More metaphors

When you fall down in life, you have to stand up and dust yourself off. And when you faceplant from your Velib, same thing: you just have to get right back up.

Yep. I bit it on the bike yesterday. I knew it was going to happen, too. I was biking home from work on a gorgeous spring evening. I had just laughed out loud because, as I was passing through a rotary, I looked up and there was the Eiffel Tower in all its glory. The air and the light were perfect. I had one of my My god, this is my life?! moments. As I approached the entrance to this nice bike path along the Seine, I noticed its lip was not flat enough; it was not a full curb, but it was also not insignificant. I needed to approach it head-on, but I was going at an angle; I needed speed, but I was only coasting. So in one of those slow-motion Merde, this is going to happen moments, the bike refused to go up and over the edge… so I went up and over the bike.

Luckily, no clothes were torn and no teeth were lost. I was surprisingly unhurt and unembarrassed, even though I wiped out in front of a mass of people.

But, carrying on with the metaphor, when you fall down, you have to learn from your mistake and not let it stop you from trying again. So, today I returned to the Velib, but I also donned my very un-chic bike helmet. And, indeed, I nipped my commute to 15 minutes.