Trials on the Toccoa River
Sometimes we all need a reset; Something to trigger us to focus more on what matters. I received quit the reset on Saturday, July 23rd 2022. The day started out well, albeit a little slow due to the events of the prior evening that included too much good timing with my family by the fire. We rounded up my gaggle of nephews and family and we all headed out for what was to be a 1.5 hour easy float down the river. It should have been just that, easy. It was anything but. My girlfriend was with me and suggested tethering as she doesn’t like the water much and it was up to me to navigate us through the shallow parts, around the rocks and the fallen trees. All was well for the first 30 minutes, then she had a mini panic attack, wanting to end the trip now. That wasn’t possible; We had to make it to the end for a pick up and ride back to where we started.
The decision was made to un-tether in order for us to pick up the pace. I kept her tube close and continued to get her through the tight spots. Soon, she ended up about 10 yards ahead of me when it became clear she was about to be stuck in a tree half fallen over the river. Not to worry, I’m there to get her out. I did just that and in the course of getting her out of the tree and down the river safely, I began to seize up, both legs and into my stomach. Not good, it’s hard to swim if you can’t move. I was hanging on the tube with one arm and felt the muscle spasm and rigidity moving up my abdomen, I was about to drown. I could see she was safely going down the river and had reached a group of people who would take care of her. “She is safe. It’s OK for me to go, I never thought I would drown. Damn, I will ruin everyone's dinner plans. I see now how freak accidents like olympic swimmers and Navy seals drown, I know how that's possible, I'm about to get it.” My thoughts pretty much stopped there. I was at peace with it. I started to control my breathing, to rest and conserve energy. The spasms slowly went away. I reached a point where I could touch the bottom again. I tried to stand up, leg spasms returned and I collapsed. Luckily, I was able to crawl on top of the tube. I lay limp, noticing now cold chills were setting in and I stopped sweating. “Damn, heat exhaustion now. How in the hell is this happening.” Simple: Alcohol 12 hours earlier, coffee in the morning and lack of sleep all preceded by a week of over training = dehydration with a healthy dose of lactic acid. I’m a clinical doctor of physical therapy and treat heat injuries frequently: I know better. But not this day.
After a bottle of water and more energy conservation tactics all ended well, not without a few more curve balls to include a torrential down poor lowering the temp 20 degrees while trying to find the rest of our party who had long since been out of the water. We made it to dinner. Exhausted. The caviar was great, the blue oysters were great, everything was great. None of it mattered. A new found appreciation for the sunshine, the moonshine and all that I had been taking for granted for the last 45 ish years became forefront. Awakening to this, now I’m in a panic. Realizing that all was almost lost, and I had wasted so much time.
It took a week to physically recover. I hope I never mentally recover. This is my reset. I’ve needed this for such a long time. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity, bad luck is most often very much the opposite. Bad luck only existed here by my own doing. Lack of attention and preparation set the stage for near disaster. Never again. Hopefully you will not require a near drawing event to be the catalyst for you to hit your reset button.
Go for a ride, hit the flow, figure out where you need to start to reset. That’s what I’m about to do right now. Ride on……..DocMTB
Must Do: The Roof
Must Not Do: All that I did.
