boggy

Today is the first day I commuted to work after bike/car collision I experienced in March. It feels good to be back! My leg is not fully healed yet after open fracture, and I am limping heavily while walking, but I am just fine on the bike. I could not use my choice pedals after the accident - the Shimano Ultegra. I just could not get my foot off those pedals, the lateral force required to snap out was too much for my leg. I was able to start riding again after switching to Speedplay X2 - and I just love the new pedals now. Takes no force to get in and out, and very comfortable to ride.

What bothers me a little, is that everyone thinks I am crazy. My family and co-workers can't comprehend how I can ride again after an accident like that, and yadda yadda yadda. I just hate having zero support in the whole affair.

ckaspar

Not true. You have my support.

I was hit a few weeks back as well and after just 3 days off I was was back and riding. Friends and family fully supported me. Mine wasn't nearly as bad as yours though. Either way it makes reality hit home that we are more vulnerable out on the bike.

Just ask your family and co-workers what they would do if they got a broken leg in a car accident? Would they stop driving? I doubt it. Why should you not ride anymore?

cehowardGS

Don't worry about them, it is about you, and you are doing GREAT!!

A bicycle car collision IMO, is about as worst at it can get. To survive one IMO, is just short of miracle. A bicyclist doesn't have nothing but a flimsy helmet up against 3000+ lbs of moving steel. I hear a lot of peeps complaining about bright lights bother motorists. Well, when I come out I got bright lights, lots of them. I don't ever want to be one of those "oh I didn't see him"..

Again, you get big props from me, and don't worry about the jones.

bowser29

+1 support. i admire your resiliency

did you have to get new shoes when you switched to speedplays?

boggy

No, I kept the same Shimano shoes. Speedplays came with 3 hole platforms that attach to shoe before the rest of the cleat goes on. It also came with whole bunch of little plastic adapters to make better fit, but I did not have to use any of those.

Also I was totally impressed with the package when I got those speedplays. It's packaged like an Apple product, very nice presentation. Made in US from US made parts. Very solid design. I am a total convert now

globie

Welcome back!
I can relate to your having to bear the comments, but nobody else can do the benefits/risk analysis for you.
I got plunked in March, too, but not like yours. I needed a new bike but resumed commuting immediately. Non-cyclists think I'm crazy, but cyclists understand.
I'd say the odds against somebody jumping a red light when you're right in front of them again are in your favor.

sauerwald

Why is it that when a motorist gets in an accident, and goes out and replaces his car and goes back to driving, nobody considers him crazy?

KonAaron Snake 

I'm going through the same thing - I was hit in April (broken tibia plateau) and am just starting to walk. I'm not really supposed to be back on a bike for a few months, but I'm cheating. My wife has been amazingly supportive, but most think I'm bonkers. I probably am, and I'm definitely freaked after this last one.

ckaspar

My wife got creamed in our truck last year. The second question we were asked, "What car are you going to get now?" I get "creamed" on my bike and the second question I am asked is "Your not still going to ride are you?"

The first question is both incidents was obviously, "Are you OK?"

Weird huh?

KonAaron Snake 

It might have something to do with cars having seat belts and a metal cage around the person. I'd much rather get hit in a car.

Surrealdeal

I just read through that original story, what a travesty of justice.

I am glad that you are up on two wheels again - that takes some huevos, after what you've been through.

wphamilton

Not crazy. Exceptional. They just don't understand that, and they see it as risky without realizing that nobody can know the risks and rewards now better than you do.

El Gigante

My hats off to you. I was involved in a bike-ped collision back in March that wasn't nearly as nasty as yours, and I definitely had a case of the yips when I got back on the road. Just keep your head on a swivel, ride like everyone is out to get you, and you'll do fine. Also, remember the mantra, MSTDASY* and stay safe out there!!



* Make Sure the Dumb Ass Sees You!

DwarvenChef

"Get back on the bike" is a saying I live by After getting hit by at least 10 cars that I can remember My youth was not spent in a safty bubble... I always got back on what ever bike I could get working again.

My hats off to ya, keep it up

JohnMcL7

That's what I was going to say as in the car you're usually surrounded by all manner of crash protection systems whereas on a bike you don't have much and even at low speeds can come off pretty bad.

