Cochranite Jonas Rigaux is getting set to take an ambitious cycling trip across Canada, but what prompted the ride wasn’t sheer adventure – it was a dangerous accident that saw him rushed to hospital.
Last September, Rigaux was cycling to class at SAIT in Calgary when the chain on his bike skipped. With no time to react, Rigaux was launched over the top of his bike and landed squarely on his handlebars, the end of which entered nearly an inch and a half into his leg.
“I missed (my femoral artery) by a quarter of an inch, according to the paramedics,” he said. “I lost probably a litre to a litre and a half of blood, and it took me three weeks to be able to walk with a cane again.”
After the accident, the emotional stress that followed saw Rigaux taking a break from cycling. A self-described “outdoorsy” person with a love for cycling, he left his bike alone for two months.
“Eventually, I just rode down the driveway and back. It was pretty traumatizing. I didn’t know if I could get back on my bike at all,” he said.
But working late at night as a plumber “on a really clogged sewer system in a skyscraper,” he felt a tug to get back on his bike. After a friend informed him she was planning a cycling trip across Canada, Rigaux decided to join in.
“I do ride my brakes a little harder. But I think for the most part, I have gotten over (the accident). I have been riding a lot, and my leg hasn’t been giving me very many issues,” he said. “It’s something I won’t fully ever quit doing. Biking is too much fun.”
Rigaux plans on embarking on the trip in May, though the pair’s specific timelines haven’t been nailed down yet.
“The (experience reminded me) that tomorrow isn’t a guarantee,” he said. “The injury doesn’t stop me wanting to do stuff. It gave me a bit more perspective.”
