Accidents and Falcons

 10-11-15

Today, my family and I went on a bike ride. We drove down to Elsa, Illinois to get on the Sam Valdalabene Trail.  The colors on the trees were changing, the air was warm, and it was a perfect day to ride a bike.  I rode about two miles, when off to my right I saw a steep, grassy hill. I thought I would ride down it like I've done a million times before. I did, and disaster struck! As I was going down the hill, and I saw a trench and I thought, "I hope my wheel doesn't get stuck".  It did, I went flying over the handle bars. All I remember is the green of the grass and the sound of the bike crashing next to me. When it was all over, I stood up and took stock.  To my surprise, I escaped with only a scrape on my shoulder but my bike was not so lucky. It had a cracked front fork and the back wheel was bent. I could not continue the ride, so my dad and I set off for the car. I was riding my mom's bike. At about the one mile mark, I saw a medium sized bird being mobbed by a smaller bird. There were pretty far away and I didn't think much of it. But a few moments later, the larger bird came flying over and I saw that it was a Peregrine Falcon! I'd left my camera on my bike, so these pictures of the wreckage will have to do.