RWS

We've all done it.  Or, we've all done it in the car.  Riding (or driving) While Sick.  Yuck.  I've muddled through some bad colds, a couple of flu sessions and more bronchial infections than I care to remember at different times.  Normally it isn't a big deal.  You ride slower and pay more attention but for the most part you just spin and soon you start to feel better.  In fact, that used to be my cure for colds.  I'd put on all my warm riding gear, go ride 20 miles and sweat like the dickens and then get in a hot shower followed by bed for a long nap.  Turns out that when I was in my 20's it was probably more my age than the cure that was working because now in my 40's it not only doesn't seem to work but I can't bring myself to do it anymore.

I was felling a bit poorly the other week and realized it was the first time I was taking both kids to school while sick.  Our daughter has been in school for just under a year and our son only for 6 months or so.  We had the luxury of not having to send them too early and we're thankful for that.  Now we're quite happy to have them both in a home based Waldorf setting.  It's really good for them and for us.  Of course it means that I'm pulling the heavy trailer in the cold weather since it's been too cold in the mornings for the tag-along (Do trailers weigh more when it's below 20 or so? :).  Anyway, I found myself pondering if I was OK riding the kids to school when I wasn't feeling my best.  It's a strange internal discussion.  I had the same one before the kids were born during that last month of pregnancy....."oh, I better not drink that second glass of wine......labor could start any time." I used to say to myself.  I mean, who wants to remember the birth of any of their kids through the haze of too much wine?  Well, maybe the celebratory part after but for me not during labor!  So, the same thing really goes for bike commuting while sick.  "Do I feel well enough to be putting the kids in the trailer?".  Is it really that different than driving?  Sort of.  I guess I feel like the car is safer at bike speeds.  Is that true?  Now I'm wondering.  There are countries in Europe that on average have very little bike helmet use and also some of the lowest bike accident incidents.  Curious.