I wanted to thank everyone for the way you responded to my going down on Saturday. Ron, Tom, Pat, Dave and everyone else who was on the ride called the EMS, took care of my bike and made sure I was on my way. I am sorry for the all the nasty things I have said behind your backs! (Just kidding, a little bit of dry, some say sick humor). This is really a great group of guys and a great club. I was among friend and that felt great. The fall of course, did not feel so great.

I had two broken ribs and a puncture of the lungs. Not much they could do except let the body heal itself. But once they saw what a great health insurance plan I have they admitted me into the hospital for a few days. I was finally released on Monday at my insistence. I was hurt, don't want to downplay that too much. My whole left side is bruised, as that is the side I went down on. I could only lie on my back and getting up was painful. But my head above the helmet was unscathed. The helmet probably saved my life or at least prevented further brain trauma than I already have. This is just another testament to wear your helmet and make sure it fits properly. We probably also now need some jerseys like motorcyclists wear that protect on falls.

It was disappointing to go down at this time as my riding was improving and I was looking forward to transforming from being the droppee to the dropper. Instead this added a whole new meaning to the term "getting dropped." This was more like "getting drop kicked." I will not be riding for the next few weeks and will instead take up a saner and less brutal sport like ultimate cage fighting or mixed martial arts.

I have some definite suggestions to make and ideas to lessen or prevent this kind of fall. I wasn't doing anything fancy. I was riding conservatively and just wanted to move from the gutter, where I saw some debris and trouble ahead, to the road. But that road is just terrible. Not even a third world country would tolerate a road in such a poor and dangerous condition. The lip height was more than a road bike could handle. I will make some suggestions and throw out some ideas on a separate posting.

Mainly in this post I wanted to let others know what happenned, inform on my condition, but especially thank everyone for their warmth and concern. Peter called me at the hospital as soon as I was admitted. Dave, Richard, Ron, Dave, Dennis and Margaret, Tom and Dawn visited me in the hospital and that was especially appreciated. BTW, my full name is Jose Rafael Aguayo. My family traditionally used middle names. I won't even go into all the last names.

Thanks to all, you made a difference. And one last announcement, my first grandchild, a girl was born Today, July 7. Her name is Lucia.

Thanks,
Rafael