Well todays blog post is brought to you by the MO department of transportation. SHARE THE ROAD!!!! I was pretty excited for todays ride, it had been a long week and I was ready to burn it out with a nice 45 miler to lake stockton. It's a beautiful day, 70 and sunny, perfect for riding. Let me preface this by saying (for both K and I ) we miss our bike friendly states. MO is incredibly unsafe when it comes to bikers, especially out in the rural areas. Cars do not understand that bikers have the right to the road, and we have given the bird to more than one car on our rides so far. Ok back to the accident, I was about 8 miles into my ride, climbing a hill when a old lady in a silver pontiac, (who is now missing a side mirror), if you see her, please get her license plate I was too shaken up to get it, came and side swiped me. Didn't even move over an inch, her side mirror hit my leg, dragged across my torso, and slammed right into my left medial elbow, I somehow managed to stay on the bike and screeched to a stop because all of a sudden my left arm was screaming at me. I didn't register that I had just gotten hit, but I knew something was wrong. The lady pulled over and so did the car behind me who witnessed everything. The lady got out of her car and started yelling at me because I was not riding on the gravel, OH and she was pissed because of the damage I did to her car, yes the whole side mirror came off when she hit me. The good samaritan behind me checked in with me to see if I was ok, and he started talking to the lady on my behalf, saying that bikers do in fact have the right to ride on the road, and that it was her fault for hitting me, He said "Mam you f@#&ing ran right smack dab into her, you didn't even move an inch, you're lucky she is still on her feet" and thats when the lady got into her car and took off. NO JOKE, she was out of there. The man stayed with me for a while, gave me some paper towels to clean up my leg, helped me calm down a bit and told me he saw her run a red light a few miles back. I was slightly traumatized, I tried to push past the shock and got back on my bike, and rode up the rest of the hill, but when I got to the top I realized I was shaking so much I could barely control my bike. I called K who was swimming and she came to my rescue and picked me up. THANKS K!!!! I have a few scrapes on my thigh, and my elbow is starting to bruise and swell, but it could have been much worse, and for that I am thankful. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you are driving look out for bikers, I know they are a hassle (I get frustrated with them too when I am driving) but in the scheme of things it will take you an extra 2 min maybe out of your commute if you have to slow down for them to climb a hill. It is not worth speeding by them to pass. Give them at least 3 feet (its the law) when passing, not 1 in, it does not feel good to be hit by a side mirror when the car going 45 mph on the road, my elbow and leg can attest to that. The crazy thing is I will probably head back out on my bike tomorrow, because training must go on. We are 6 weeks out of the big dance, its coming up quickly. Here's to a better week of training and a safer one at that. SHARE THE ROADS!