I'm Too Old For This

As my daughter said, it makes for a good story. Eyebrows certainly go up when I respond that I injured my hand on a BMX course. "Excuse me?" I know to them I'm an old woman; a small old woman. My bike had a fat, BMX-type tire and I didn't see the jutting rock on the trail. Over the handlebars I went. I'll spare you the photos of my injuries, which extend beyond my hand. The good news - no broken bones.

See those rocks? #Imtoooldforthis

How did I come to be on an underground BMX course? Groupon. It will be the death of me. I look on Groupon for places to take William and his friends. My goal is to keep him physically active. The Louisville MegaCavern frequently has different activities - zip lining (BTDT), ropes course (BTDT), Christmas lights (BTDT). So this was intriguing.

Carved from beneath the Louisville Zoo and a now defunct KMart, I envisioned some big jumps, yes, but perhaps small swells for pleasant riding for the newly initiated. No. The only other people there were two adult BMX racers who declared that this course was harder than BMX race courses.

Why was I there? Spectators are verboten. You must have a bike to be on the course. I said that I was there to assist my son with Type 1 Diabetes. The manager assured me that they had a Gator and if they found him passed out, they'd bring him to me in the room where I could wait.

"Excuse me," I said, "I usually try to treat him BEFORE he passes out."
"No sorry, can't do," she says. "Insurance," she says.
I wonder what the insurance people might say if he passed out on the course and they didn't see him on their monitors (I saw them not watching).
"I'm sure you don't have someone who is trained to administer glucagon."
"HOW DO YOU KNOW??" - she says (nastily).
"Okay, you're right. Do you?"
"Well, we have people trained in first aid.  And we can call EMS." and "We've had people here with autism."

It was all downhill (excuse the pun) from there. There was no making her understand.  I got on the bike. My second reason for going was to make sure that the hills didn't bring out bravado and end in broken bones. The boys started out wisely and built up their abilities. It seems I was worrying over the wrong bones.

The three amigos

In the end, I found that the CGM and cell phones did not work at all underground. William experienced only one low later in the ride, which he felt rather than was alerted to by technology. The boys came home with only a few scratches, conquered their initial trepidations, and had a good time. The good news for me is that though I am old, my bones aren't that easy to break.