What a weekend of highs and lows for me. Probably the busiest 72 hours I've had in a while. Sorry this is so long, but please read it. I will give you a cookie.
Friday
I had to get Jay's bike ready for this race. I decided to run 34x18 and let it all hang out for Sunday. Talked to Lou and Mandi rode to Halters to meet me and hang out for a little. Talk a bunch. I really wanted to get out; Lou was heading to Six Mile and it would have been a great time to test out the Seven, but I figured we are doing that tomorrow and I don't have too much interest in it. I didn't want to get home late again. I knew that it was going to be too close, so I bag it and we head home and try and figure out what we are going to do for dinner. And then everything changes.
My phone rings; Usually means its my parents because they are the only ones who really call me. I turn my phone over and it's Lou. Great, means he flatted and I need to pick him up at Six Mile. No biggie. I pick up and as usual, Lou is kind of distracted and talking to someone else. Dude really needs to remember that YOU CALLED ME, I'm giving you my full attention. Anyway, he says he forgets why he called me.
Hmm, Okay.
All the sudden someone else's voice. "Hey, this is Todd, your friend took a pretty good spill...." I think, how bad could it be? He's walking around and called me, He isn't dead. I tell Todd I will meet him at South Middlebush/Trailhead and pick him up. As I drive over there I keep thinking, man, can't believe he broke his bike or flatted, etc etc. I assume that's why he needs a ride.
We park at SMB and I see the MTBNJ colors and some other guy with a dog. Lou is angry and cursing and frustrated, still semi normal. He turns around to me and I see the left side of his face, he's got a nice cut on his face and some blood, but still, nothing too crazy. He's talking to me, standing and seems like this guy is really just blowing this out of proportion. Walk over to my car and make sure I have all of his crap, put him in the front seat, load the bike, etc etc. Once we are all in the car I figure we will goto Casa and get some dinner.
I make him look me in the eye and see where he is mentally. I say "How do you feel, seriously?" Todd said he needs to goto the hospital. Lou knows himself and I know Lou pretty well, so we can figure this out. He says "I called you?"
Okay, this is scary. I figure we drive back to the 27 lot and he will drive home IF I think this is a good situation. The drive from SMB to 27 is about 10 minutes. In that 10 minutes, I realize he is completely screwed up and took a huge hit to the dome piece. Uh oh. He has no idea what happened and can't remember why I came to get him.
We roll into the 27 lot and I'm 90% sure we are going to the hospital. I park behind his car and he sees his Scalpel on the car. He is completely confused. Almost like a magician put the bike on his rack. Okay, Hospital here we come.
Mandi follows me and I try and talk to Lou. He keeps trying to figure out what is happening and why he is with me here. How I got here. It was a broken record. I'm trying not to smile because I know this is serious. Lou calls his Mom and I can tell just by what he is saying, that she is completely confused. I force him to give me the phone and talk to her.
RWJ here we are! Almost get our cars towed, but get all checked in. Lou is completely frustrated at this point, but this is how he normally would be.
Lou doesn't remember this.
While we are waiting, I tell Lou to give me his phone. I need his moms number, but also I wanted to see what else happened. I noticed Lou called me, then his favorite Pho place, and then Paypal. All have P's in them, but why would he try and call them after he spoke with me?
It all makes sense, he couldn't remember if he even called me. Oh man.
Get the cars situated, and we get taken in pretty quick. Lou can't remember what year it is and wasn't 100% sure what month it was. He did remember Obama was the President. Show the nurse his helmet and I chill with Lou before and after his CAT scan. His sister shows up, followed by his Mom. I fill her in and let her know what is going on, but I can't stay because only one person is allowed in the room at a time. No need for me to be here. I head home and try and digest everything.
It's a lot to digest, it's 11:30PM and I still haven't ate dinner; Just running on adrenaline at this point.
It really comes down to just wearing a helmet. Lou has no idea how he fell, but I have no idea what would have happened without one of these devices. The other thing I've learned from this is that people need to know where you are. I always make sure one person (99% of the time it's Mandi) where I'm going and some sort of time frame. If I'm not back by then, call me. Having your phone on you is now mandatory. If he didn't have a phone, maybe he gets back to the car. The Edge 510/810 syncing this is a great option too.
I've always gotten on people for not wearing them, but now it seems like I need to do more to make sure these people are safe. If this Todd guy came up on Lou without a helmet, could he have just been laying down dead? No one wants to find someone like that.
Saturday
Impossible to sleep in with this cat, even though I needed it. I see Lou texted me at 2AM and he's home, so that is good. His mom calls and fills me in a little and is very thankful. At the same time, I don't think I need to be thanked, this is just something you are suppose to do. When your friends need you, you show up.
We meet Robin and Jeremy for a little SS shakedown. I was really feeling this gear here. As always, Six Mile always makes you feel like a superstar. Such a great spot to feel like a pro. Jeremy and I take turns turning up the pace and were totally in the zone. Meet the girls back at the lot because I didn't think we were playing nice, but they didn't seem to mind
🙂
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/304156579
Chat it up, it was a beautiful day in the sun.
We saw this dog driving a car in the lot too.
Even though we parked at the Canal lot, we drove all the way to 27 for some tacos.
Always. So. Good.
I forgot the rest of the day, but I'm sure it was awesome. Tried to rest from last night. I know we went to bed pretty early, because 5:30AM is going to come regardless of if we are ready for it or not.