Bike Shorts

My memory seems to think that this adventure happened the same beach trip that Lyd and I poopoo-ed parallel parking. But in reality, it most likely was another trip. The story is a true one, though parts of it sound fabricated. I promise, it did happen, despite my lack of ability to remember exactly when.

Lyd and I were driving home from the beach in the same Dodge Shadow as our last adventure. This time, she was driving. We were on the way to Conowingo; I lifeguarded there during the week. In order to make it to work on time, we took a short cut through Havre de Grace and ended up on Harmony Church Rd. This was before the time of guard rails on that narrow road.

We were laughing, singing, talking the whole way. One of us commented how peaceful and quiet the road was; no one ever seemed to pass the other way. A few minutes after our fateful comment, a driver sped towards us. In efforts to not get hit, Lydia pulled over to the side of the road (the side closest to Deer Creek). In the second the car passed us, our car began sliding down the enbankment. The passenger side of the vehicle was over the edge of the road. Only the drivers' side tires remained on solid ground. As I looked out my window, all that stood between me and the river was a steep drop off and a massive old oak tree.

In that second, I was paralyzed. I couldn't scream, I couldn't cry, I couldn't think rationally. My mind went from peaceful to frantic in a matter of seconds. Would we die? Would I die without ever having held a guy's hand? Even worse, would I die a virgin? Would I ever see my family and friends again? If I was going to die, at least I was with Lydia! They say your life flashes before you when you are facing death. And oh did it flash. All 16 years, right there before my eyes!

Then I snapped out of it. Or maybe it was Lyd's screaming that woke me from the daze. We had to exit the car. It continued to slide down the bank, despite our efforts to drive back onto the road. Lydia climbed out of the car first, which made it slide more. I was still in the car and crying. Lydia urged me to climb out as quickly as possible. I managed to climb out without rocking the car too much. We quickly ran to the back of the car--on solid ground. We stood there crying, thinking that the peaceful road would surely be our doom. No one would pass us for days, we'd be forced to walk for help. And where was the closest human being?! Who knew!

A moment later, a car of guys pulled up behind us. They got out of their vehicle, and raced to our side. Ok, so four guys dressed in spandex bike shorts got out of their vehicle and slowly walked towards us. They saw we were distressed and offered to help. Once the situation was assessed for safety, one of the men got into the car and quickly drove back onto Harmony Church Road. It was effortless. Amazing. We were safe, my dad's car was safe, and we didn't die!

Lyd and I got back into the car, still shaken. We drove slowly away, down the exact middle of the road. The guys followed in their car. As we turned onto Rt. 136, we looked into our rear view mirror to wave good-bye and thank you. Much to our surprise, they had disappeared. Gone. Our four men had simply vanished. There was no where for them to turn off, no side streets to exit onto. Nothing.

We started laughing. We realized that our four men in bike shorts hadn't even had bikes on their car. God placed his hand of protection over us that day. We believe his protection and help came from four angles, dressed in bike shorts.