Final Thoughts

Hey, this is Kate and I have shoved Roger out of his comforable chair to take over for the final blog entry. I just wanted to let everyone know what an incredible journey this summer trip has been. Our trek across New York State from Buffalo to Albany provided us with the opportunities to discover wonderful scenic towns, interesting fun people, and history along the Erie Canal. I will convey much of what I learned this summer to my sixth grade students . Perhaps the most valuable lessons I can share with my students came through my bike accident. The importance of wearing a helmet when biking can never be stressed enough. Equally important, I hope my students recognize the value of completing a task, no matter the obstacles. That is why it was so important for me to drive 3 and a half hours to bike that last 8 miles today.

Thanks to everyone that has shared our adventures with us. I would personally like to thank Roger for being my guide,

Oh and mom, for the record, I have no intention of ever taking up "knitting" instead of biking, no matter the consequences !!!!!!!!!!

Kate thanks Colleen Greene

After completion of our bike ride we backtracked to Hefferen's Tavern in Green Island so Kate could reconnect with one her new BFF's from her accident, Colleen Greene. Immediately after Kate's accident we were looking for ice for her rapidly swelling eye. Colleen provided that and so much more! Her caring, concern and willingness to help a total stranger was above and beyond. So Kate wanted to thank her one more time and update her on her progress. Thanks again Colleen.

We reached the finish line today!

Today we both completed the remaining few miles of our 400+ mile bike ride feeling a sense of accomplishment, but also a sadness that a wonderful adventure has come to an end. It was nice to have Kate along this time, and I didn't have to pick her up at an Emergency Room at the end of today's ride. :-)

Our Erie Canal trek is tehcnically over but we have a few loose ends to follow up on in this Blog so don't stop reading quite yet.

Finishing the Erie Canal bike trail

Kate continues to heal from her crash. She is actually happy that the colors of the day are purple and yellow. (Of her bruises) Apparently that means they are healing and she is feeling better daily.

She vowed to finish the entire 400+ mile route and she shall! We have scheduled Saturday, September 25th to ride that final few miles into the Corning Preserve in Albany. That will complete our trip from Buffalo to Albany along the Erie Canal trail.

We don't actually expect anyone there to actually wave the checkered flag, but it is great symbol for her finishing the trip, despite her temporary setback and injuries.

Kate's condition + helmet safety

Nearly one week after her accident, Kate texted me about her injuries. "Still very black, blue, green, yellow, purple and sore." But she greeted her 6th grade class, and others (since she was the talk of the school), with all of her visible injuries and her dented helmet. Many of her students are no longer arguing with their parents about having to wear their bike helmets.

We downloaded this picture from the Internet for those of you who may have wondered about the right way to wear a helmet. Had Kate not been wearing her helmet properly, thereby exposing her left temple area to the blunt inpact of the roadway, I think that crash would have been much more severe, if not fatal. So wear a helmet; and wear it correctly!

The aftermath of the crash

Kate texted me today that, "The colors for the day are green and yellow." She was referring to the bruises to her face. :-) But she also texted that she was moving much better as well. I have no doubt that she will greet her 6th graders on the 7th no matter what.

While Kate will heal, the Kodak camera to the right will not. It was also a casualty in a seperate incident last Thursday. While the camera shell was recovered, the chip with all of the photos from our 400 mile trip was not. So this blog and its pics are the only record of our 390 mile trip. A new camera has been ordered. Durability was a big factor in our selection of a new camera!

Kate's bike helmet

We didn't get a chance to examine Kate's bike helmet until today. The left side of it clearly had impact marks at the temple area. Had she NOT been wearing her helmet, and wearing it correctly, she would surely have been injured worse. I watched the accident and I can tell you that it took only about a second for that bike to flip and go down. So please spread the word that helmets are well worth wearing even on a casual bike ride.

Kate was able to go home today. Had she not been wearing that helmet .......? She will spend the next couple of weeks healing up. Then she'll 'll be back do do that LAST 10 miles. She doesn't leave anything unfinished!

Not the end, Yet! - Part 2 - Thank you

After the crash, and after she stopped seeing stars, she collected herself and insisted upon trying to ride again. But we knew she needed some degree of medical attention. We rode about three blocks on into the the Village of Green Island. We passed a hand written sign that said, "It's hot outside, but our drinks are cold inside." To me, that said that they probably had ice inside for the swelling of her cheek and jaw, as well as having some of her favorite painkilling liquids available.
Inside T. J. Heffern's Tavern we met Colleen Greene who was absolutely wonderful! She provided ice packs to Kate and even drove to her home to bring back antibiotic ointment for Kate's "road rash" injuries. She referred us to a fire station and paramedics down the road. And thanks to them for evaluating Kate's injuries and giving us directions to the hospital in Troy. And Kudos to Kate for realizing she couldn't finish the ride, yet making it up the hill to "walk" into the emergency room!
And, the ER folks at Samaritan Hospital were great from beginning to end. So, Colleen, Brian, Heather and Terry are all Kate's new BFF's.
Kate is very sore and bruised, but very appreciative of all the help she received from those former strangers who were so willing to help her in a time of need. Thanks to all!

Not the end, yet! - Part 1

Today was supposed to be the final segment of our 400 mile Erie Canal bicycling tour with a party scheduled for the evening to celebrate. All started out well. But with only 10 miles of our summer tour to go, Kate flipped her bike on a hill in Cohoes, tumbling over the handlebars and crashing onto the pavement. With multiple injuries she ended up in the emergency room of Samaritan Hospital in Troy. After a few catscans and x-rays of her head, face, neck and shoulder, nothing was broken but she was badly battered and bruised in those, and even more places. She'll be a while recovering from that nasty crash, but it was stupendous! Leave it to her to go out with a bang!!!!
And, the party had to be re-scheduled, as she has vowed to finish the last segment of the 400 miles, as soon as the doctors will allow her to ride again, which will be a least a couple of weeks from now. We'll keep you posted on her progress.