Rolling down the slope away from the hotel I keep my feet on the floor, skidding in the dirt to maintain my slow speed.
Blair stops at the bottom waiting for me, laughing at my obvious incompetence. “What are you doing?” she manages between laughs.
“I’m not very practiced at this, it’s the only way I can get down there safely!” I shout back, concentrating on keeping the handlebars straight.
When I eventually get to Blair she is still giggling, “Why didn’t you say something? You could have had one of the kiddy bikes with training wheels!?” cracking up even more at her own witty remark.
“Oi! I’m not that bad!” I laugh as she gives me a skeptical look.
“Come on, we’re getting left behind” she says giving me a helpful push in the right direction. Thankfully the next leg of our journey is flatter, as it turns out when they said hills they meant, occasional gentle slopes, so it really isn’t too strenuous; although I still bring up the rear for the most part of the journey.
The continuous peddling and struggle to stay balanced provides the perfect distraction from my problems and before I know it I start to feel more confident, allowing for small bursts of effort where I can briefly catch up with the rest of the group. Blair slows intermittently to give me some encouraging words, then shoots off with ease to catch up with John at the front.
We stop a couple of times to re-group and re-hydrate, and before I know it we have cycled the first hour and start to circle back towards the hotel.
I break into the middle of the group and although my bum is killing me from sitting on the hard seat, I push myself to maintain my position for the journey home.
The sun is still blaring, but if you get a good speed up the wind created keeps you relatively cool. Blair is chatting away next to me, I give a few short answers, but it’s difficult to hide the breathlessness from my words; it’s always embarrassing to struggle at something, next to someone who finds it a breeze.
As we reach the home stretch, the road dips down into a dauntingly steep slope, I go to lower my feet to the floor when Blair admonishes me “Hey, hey, don’t go sneaking your feet down! You’ve been doing so well, use the brakes!”
“But…” I start, unsure of her confidence in my abilities.
“No buts, just apply them really gently till you are at the right speed” she says demonstrating on her own bike.
I copy her, the bike begins to slow, but I begin to shake, causing me to weave about unsteadily again.
“It’s OK, you’ve got it” says Blair from behind me, keeping a safe distance from my unpredictable movements. No sooner than the words leave her mouth, does it happen. My back wheel hits a rogue stone, catapulting me over the handle bars, I hear Blair’s scream before I even react to it myself; then it all goes black.
When I open my eyes the first thing I notice is the searing pain in my head, slowly things around me come into focus; the guide is sat to my left leaning over me, repeating my name and waving his hand in front of my eyes, Blair is sat to my right, sobbing into John’s arms, and past that circle of heads there is a bustle of commotion, presumably from all the other riders around us.
“What happened?” I mumble, confused.
“Oh thank God” Blair says, letting go of John and grabbing my hand, “You had us scared there for a minute” John says.
“I’m so sorry Kate, it’s all my fault, I should never have got you to use the brakes when you weren’t ready” Blair says frantically, tears still streaming down her face.
“No, no…” I try and sit up, still unsure of exactly what has occurred. The Guides hand is instantly on my shoulder pushing me back down, “You stay lie down” he demands.
I glance back at Blair, puzzled, “You hit a rock and came over the handlebars, landed on your head, they are worried you may have broken your neck” she says, a little calmer now, but I think she is just trying not to panic me.
I take the time to actually feel myself, carefully moving every part, one limb at a time, “Nope, it’s just my head that hurts” I reassure them. But they take no chances and make me