Nick here, going to swallow my pride and tell the story of why I'm blogging on a Friday night. They say when it comes to Motor Bikes, it's not a matter of IF you're going to lay it down, but rather WHEN and how bad. Well, it takes a special kind of person to lay it down and injure themselves on the FIRST try. Sarah, of course, has been putting around for over a month with no problem, but not so for myself. I laid the bike over on my left leg, and have been pretty hobbled for about 5 days now, but am finally starting to feel better!! Here's a picture of the damage.
As you can see, I have one knee cap, and one swollen knee blob, though it has since returned to it's Adonis like form albeit still functionally on the mend. I have a pretty wicked black and blue (or bruise) now though. So my first week in Bermuda has been a little bit boring due to my limited mobility. Decided to stay in tonight as to get all mended up for an exciting Christmas and New Years!! 21 year old me would NOT approve.
Now to be fair, I didn't jump on the bike and immediately fall off like a <insert derogatory comment here>. I actually spent several hours exploring the island and got some amazing pictures. I started in Hamilton City where we live then proceeded to the western tip of Pembroke to Spanish Point. Then took the uniquely named North Shore Road, which um runs along the Northern shore of the island all the way to the end, through Devonshire, Smith's, and Hamilton (different than the Capital city where we live) Parishes, before arriving at the causeway that leads into St. George's Parish where I originally landed at the Airport. On a normal day the causeway is super windy, so I can't imagine what it's like on a windy day!! I spent about an hour scooting around St. George's as there is a lot of historic stuff to see. There were a couple small beaches and some forts. One thing that stood out to me was the Sea Venture Memorial. One of the major reasons why is that the ship was piloted by Captain Christopher Newport. My brother Steven went to school at the University named in his honor. It also contained some pretty famous passengers such as Sir Thomas Gates and John Rolfe. The ship, being new, lost its caulking and started to sink. It was run up on a reef to avoid it sinking! This lead to the founding of Bermuda. Furthermore, it is said that the Shakespeare's play The Tempest was based on what happened when the passengers and crew found themselves stranded on the "still-vexed Bermoothes" aka Bermuda. Anyways, I then went down around the southern side of the island on the way back. Now, I know I can't leave this out, but Sarah advised me to stay out of downtown until I had mastered the Scooter. Being as I am a man (and had been driving around several hours), I ignored this advice, much to my later regret. Anyway, to keep the excuses to a minimum, they drive on the left side of the road here. I've been driving on the right side of the road for over 10 years, and boy do I feel old saying that. Downtown has a lot of one way streets and I was on one, trying to take a right. So being in the familiar, I hugged the right side of the road to make my right hand turn. Only there was a car there in the right lane!! In hindsight, I should have "ghostrode the whip" and jumped off, but instead I took a hard left to avoid the head on collision, since cars usually own bikes in those. Anyways, down I went, and the bike landed on my leg, cutting my jeans and crushing my leg. Shockingly, I hopped up and picked up my bike, and my pride as the driver waved at me in a "what an idiot" kind of way and made my way back to the house. When I got home, couldn't really walk so well and am just now starting to get my mobility back. Anyways, enjoy the pictures!! I went through great physical pain and mental anguish to bring these to you!!
Very good blog.
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