Nice dinner and liquor tasting at the Marina Hotel last night, soon morning rolled around and after a hearty breakfast we were on the way to Sligo, our home for tonight. Most of the people in the canal and waterway ‘sleepers’ looked like there were still sound asleep , , ,

The revamped canals are not only supporting new boating activity in the area but also biking along the canal towpaths  . . . must be a need for electric bike rentals!!!!

The Tidy Town Award . . .who knew there was such a thing. Almost seemed worth  a 12 km detour just to see it!!!

As I rolled along Lough Key park, Peter and Liz were just pulling out of a parking lot and said there was a nice church inside. I rolled in to take check it out and took this shot . . . after that I had about an hour ‘break’ in the day . . . and don’t remember a thing,

You can see from my gps track, in the right hand upper corner my detour into the church and back out, As I continued to travel down the road, at my 9.31 mile point of the day, while traveling 10.6 miles per hour, I hit a speed bump I never saw. I was ejected from the Traci TREK 5000 and ‘woke up’, about an hour later in the van with Tony on the way to the hospital. During that hour, two visitors to the park, one a doctor, saw be hit  the speed bump and eject. Kerry and our ride leader, Tom, were the next two of our gang to come upon me, I was evidently up by then and Tom checked me for broken bones and further injuries. More rides rode up on us and some were asking me questions to see what my frame of mind was. Sounds like I was ‘loopy’!!

I evidently could not provide and answer to what day of the week it was, where I was and who was president of the USA. Tom called Tony who quickly appeared on the scene and away we went to the hospital. My first memory after taking the photo of the church was in the van with Tony, wiping my face with  wipes evidently Charlie had provided and asking Tony . . .’What happened???’!!!

Afterwards folks said I was talking and although somewhat incoherent was carrying on a conversation. Other than the time the punks in the Allied Drive area pushed a shopping cart in front of my bike and I crashed (and broke my collarbone) I have never been in a bicycle  accident. I was very fortunate to have so many new friends around me today when this happened.

Here is a blow up from Google maps showing the road in the opposite direction I was traveling but there was a ‘Ramps Ahead’ sign signaling the speed bumps. I was actually coming from the top of  the photo to the bottom and looking on the road from that direction I could not find a similar sign. It was a  dark corridor and I had my sunglasses on so may have missed the warning and hit it head-on. Sounds like it was more of a rectangular curb than the type of  ‘thank you maam’s’ we have been rolling over most of the time . . . but I survived with no major issues . . . .

The charge for local Irish folks in he emergency room is 100 euros . . . my charge was 200 (not an Irish citizen) but it was a bargain. It covered emergency room services, an MRI, a neurologist to read the scans and about 45 minutes with an ophthalmologist. My left I is a little blurred.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS wear a helmet. Mine is now has a crack and the other arrow shows a good size divot  (glad it wasn’t in my bare head!!!)

. . . the lens of my sunglasses popped out but you can see the right lens is k scratched from sliding  across the pavement. These are actually safety sunglasses from Conney Safety Products in Madison that have +2.5 correction built into them, Not sure if the lens would have held together if they had been regular-non safety approved lenses . . . got to dip out the extra pair I brought!!!

Emergency room waiting rooms . . . pretty much the same all over the world . . .

Same as the emergency room cubicles. Glad I didn’t have to change into a hospital gown!!! After the triage nurse cleaned me up, I waited for about an hour to get the MRI. Came back no problems.

The ophthalmologist checked my vision because my left eye is a little blurry. Lots of drops in my eyes and a full exam revealed 9On a scale of 1 to 5 a cataract of a 1 grade . . . oh boy I am getting old!!!!), no detached retina but a little blood draining into the lower recesses and drain channels of the eye. So, I am on three types of drops tonight and will go see him again tomorrow at 10:00am.

I had been in the ER for about 3 hours when an aide said she was going to bring me some tea. How civilized. When she returned she not only had tea with milk but chicken tenders, chips and beans . . . LUNCH AND DINNER !!!

Tony came around to give me a lift to our home for tonight  . . . The Clayton Hotel . . .

. . . quite the place in Sligo . . .

. . . old looking on the outside but modern on the inside. Nice!!!!

So . . . it was quite the day for me. Above left is a shot Kerry took of me ‘at he scene’ evidently in good spirits but a little ‘loopy’. I don’t  remember any of it. But things seems right after a shower at the hotel with only a few bruises and cuts (no stitches). Thanks to all who stopped to help, for Tom taking control of the situation and proving on scene triage and Tony for providing ambulance service. I wonder if it will show up on the ‘extra charges’ sheet!!!!

Should sleep well tonight!!!!