Myrtle Beach: Bruised but not Beaten

We clocked in the first 38 miles towards New Bern today without any problem, but Tom took a fall just outside of town. Between the heat and several days of riding, its easy to make a mistake that can put you on the ground. I was riding a few feet ahead when I heard him start to fall, and I turned in time to see the impact. It was a grizzly crash. We tried to get him to sit out for the rest of the day, but he refused to give up before we reached the city limits.

We patched the bike and bruises to the best of our ability and rode the next 10 miles into town. Thankfully we are staying with Dr. Barden, who is a local pediatrician, and he was able to tend to Tom's road rash. Besides loosing most of his elbow to the asphalt, he took the brunt of the fall on his right thigh, but the Doc says he'll be ok. On a positive note, we think the kids at the hospital will be excited to see Tom's road scars. Tomorrow, I'm going to fly solo into Greenville to give Tom some time to heal. No one said this would be easy, but that doesn't matter to us. The kids at ECU expect to see us on Tuesday, and I don't think that those kids would let a fall get in their way!! Greenville here we come!!

~ Austin

The bruise on my thigh has gotten big enough to deserve its own name. We're calling it Tom Bruise. There's a link below - but it's not for the faint of heart.

Tom's Bruise, "Tom Bruise"

Sadly enough, the bruise actually extends above the shorts line a little over my hip, and it's started to spread around my leg. However, Dr. Barden and the sports medicine doctor he consulted say that it's not too bad. It's the biggest bruise a couple doctors have ever seen - I think the word was "gargantuan" - but it's really superficial. So don't worry, Mom!

~ Tom