What’s The Opposite of ‘Rev Up’?

Answer – Rev Down.

Bob came off his bike this morning – and by the Grace of God he is absolutely OK. Sadly the bike most definitely isn’t

All this happened at around 10am when he was on his way to a Ministers’ Meeting in Hinckley, and hit a patch of dodgy road surface as he braked approaching a roundabout. The bike went out of control and went over as he got to the roundabout. Bob came off and the bike skidded round, hitting a traffic sign [thus causing damage to offside, nearside and rear]

Major damage to both panniers, the top box, the fairings, mirrors, pillion footrest, the lights and electrics…

My thanks to

• the first car which stopped, and the woman driver who parked it in such a way as to offer protection for Bob in the road
• the next car, and the bloke who helped Bob get the bike off the road and onto the grassy centre of the roundabout
• the anonymous person who called the incident in to the police, and the patrol car which was very quickly on the scene.

At this point things went a little crazy [the caller had apparently reported ‘motorbike and car’ involved] so as well as police, along came a paramedic, then an ambulance, then the Air Ambulance. Thank you to all of them for their efficiency and thoroughness in checking Bob out [they even did an ECG]

I am so incredibly grateful – Bob really was uninjured apart from a grazed knee – but had the injuries been worse [as they so easily could have been] it is very reassuring to know that the emergency services were there so quickly. The scuffs on his leather jacket and biker boots show that they did their job too! ATGATT is a good mantra

Carole Nash Bike Insurance were brilliant, and provided prompt recovery to get the bike back home to our garage. Now we await the visit of their assessor. Then we’ll know if it is a write-off or worthy of repair [we suspect maybe the former, it’s a rather elderly bike]

We are not at all sure what happens next. Clearly our plans to take the bike to Norfolk after Easter, and also to Blackpool in May for the Baptist Assembly are scuppered.

Bob texted me at lunchtime to say he’d had an accident with the bike and that he was uninjured but the bike was a mess. I picked up the text just as my two Year 6 pupils arrived [early!] for their afternoon SATS support session.

Are you OK? one asked, so I explained why I was a little distracted..

“Miss, you can buy another bike, but you can’t buy another husband” said one of them. Which is absolutely true.

Oh and thank you too, to all Bob’s Facebook friends for their kind messages of support, which have poured in all afternoon.

And thank the Lord for his protection and grace.