Road ID

To say that I am clutzy would obviously be an understatement.  Who trips on an easy two mile run and gets brain damage? Moi. Number one offender right here. But does my clutziness stop me....??

You got your answer right here, folks. Where's my star spangled jumpsuit?

Before my brain injury happened,  and when I started training for the Half-Ironman, I assessed my history of stunts/accidents. I've been in the emergency room a few times. My favorite stunt that won me a trip to the emergency room was when I was mountain biking with G.  I had just learned how to do drops, and was feeling pretty full of myself. That's when I was thinking more about pizza and awesomeness than actually keeping track of what I was riding.  I hit an "invisible" stump so hard that I ended up losing control of my Giant Iguana, flew over the handlebars and did a move like superman across gravel (watch a video of a similar crash at the link).  When the dust settled, I had torn up my forearm from my elbow to my wrist. I was getting blood on my jersey.  Emergency room, here we go*...

 photo by Velo Steve on Flickr

When I decided to take up road riding, it came to mind that I would be doing 20-35mph right next to moving vehicles made of glass and steel. Add an inattentive driver, and my day could be pretty bad pretty quickly. Considering that most of my riding would be done by myself, I thought that it might be helpful to have an additional form of ID on me. Something with emergency contact numbers, insurance information, medical history. What happens if a driver hit me, and they just kept going? I would be laying in a ditch, unconscious (every mother's worst fear), with no way to communicate.

photo by Coda2 on Flickr

That's where the Road ID came in. It's like a medic alert bracelet, but comes in different colors (LiveStrong Yellow!), is more comfortable, and is reflective. I am now realizing that this sounds like an advert, .... sorry.... You can also put a lot of information on them including multiple emergency contact numbers, Dr. information, insurance info, medical information, and there's also a spot where you can put things in like "I'm from NY, but will be vacationing in Arizona on May 1-15 at the Grand Hotel on Sunrise Boulevard. Eileen Hitchens (555)555-5555 is my close contact there".

There are a ton of testimonials on the site.
Allison B.
Gina W.
Michael B.
John T.
David B. (who had a severe concussion)

And then, there are these folks... Levi! Bob! Dean! Liz! Craig! Scott ! They are or have been professional athletes (and like any athlete, have had close calls).



Now I used my ID because of my head injury. I'm worried that something might happen while I'm out walking by myself. Doing errands. What if I forget my phone number/address? What if I have a meltdown and the cops are involved? What if there's an incident and G needs to be there? What happens if I do get hit by a car while crossing the street?      I know it sounds morbid to think that way, but I'm kind of like the Boy Scouts... bring what you think you might need.

Luckily, I haven't been in a situation where my bracelet is needed. So, it just sits happy and yellow on my wrist.


*I have a pretty cool scar from that crash. Always look on the bright side!