Get on your bike – #EarthDay

Hug the planet people! It’s Earth Day. Every year on April 22nd, today, events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for our beloved planet. It’s a reminder to love mother nature just like David Attenborough keeps telling us to – ditch those plastic straws and carry your tote bag with pride.

I didn’t attend an Earth Day event but I did go exploring on the Heath, my local nature reserve and site of many adventures. The Heath was all about spring style with hedges of small yellow flowers, scatterings of white blossom petals and the happy trill of birdsongs.  A joy filled Sunday evening finding inner peace among the green leaves of trees while riding my bike along the brown dirt paths dotted with muddy puddles.

Deep into a daydream, my attention was all inside my own head. I missed the bump and groove of the wet track. Thud. It was a hard fall that had me seeing stars immediately, just like a cartoon character. Bones striking earth. Thank you gravity. Then I felt a wave of nausea followed by my skin turning cold. Oh, what to do? There was a split second of, do I cry?

But then I just resigned myself to lying back and looking up at the sky. Forget rushing to get up to see more stars and possibly hitting the ground again. The likelihood of passing out was all too real.

Have you ever had that moment where you think, mmmm can I have a time out? This was mine. A bit of me-time while appreciating the blue of the sky framed by the branches of a tree whose name I don’t know, as clouds floated past with no discernible shape.

I was alone and no one was going to turn up. But I was so very wrong. Low and behold, like in a classic 80s movie two young lads rode up on their bikes. I spotted them before they got close. I sat up. Lying in corpse pose was only going to make things awkward. I absolutely had to do that thing, where you brush off your hurt and grin.

These boys were so kind with faces full of compassion. They asked if they could help me. I pulled myself together, flashed a smile, and declared, “I’m fine, totally fine.” Their faces remained concerned despite my happy face insisting that I was all good. I convinced them to go on as I picked up the bike with it’s now wobbly seat and rode off into the sunset.

The kindness of strangers makes both the world a better place and is good for you too! The Mental Health Foundation agrees with me. Those two young cyclists with their random act of kindness made my Sunday. Not all heroes wear capes, some ride bikes.