An interrupted ride

Yesterday, Monday, it was chilly and damp when I went out to pick up the paper. There was a little rain Sunday and although the forecast was for dry, I decided I didn't want to ride in this weather. So I drove to the gym and jogged 40 minutes on a treadmill. Ironically, by the time I left the gym it was a bright, sunny day and I felt bad about not riding. So today, Tuesday, which would by plan be a jogging day, I went for a ride instead. Toward the end of the ride, something rather odd happened.

Rancho San Antonio Park

I opted to ride a moderate route, south on Foothill boulevard to Rancho San Antonio County Park. The attraction there for me is that on a hill at the entry, model airplane hobbyists are usually to be found flying their creations. Indeed today there were several men flying not regular planes but model autogyros.

I watched for a bit and wasted a lot of pixels trying to catch the little machines in the air.

Strange Incident

A couple of miles from home, crossing through an intersection, I became aware of something wrong with the vision in my right eye. I pulled over as soon as I could. My first thought was a visual migraine, something I get once a year or so, but this was not at all the same. A visual migraine is a scintillating transparent arc that starts in the center of the visual field and gradually expands outward, lasting typically 30 minutes until it works its way out of my peripheral vision.

What I saw now was quite different. First, it was only in my right eye, not both. And second, it was an irregular, opaque, pink arc that had appeared in the upper left of the field.

Later I worked out the perfect description: put your right hand against your brow as if you were saluting. Now, curl your forefinger down to make a half circle obstructing the inner part of your right eye. That's what it was like, except the pink blotch had no texture or shape. It could have been painted on the inside of my glasses. The bright autumn sky and trees and road were all clear except where the pink blob was.

Second thought: retinal detachment. Agh! I called home but Marian was out. So I cranked up the assist level to 3 and pedalled home, looking up as much as possible out of some notion that gravity might settle a retinal tear.

In fact, the pink blob thinned and disappeared in about ten minutes and was gone when I reached the house. Nevertheless, I hurriedly changed to street clothes and drove to the Palo Alto Clinic where, eventually, my eyes were dilated and examined. All OK; no signs of tears or separations, no swellings or other indications of a constricted blood supply. (And I had not had the common symptoms of retinal damage: lots of floaters and odd flashes.)

So, no problems found—and no diagnosis. Might have been an anomolous migraine. Anyway, an early end to the ride.