Zen and the Art of Recumbent Trike Riding

As some of you know, in early June I broke my ankle when my recumbent tricycle hit a tree. Often, when I tell people how I broke my ankle, I get a courtesy acknowledgement that I can tell they have no clue what a recumbent tricycle is. I bet some of those people think I was riding a children's toy, like maybe those trikes with the big plastic wheel up front. I suppose since the rider is reclining in her seat, it is technically a recumbent trike. But no, that's not what I mean at all by a recumbent trike. And if you have no idea what a recumbent tricycle is, well, you're in luck because you have an Internet connection. To make absolutely certain you get a picture of what I'm talking about, google "tadpole recumbent tricycle." Don't ask, "Why the hell is it named after a fish?" I'll explain*. Go ahead. Do it. I'll wait.

You back? I suppose I could've just placed a picture here, but I'm lazy and I know you can look it up almost instantly. Anyway, found a picture of a tadpole recumbent tricycle? See how the rider's feet are up front, leading the way? Now image the rider had one of his feet strapped in because he thought that was the only way to keep that foot on the pedal. In other words, that foot's going to stay with the pedal even in an accident. So, accident happens: rider loses control of trike and slams into a tree. Since the feet are up front, and since that one foot is strapped in (the right one, in this case)...snap! Broken ankle still strapped in to pedel. And Paris** (the ankle fracture) is born.

Enough backstory. Today I got the cast off. Now I'm in a walking boot and am allowed to bear weight on my heel. One step (pun intended) closer to recovery. But recovery from what? After my ankle is healed, there will eventually be something else to recover from. And then something else... I don'r mean to be a downer. Quite the opposite, in fact. What if, instead of focusing on some ideal future that will never come (because the future is never how we expect it to be), we focused on the present, the only time we do have control of? Perhaps if we do focus more on the present, the future that comes about will be more like the one we envision. And if it doesn't, we will have developed the tool of clear present-sight to not care as much. And accept the future that does come about.

*With two wheels in front and one in back, a tadpole trike sorta looks like a tadpole.

**I named my ankle fracture after the mythic Paris, who was infamous for inflicting a foot injury. If you want more details, well, you have the Internet...