You always hope that you're the one to remain level-headed in a crisis situation. I truly believe almost everyone thinks this of him or herself and I thoroughly understand that feeling, I've had it almost all my life as well. However, more and more, I'm really starting to believe that it may actually be true.
I'm not in a crisis situation very often, I don't have that much experience with disasters and the like, but I feel more and more confident about the few indications I've had.
After spending a couple of lovely weeks at La Farge, I'm now in the Pyrenees with my father, conquering cols by bike. Yesterday we did Col du Soulor and Col d'Aubisque and today Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet. Fun.
However, yesterday when descending from the Col du Soulor I looked behind me to see where my father was and unexpectedly did not see him, so I turned around further for a second look. I immediately knew I had made a mistake. I was going about 40-45 km per hour, my bike swerved to the other side of the road and onwards off of the road. Luckily this was the mountain side, but you can still seriously injure yourself if you fall like that. However, despite all the danger and stuff, I love what happens at those moments. It's like time slows down and you think to yourself: Shit, this sucks, concentrate now, you have to fix this.
I shot on to the grass and while I struggled to keep my bike upright I was also busy trying not to steer it over a rock I would tumble over or into the ditch, which would turn me upside down (and probably break my forefork in the process). I considered steering it back on to the road but realized I would definitely fall over my bike if I did that, risking entanglement within my bike and related injuries. However, up ahead I noticed a side to the ditch that was not too steep where I could probably coax my bike down into if I managed to stay on the grass until that point. I managed reasonably well and as my bike went down into the ditch I used my right foot to stick into the side of the ditch, lifting me off of my bike without unnecessary entanglement. I did however hit my head rather hard to the side of the ditch but I was (of course) wearing a helmet which saved me a bit of bloody mess.
Final damage: Slightly bent handlebars and some dirt spots on my cycling clothes.
And it's not the first time.
When I was speeding down a slope at 90 km per hour on my snowboard and fell I had the same experience, time seems to slow down, conscious concentrated decisions and barely left without any scratches (though with a busted mp3 player).
When my car started slipping away under me while I was going 80 km per hour, exactly the same. Clear image of what seems to be every details of my surroundings. Clear decisions, counter steering, extra gas and put it away safely in the grass instead of the siderail. Final damage: One plan to get a slipping course because that was fun!
I can't be certain of course, but I really feel like that is the human body functioning at its finest. Fully focussed to solve the crisis situation. Has anyone else had similar experiences? I think I have heard similar stories but it's simply so rare that it happens in my life, I'd really like to hear some other people's perspective.
Let me know and tell me about your (own)life(oratleastawholelottamess)saving heroics!
Song of the day: Katzenjammer - Le Pop
