James D. McCurdy

Ah, the joys of training in Hong Kong.  It has rained, almost without stopping, since Thursday.  

This is what I rode in this morning.  And yesterday, I swear it must have rained three or four inches during my hour and a half long run.  I believe monsoon season has officially started.

The pool was closed Thursday due to thunderstorm warnings – even though the sun was shining.  So I went for my usual hour and half time-trial.  Thursdays are when I do a brick workout – ride then run.  Well, the bike was rainy but fine until I ran into a bus.  I was less than two miles from my apartment.  The stupid bus driver never looked before entering the round-about.  I locked the brakes on the wet, oily roads and hit right behind the front wheel.  The impact wasn’t as hard as I had expected but it was enough to aggravate my previously separated shoulder and bruise my hip. 

The worst injury was to my left index finger which was trapped between my bike’s brake levers and the bus.  It was gushing blood from the middle knuckle.  When I got up from the pavement, I threw open the sliding glass window next to the driver, got blood all over her and the side of the bus, and gave her all kinds of grief – and so did a few passengers.  A young guy sitting behind the driver’s seat called the police.  I rode off  through crowds of gawking onlookers before the police arrived.  A lengthy court battle in the inept courts of Hong Kong wouldn’t have done my shoulder, or my hip, or my finger, any good.  I was well enough to do a run later that evening. 

Anyhow, it’s raining; I’m going to take a nap, as that’s what people generally do when it rains.