My Bike Accident
Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:56 pm
I could've done without the bike accident I had last night. Really, I don't mind a nice boring (safe) ride home.
It was on the way home, about 3 blocks from my house, the bike's front wheel fell into a deep groove in the sidewalk (going downhill fast). My bike spun out into the street, I fell backward's, hitting my helmet and sliding along on my back.
I suffered a severely cracked helmet, tore through my jacket's back, scrapped up both hands, have deep bruise-type pain in my upper back and right hip. I was dazed as i lay there on the sidewalk. As soon as I gathered a few of my wits, I pulled my bike out of the street. I stood up and checked out the damage to my bike. All I could see was a severely bent front wheel. Then I called my wife. Among other questions, she asked where I was. I couldn't answer! I could not for the life of me remember the street names that I have lived by for 20 years. I knew the WAY home and that I was close, but not the street names.
I started walking my bike home and my wife ran down to help. I still felt rather dazed, but getting better. Later on, my wife mentioned that I told her on the phone about a driver who pulled over near where I was lying and asked if I needed help. Weird thing is, I had no recollection of this event! Scary! About an hour later, it came back to me, hazily.
According to what we looked up on the internet, I did not have enough symptoms to warrant an emergency room visit. Short term memory loss is rather common.
Looking at the EIGHT big cracks through my helmet, it's frightening to think about what would've happened had I not worn it. When I was growing up, no one had helmets. No big deal... right? Well, I'm a believer now!
The offending sidewalk hazard is one I've successfully avoided 50 times or more now. It just took over-confidence and a momentary loss of concentration... From now on, I will slow down a lot to maneuver around this hazard. I'm also glad I had front and rear superbright lights flashing on my bike. I'm sure it helped the driver notice me go down. And had I been really unlucky and fell INTO the street, the lights would've surely helped to avert a deadly collision.
I got a new helmet today, and the bike shop fixed up my bike, so I'm ready to go again tomorrow. Gotta get right back on that horse, ya know...
I'm thinking I might add a helmet mounted light as well. I hear the nice thing about helmet lights is that the light is directed right where I'm looking. I'm going to do some research on that. I don't mind being lit up like it's christmas. Modern LED lights are bright and energy efficient. I'd rather look like a rolling holiday show than become road kill.
To my fellow bikers: be prepared, wear the helmet, use lights at night, learn your routes and it's hazards in the daytime, and slow down for known hazards, especially at night!
Arrive alive!
It was on the way home, about 3 blocks from my house, the bike's front wheel fell into a deep groove in the sidewalk (going downhill fast). My bike spun out into the street, I fell backward's, hitting my helmet and sliding along on my back.
I suffered a severely cracked helmet, tore through my jacket's back, scrapped up both hands, have deep bruise-type pain in my upper back and right hip. I was dazed as i lay there on the sidewalk. As soon as I gathered a few of my wits, I pulled my bike out of the street. I stood up and checked out the damage to my bike. All I could see was a severely bent front wheel. Then I called my wife. Among other questions, she asked where I was. I couldn't answer! I could not for the life of me remember the street names that I have lived by for 20 years. I knew the WAY home and that I was close, but not the street names.
I started walking my bike home and my wife ran down to help. I still felt rather dazed, but getting better. Later on, my wife mentioned that I told her on the phone about a driver who pulled over near where I was lying and asked if I needed help. Weird thing is, I had no recollection of this event! Scary! About an hour later, it came back to me, hazily.
According to what we looked up on the internet, I did not have enough symptoms to warrant an emergency room visit. Short term memory loss is rather common.
Looking at the EIGHT big cracks through my helmet, it's frightening to think about what would've happened had I not worn it. When I was growing up, no one had helmets. No big deal... right? Well, I'm a believer now!
The offending sidewalk hazard is one I've successfully avoided 50 times or more now. It just took over-confidence and a momentary loss of concentration... From now on, I will slow down a lot to maneuver around this hazard. I'm also glad I had front and rear superbright lights flashing on my bike. I'm sure it helped the driver notice me go down. And had I been really unlucky and fell INTO the street, the lights would've surely helped to avert a deadly collision.
I got a new helmet today, and the bike shop fixed up my bike, so I'm ready to go again tomorrow. Gotta get right back on that horse, ya know...
I'm thinking I might add a helmet mounted light as well. I hear the nice thing about helmet lights is that the light is directed right where I'm looking. I'm going to do some research on that. I don't mind being lit up like it's christmas. Modern LED lights are bright and energy efficient. I'd rather look like a rolling holiday show than become road kill.
To my fellow bikers: be prepared, wear the helmet, use lights at night, learn your routes and it's hazards in the daytime, and slow down for known hazards, especially at night!
Arrive alive!
Debs