dp126au

Got hit by a car the other day while I was on the way to the pool!!!! No real damage except egop and sore shoulder. Wife has now banned me from riding of a night in Winter . This one was the last straw after 3 near misses in this week.

Oh well back to the exercise bike :-(

izgod

Dog, that's awful! Glad to hear you were not seriously injured.
I had a serious accident about six months ago, still recovering, but riding. Of course I don't have a wifey to stop me from doing anything. But friends and the few still living relatives raised their eyebrows a bit and I got, "Don't you think you're just a little too old for this?" The day I stop riding is the day I hang up my hat for good.
I'm only 59. Not riding is not an option for me. If I die in an accident, I'll die happy.
Peace.

powers2b

Tell her to get in the kitchen and make you a pie.
While she's in there sneak out for a ride to the ice cream stand.

Enjoy

Gus Riley

I feel for you. My wife knows better, she might try, but after 30 years together she knows me too well to give it much serious thought...I won't "obey".

slickrock

I also was hit by a car 7 months ago and got back on the bike after 6 weeks. I put more lights on my body (I had some before) and had to keep riding to get over the "mental part". My wife is not too thrilled with my riding again but as she said "I can't stop him". Hang in there and start riding again when it's light outside. Good luck.

John E

Several years ago, my wife gave up on-road cycling entirely, out of fear of motor vehicles. (I was hit by a car in 1976, -- concussion, clavicle fracture, permanent facial scar -- but the experience upset her far more than me.) She tolerates my bicycling, because she knows I would never give it up. As a compromise, I am extremely selective about my routes, weather conditions, etc. I just figure that, for me anyway, the mental, emotional, and physical benefits of cycling outweigh the obvious risks.

kf5nd

how come you had 3 near misses in a week and a crash? you're doing something very wrong

dp126au

1st One, I was riding through a Round about almost out the other side. Lady driver comes straight through brushed me and hit the car next to me. Her explination "Didn't know I had to give way to bikes and didn't see the car" !!!

2nd one, I was riding happily down a main road in the bike lane Parked car opens door and leaves me no where to go but down.

3rd one, group of young fellas think bikes shouldn't be on the road and decide to play chicken with my back tyre.

Accident: Car drives up behind me hits back wheel I fall off. It was about six pm bad light so I guess the driver had some excuse even though I had a flashing red light on the back, a white strobe light on the front and I was wearing a bright yellow bike jersey with reflective stripes.

Not sure how I could have avoided any of the above, other than riding on the foot path.


If you have any ideas let me know.

Siu Blue Wind

She is only worried for you. You are a part of her that she wouldn't want to see get hurt, maimed or killed. Maybe a little sacrifice here, some compromise there and a comfortable solution can be obtained!

Blackberry

My wife and I took out life insurance policies on each other, so now it's just pretty much of a waiting game.

Maybe if she took out a large life insurance policy on you, she'd allow you to play in traffic. :

Velo Dog

You're walking a fine line here, and I don't envy you. On one hand, my wife and I share in almost all major decisions--I respect her opinions and generally pay attention. In this case, though, I might resist, if not now, then certainly in September when it starts getting dark early.
For the record, though, are you wearing reflective clothes, with lights or at least reflectors on the bike, and doing what you can to protect yourself? I'm surprised every year at the number of dumb@sses I see riding at night in black tights and dark jerseys, with no lights or reflectors. Those people DESERVE to be hit....

webist

Would you hit one of 'em on purpose?

John E

Avoid riding in the "door zone," even if this entails riding in the main travel lane, instead of the bike lane. I fully share the bike lane haters' opinion of bike lanes in door zones.

kf5nd

We don't have round-abouts here (thank god), so I've no advice to give. Our rules for giving way in round-abouts differ here anyway.

You were riding in the door zone; need to move away from the parked cars.

Kids playing with you - that's a hard one, but for me I'd escape off the road, brake hard, and let them go by. They won't stop to continue their game. You can see these kinds of jokers a long way off if you are scanning traffic with a mirror. You can just tell when someone is going to mess with you, they start tracking right behind you. I spoil their fun when they are still 30 meters back, and just leave the road.

Again, at a stop I'm always scanning in the mirror for whoever is coming up on my rear, how fast they are coming, how close they are getting to me, and I always have an out. I never want to be sandwiched between two cars. You can get killed that way, or lose your legs.

bcspain

What the hell is a "round-about?"

serotta

Similar to what we would call a traffic circle, with roads and options shooting out all around the 360 degrees. They take the place of our intersections.

DougG

I had my first fall from a bicycle last week since from when I was a kid (just getting back into it seriously, too). I can tell you, though, that after riding motorcycles for the last 35+ years, I think in a lot of ways it can easily be a lot worse to crash a bicycle than a motorcycle (speaking from experience, now having done both ). On the motorcycle, I wore full coverage, padded gear with gloves and a full-coverage helmet. On the bike I was wearing shorts and a light jersey -- no padding -- and bike helmets are OK but there's certainly not a lot there. The bike went down so fast that I couldn't get even think about getting my feet unclipped, so I ended up landing heavily on my shoulder plus must have hit my head since my helmet liner was cracked.

Overall, it was not a serious injury, but I had two skinned and bleeding knees and a very sore shoulder that's still with me. I've taken a higher-speed fall on a motorcycle (race track) and just picked myself up and walked away from it. Needless to say, I've got a new respect for taking care when bicycling!

Doug G