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!

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!