It always seems to happen when I’m feeling my "coolest". I mentioned in an earlier post that I now attend a Saturday spinning class. I’ve now been to about 10 classes, and am finally getting the hang of it. Yesterday, I was really in the zone. Feeling the beat of the music, maintaining the right cadence on the bike, I felt in sync with the instructor’s motivating mantras. "Feel your power." "Stand tall." "You are so amazing." I felt, tall, rhythmic, amazing – an athlete, an achiever, a pioneer.
Then it happened. For one brief moment, in the midst of a standing run (i.e. standing on your bike, pedalling at a rapid speed) I lost my balance and I fell. Collapsed off the bike, yet tied to the bike because my feet were strapped in. The instructor had to get off her bike and help me up with the assistance of the rider next to me.
There it was – that nightmare moment when everyone’s watching and something really, really awkward happens. All of a sudden, everyone’s staring at you and your all-consuming clumsiness (which you’ve know all about all along and try so desperately to conceal from the rest of the world).
So, I got back up on the bike and kept riding. I didn’t flee the studio in shameful tears – though the thought ran through my mind. I asked myself, "What would you have told your kids in the same situation?" Of course, you have to get up and move on. I know, at this age, that no one really cares. Everyone is on their own personal journey, focusing on their on goals and trying to survive, just like me.
By the way, my left knee now boasts a 2 inch bruise and a 4 inch bloody scrape. The Dora band-aid barely covers the wound.
Amreen, If it makes you feel any better, I fall in public once every month or two, on average. Not stumble, flat out fall on my butt or knees. Usually, I am just walking on unobstructed sidewalks in shoes that would be considered the height of comfort and stability by most women. Forget about helping me up, people usually react with barely stifled laughter. At this point, I just laugh with them. Then I go home to assess the bruising. ; ) xo A
Oh NO!! Hopefully this is a distant memory by the time you read my comment. I once tripped on my coat and went spilling into rush hour traffic in the PATH system in downtown Toronto. Nobody helped, they just stepped over me and gave me dirty looks because I was slowing down their commute. I am so proud of you for just getting back on that bike — what a rock star. I have been neglecting my workouts and eating chocolate between my cream-and-butter-laden meals… reading all of your posts about exercise and nutrition have really inspired me.
OMG! Just the visual is painful! I am so glad you’re okay, because that sounds like a possibly VERY serious injury situation!!!
Oh, no! And I thought I was the only one who pulled stunts like that! Good for you for just getting back up and continuing on with the class. Although a dramatic sob and flailing departure from the room would have made for a great SNL skit, your composure and ability to re-focus is really admirable. I’m sure several people in the class were thinking “I’m glad I’m not the only one who ever did that.”
Hope the wounds heal quickly!
OH NO! That’s so embarrassing, isn’t it? I fell all the way down the ramp at the front of my kids’ school, and right into the parking lot full of parents there to pick up their kids. I think we all have these moments (or at least I’d like to think that)….
Ouch Amreen. Last year I tripped over my own toe while running on the treadmill at the gym and ended up with a nasty tread burn on my knee. Wounded my pride more than my knee, but man that knee hurt too.