1-bike accident on tandem
I'm writing about an accident I had to see if anyone can help me explain it and to see if others have had anything similar happen. I have a Longbike Gulfstream. This is a USS LWB tandem recumbent. I have taken it to France twice with my wife, and have also ridden it quite a lot alone. I'm a moderately experienced rider.
6 weeks ago I was riding down a fairly steep road. It came to a T and a left-hand turn. Fair amount of traffic. I stopped at the bottom, waited for traffic, then set off turning left. Within a second or two I was on the ground. The bike fell to the left, my foot stayed on the pedal (simple, no clip), and the central bar went through my left shin, breaking both shin bones.
A friend brought my bike back (I was in an ambulance) and said that the front tire was flat. I hadn't noticed that, but it certainly could have been flat or just gone flat. I had been thinking about the hill and the traffic.
Has anyone had an injury like this? There was no involvement with any car. Can anyone see how it could happen? What role would the presumably flat tire have played? Have people seen similar accidents on this type of bike?
Thanks for any comments.