staff meeting". I struggled to pull myself up, gripping the fence for support. once i was standing, i began to feel a little stronger. "I can still make. I left a little early, so i can take it easy the rest of the way. walked across the bridge, and pushed off. i made my way down portage, sore but managing. I bike through the U of W and then take Ellice towards the exchange. I feel the the blood flowing through my body again, and my cycling adrenaline has returned. As i approach princess street, i merge into the center lane to avoid the construction zone. the car in front of me speeds up a little, and i, seeing the light turn yellow, follow suit. "i'll make this no problem, especially if i can draft behind that white SUV." suddenly the white SUV hit the brakes. Unable to stop at such an incredible high speed, i swerve my bike around the white SUV but failed to do so with my body. my shoulder is wrenched sideways followed my my waist. the impact cranked my saddle 90 degrees and i slip off catching myself as i stumbled in line with the passenger door. i look up at the driver with shock written all over my face only to meet similar expression on the face of the driver. She steps out and i apologize immediately. we examen her car but there isn't a scratch, or if there is, it isn't visible through the dust caked exterior. "Are you OK though?" she asks. i was, or at least the shock and adrenaline was convincing me that i was. she gets back in her car and drives off, and i slowly ride the last few blocks to the Edge. A sit through the meeting with my bruises swelling and overall just feeling a little ruffled. after the meeting, i head over to the richardson building to pick up phil. We bike to church for the maundy thursday dinner and then spend the evening with some friends in wolesley. then on my way home, the final blow is hits me hard. i take portage avenue down to sargent sundaes and cross the bridge into assiniboine park. i follow the path that goes straight through the center of the park, and i see a city temporary road block sign pushed off to the side of the path, as well as, a puddle behind it. the surface of the puddle is frozen and cracks under the pressure of my tires. the puddle gets deeper, and i feel my bike slowing from the resistance of the ice around my tires. i push hard on my pedals but it's no use. i stop moving and hold my balance still pushing on the pedals. no dice. my feet fall through the ice and i am standing in ankle deep cold water. i see and island in the puddle, which was actually much more like a lake. and i jump to it. but my feet are drenched. i looked up and at the puddle, there is no way i will be able to cross this without getting even more wet than i already was. So there i stood, dominated by the puddle. i turned and ran back out of the puddle the way i came in and decided to bike around the park. i make it around and start heading down shaftesbury. "this is ridiculous, i hate biking" i think to myself. i just got destroyed on my bike ride today. actually my thoughts might have sounded a little more pissed off than that. but i suddenly find myself grinning. "what am i saying, i love biking, i just had one bad day." thats when i began to sing. "no i won't back down, gonna stand my ground," no joke, i just started singing out loud. "you can put up at the gates of hell, but i won't back down. no i won't back down, though the world keeps on draggin me down, i won't back down." where would i be without johnny cash. i roll into the CMU parking lot, and put my bike in the shed. life is good. God is good.