To the OP, I think it's great you're keen to get back on the bike as I think it would a real shame if an idiot of a driver ruined your cycling. Looking at your pictures it looks like you were very unlucky to be hit by someone just not paying any attention at all, I realise there are other bad car drivers out there but hopefully something like that shouldn't happen again.

John

gerv 

But if you had been in a car accident, would they question your sanity in getting behind the (car) wheel?

Good luck with your recovery and remember that it might take a while, but you will heal. I was in an accident in mid-March. Broke 4 ribs and was out 6 weeks. Just need to be patient. Riding is actually pretty good now that I'm healed (although don't expect everything to be 100% right away... some aches and pains may linger a while.)

BassNotBass

+1.

It never ceases to amaze me how people lay the onus of an incident on the victim rather than the perp. The question people should be asking is how the car driver could keep driving a car after taking out an innocent cyclist.

a1penguin

Congrats on your first commute, boggy. Be safe out there.

KonAaron Snake 

This really isn't that hard to understand, and the issue of who hit who is irrelevant. In a car you have a steel cage designed to protect you and seat belts, airbags, bumpers, etc. On a bike any incident is going to result in injury and/or pain. A hit at 15mph can easily be a fatality. I think I'm less likely to be hit on a bike, but when I am hit, it's going to be a lot worse. That attitude of cycling with huge 2000 pound machines is dangerous is rooted in reality. It doesn't mean we shouldn't do it, but let's be reasonable here - it's perfectly understandable, even logical, for people to question how we do this.

I am illogical...I hate driving. I'm not very good at it and I have phobias rooted in a bus accident from when I was a young kid where several died. I feel safer on a bike and I prefer being on a bike. That feeling is emotional, not logical. I'd be much safer doing a city commute in a car. I am very spooked about riding again after the crash in April...I was kidding myself believing that my experience, attention to detail and riding skill made me safe. It makes me safer, but an idiot can (and did) still steal several months of my life from me. I'm fortunate that my wife has been VERY encouraging and supportive of getting back to something that gives me a great deal of joy. Let's not be ridiculous though - a car is much safer than a bike in most conditions.

boggy

I don't hate driving as such, I just got a brand spanking new 2012 Honda CR-V. My 2011 Fuji SST 2.0 is a lot more enjoyable to ride though Cycling is my form of meditation and stress control, and I was not able to find anything else with equal impact for me. I tried, but nothing sticks. I have indoor rowing machine and recumbent bike at home, and I tried going to gym and doing yoga, tried swimming in a pool on daily basis - nothing quite works as well with me as a daily commute to work on a bike...

dynodonn 

My thoughts as well.

To the OP, in saying that the motorist wasn't charged for anything, didn't the motorist receive a ticket for failure to stop at red signal light, much less hitting someone in the process?

Steely Dan

i got hit by a bus last spring. the bike was totaled, but i was mostly in one piece. i was off the bike for about 3 weeks nursing various minor fractures, sprains, bruises, gashes, etc.

after i was in the pink, i was right back on the bike back to the daily commuting grind. some people might have quietly questioned my decision to ride again, but all who know me well know that i'm so hopelessly cuckoo for cycling that there was never any doubt about whether i'd get back on a bike and ride everyday.

Big Lebowski

Amen on the want to ride for stress control.

Glad you're back.

boggy

The pictures in my thread about the accident came from traffic light camera that is there for a single purpose of issuing tickets to people that run red lights. So, the driver that hit me did get a ticket for running red light. This is it. Just a regular ticket for running red light. Driver did not get anything else.

Considering how screwed you get for DUI, I find it very unfair for someone to run over pedestrian or cyclist and don't get into any trouble at all... There are three ways to get them into real trouble when something like this happens:

1. You have to be able to prove they did this on purpose. It is then turning into either attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon. The law does not look kindly to either of those offences.
2. You have to be able to prove they run you over while driving recklessly. Running red light at posted speed limit does not qualify as reckless driving. Running cyclist over at posted speed limit can easily kill you (it would probably kill me if I happened to land on the windshield. I was lucky to miss most of the car). Running red light at twice the posted speed limit IS considered reckless driving, and would almost guarantee your demise.
3. You have to be able to prove the driver was driving under influence.

boggy

Here's little bit in regards to accidents and resulting penalty, this happened to Matthew Broderick

All he got for that was $175 fine, less than a fine for running red light:

I am not saying he should have rotted behind bars being young and talented fellow, but $175??? Really???