I Was a Bicyclist

I loved bicycling. Until everything changed...

When I was growing up in the Piney Point Village suburb of Houston, I used to ride my bicycle a lot, but I never used my bicycle to exercise. I have very fond memories of riding my bicycle to school at Kinkaid. Those were the olden days, when one could just leave their bicycle on the rack unlocked. One day, though, RB, who I just learned has been dead since late 2011, stole my bicycle and threw it in Buffalo Bayou. That wasn't the worst story for me, though!

At Northwestern University, I used my bicycle in my sophomore and junior years to get from my apartment to campus, even in the freezing cold and the snow. I also started riding long-distance just for fun and exercise. When I moved to NYC in 1986, I really rode a lot. Every single borough was my destination at some point, and I also rode to Connecticut and New Jersey. Riding around the loop in Central Park was among my favorite things to do in NYC, but my favorite ride was when I went to Bear Mountain with a friend.

When I moved back to Houston, I continued to ride frequently. I rode in the MS150 five times with my brother-in-law. This was a fundraiser that required a two-day ride from Houston to Austin. I enjoyed those rides, but I really enjoyed raising money to help the MS Society. The best part, though, was that my wife would meet me in Austin and stay overnight with me.

That last MS ride was in 1999, as that 2000 event coincided with my 10th anniversary, and Fran and I went out of town. I remained an avid cyclist until 2022, when I was almost killed while riding my bicycle. I am working on a book about that right now and will discuss a great deal about it, but here I am just sharing the big facts. This is what I looked like shortly afterwards:

What happened? Well, it was April 15, 2022, and it was a big day already. Not only was it Good Friday, but it was also the first night of Passover and Shabbat. On top of the holidays, it was my 32nd anniversary!

I went out for a ride in the afternoon, but I have no memory of it at all. I was wearing a helmet and riding in a designated bike lane on Polk Street near Sidney Street when a lady hit me and drove off. She crashed her car two blocks later, and she didn't have any auto insurance, which is against the law.

The collision sent me flying 10 feet, according to a witness, and I landed on my head. I suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) and had a lot of problems that required surgeries, time to heal and therapies. My four front teeth on the top were knocked out too.

I was at Ben Taub for almost a month, and I spent about 5 weeks at TIRR Memorial Hermann after that. I returned home on June 15th, two months after the catastrophe. I ended up spending six months sleeping in a rented hospital bed on the first floor in my office. I have been on the path to normalization now for over a year.

My wife and children told me I am not allowed to ever ride my bicycle again, and I was kind of crushed about this at first. The reality, though, is not only does their fear of another incident make sense, but I don't really desire to ride my bicycle, at least for now.