Stuck!!

Smoke from a forest fire 6 miles away is so thick you can almost bite the air and chew it, if you could inhale enough air not to choke on the smell. Yesterday, I braved the murky skies to take a bike ride, constantly checking where the sun would be rising.

As I took my normal route around the town, although there were a couple of birds chirping near by, everything seemed muffled and muted due to the smoke. Wildlife was noticeably absent, as were even the local cows, hiding amongst the trees.

Riding by the cow and weeks old calf sleeping in the far corner of their paddock, I headed back towards the river, past a hay field with irrigation sprinklers working to keep it green and growing. Bordering the hayfield, 10 ft high corn stalks hide everything else within visibility, other than a faint outline of Mt. Cheam behind the screen of smoke.

Taking my left hand off the handle bar, I reached up to scratch my right shoulder blade under my bra closure. As I scratched, a finger of my bike glove got caught on one of the hooks of my bra, and I couldn't seem to move my hand to unhook myself.

Panicking a little, with my hand stuck up my back, a hill loomed before me - I needed both hands to be able to shift gears and ride uphill, or to even stop without going over the handle bars. The right hand brake stops the front wheel, and the left, the back. So if I hit the brake with my right hand, I'd go a over t over the handle bars.

Slowing down and peddling steadily, I kept trying to work at getting my hand free. No luck. Finally, I twisted and turned my hand to free it from the glove, and fortunately, it's worn enough to be loose.

After much manipulation, I finally pulled my hand free, my glove still attached to the hook on my bra. Finally being able to stop without falling, I reached back and managed to free my glove and put it back on.

Thank goodness I ride at such an hour that I don't see anyone, as I'm sure that must have been a funny sight, riding my bike with my hand stuck up my back trying to free it. It didn't feel too funny at the time, and road rash definitely would not have tickled my funny bone.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, the sun finally making an appearance as I returned home (who would have thunk I'd be too early!). I took a couple of shots of the sun creeping over the mountain, bright red behind the smokey veil.

I think I'll travel west today for a bike ride closer to the ocean, and hopefully, less smokey skies. And if I get an itch on my shoulder blade, I don't think I'll be scratching it with my glove on.