Lightning struck nearby and I fell off the bike into a cactus.

I had gone riding in Sedona earlier in the day and the weather report called for a perfect day of sunshine and scattered clouds. I had ridden about 15 miles and was finishing up on the Devil’s Bridge Trail when the sky quickly turned dark and lightning started flashing around me. Out in the open in the desert is not a great place to be when there’s a storm.

I got in a hurry and stopped paying attention to my surroundings.

All I could think about was getting off the bike and out of the weather.

As the sky lit up I saw a large rock in front of me just as my front tire hit it and stopped me in my tracks. Being clipped in and not expecting to have to bail off the bike so quickly I couldn’t unclip my feet. Over I went.

I sat down hard in the middle of a prickly pear cactus.

As I got to my car and tried to sit down I realized that I had several cactus needles embedded in my rear end. I could pull out the big ones but did you know that the majority of cactus needles are of the cat hair variety? You can’t even see them but my oh my you sure can feel them.

I ended up in urgent care having a nurse attempting to pull needles out of my rear.

What Should I Have Done Differently?

I should have paid attention to my surroundings. If I had I would have seen that I was only about 50 yards from the parking lot and would have seen that the trail was going to be difficult to ride. I should have hopped off the bike and walked it back.

Business Lesson

In my 30 plus years of business, I have done the same type of thing several times. I get going too fast and get distracted. I quit paying attention to my surroundings and it always comes back to bite me in the butt.

As a business owner, you have to be a visionary and be looking toward the future and making plans. Don’t forget to stop and take stock of where you are right now and who is around you. Sometimes the fastest way to get somewhere is to go slow.