Snakeversary
One year ago today I trashed my knee while riding up Blacksmith Fork Canyon after running over a rattlesnake. This is how my knee looked then:
My leg is straight so it is harder to see, but if I bend it you can see the tendons
and this is how it looks now:
I'm just glad they didn't cut it off.
You'd think on a significant day such as this I would do something to commemorate the event. I did. I ate pizza and chocolate and then downed several pieces of chocolate lasagna. I figured I needed sugar and carbs for the next time I ride.
I had intended on going out on the bike today but it was really hot and I had some code to finish and the lawn needed to cut and baled since I had put it off for so long due to my riding the rest of the week. I would have headed up Blacksmith Fork wearing the same clothes and tempting fate. I watch for everything on the roads these days. I also ride a bit further from the edge. I think the snakes have always been there, lurking on the side of the road, but now I see them - a lot of them. I see them dead on the road squished by vehicles much larger than me. I also see live ones. They sit just off the edge of the road sunning themselves to keep warm. I can pinpoint the parts of my ride where I noticed the snakes - my heart rate spikes.
My knee will be numb for the rest of my life (I severed a bunch of nerves), but it did heal and I can and do still ride. I could wish I never hit the snake. I'm sure the snake would wish that. Even though my knee will never be the same my scars remind me that I can deal with shock and pain and a bit of tragedy, that it's always great to have a friend close by when you get into a tough spot (thanks Joel) and that my wonderful wife loves me and is right beside me in the worst (and best) times in life.
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Justin Ball is a software consultant and entrepreneur with a passion for Ruby. He evolved from a C++ and .Net monkey into a python programmer and finally found Ruby. In the rare moments when he isn't writing code, talking about code or measuring his code productivity in profanity per hour, you can find him on his bike in the mountains or on the roads surrounding Cache Valley. 
