Ever have to clean blood off of your bike?(many photos)
So, I had been meaning to take some photographs of my new surly, which I named 'luck hucker', and show it off here to all of you.
I wish I had been able to do this under better circumstances.
So I was riding home from a friends house last night, where we imbibed a few beers and some whiskey, so I was feelin' pretty good. Not drunk, by any means, but a little tipsy.
I was somewhere near Kimball and Division in chicago, though I'm not really sure exactly where, as it all gets a little fuzzy.
I was riding along and I swerved right a little bit to avoid a woman who was crossing the street. I immediately noticed a group of dudes on the curb on the right. One of them starts to walk into the street, so I swerve a little left to avoid him.
As I was passing him, he CRACKED me in the face with some sort of heavy stick/broom handle/small baseball bat.
I hear from the crowd: "DAMN!"....laughter.....
Which I took to mean something like: "Damn! You got that guy GOOD!"
This all happened pretty fast. I was probably doing about 16MPH.
I kept riding. I peeled my glasses off of my face and they crumbled into pieces, so I threw them to the ground. Then the blood.
SO much blood simply pouring down my face, all over myself and my bike. I didn't think it was too bad, but there was so much blood.
I managed to call my girlfriend while riding and screamed something incoherent and probably very frightening to her like....."Just whacked in the face!....baseball bat.....blood everywhere!....those GO#@AMN FU*$#RS!!....I'm almost home..." Hung up.
The rest of the ride home was a blur, and I am probably VERY lucky that I didn't crash or get hit by a car, because I don't really remember it. I got home and ran to the shower, started to wash my head, and when I looked in the mirror I knew it was BAD. The girlfriend called 911 and the ambulance showed up in about 5 minutes, which is really fast. The medics called the cops and took me to the ER.
The ER doc said that the gash was almost down to my skull. I got 5 internal stitches and 10 or so regular stitches, and 2 days off work.
I had visions of what might have happened if I had stopped, or been knocked down, and I really don't want to think of it.
I also had visions of what might have happened if I had a gun or some other kind of weapon, and how I could have stopped and beat the hell out of these idiots. That was only a flash of anger though, and I can't think of ANYTHING that I could have done in retaliation to this senseless violence that would make any sense of it or make me feel any better.
Senseless violence is just that, and there is NO JUSTIFIABLE VIOLENT answer to it. It sure does raise a good deal of anger and disbelief though.
So, without any further adieu, my Surly Luck Hucker.
I think I will take the rest of the stickers off because it is decidedly unlucky.....
Wow, you're really lucky that wasn't worse. Head injuries usually do bleed profusely, just think of the trail of blood you must have left behind. I hope you heal well and soon.
I rode home after cutting my forehead playing at a friends house when I was about 7. I was far from home for me then, and knew it must have been bad when so many adults noticed the bleeding and asked me to stop so they could call my parents.
humboldt park is a rough area. I lived there years ago when I was in Chicago - plenty of gangs and robberies. I've heard it's getting better these days...although a friend of mine was shot at point blank in the chest about 2 years ago in HP and died instantly. Victim of a armed mugged at 4am @ north and campbell. He was riding home from under bar and the guy knocked him off his bike.
I hope you heal up man.
that is terrible news.
Last edited by Geordi Laforge; 04-09-09 at 04:28 PM.
I live in Chicago and bad things happen everyday. Drinking increases these risks. This might be your wake-up call.
Michael
Thanks for that.
The ER doc told me that being slightly intoxicated was what probably allowed me ignore the pain and keep going.
I don't need a wake up call, but thank you for your condescendence anyway.
Thanks for that.
The ER doc told me that being slightly intoxicated was what probably allowed me ignore the pain and keep going.
I don't need a wake up call, but thank you for your condescendence anyway.
Listen, I'm sorry if I sound judgemental. Its not my intention. You are a victom of a near fatal assalt. The assalt is not your fault.
I've lost friends to violent attacks from strangers in Chicago. I've raised 3 kids in Chicago. I have a certain radar about bad situations. If the situation doesnt feel right, I move to safety ASAP.
Drinking reduces the ability to make urgent judgements about risk. That's what I'm saying.
You are correct that retaliation is pointless--best to just get your @$$ out of there. Well done.
But for the benefit of the rest of us, what would you do differently next time in order to avoid such an incident? Route change? Better awareness of surroundings? Motorcycle helmet?
Originally Posted by MajorMantra
Cycling (taken to the typical roadie extreme) causes you to cough up your own soul as every fibre of your worthless being sings in choral agony. Once you embrace the pain everything is dandy.
@barrett-- It's cool man, I understand your point, I simply disagree with it. I also have lived in the city a long time, and I know how to steer clear of dangerous situations. I don't think being sober in this case would have made any difference. Except maybe that I would have been in much more pain....maybe even stopped. Well, probably not.
@jefferee--- I won't be riding through humboldt park area at night anymore. I won't pass peds (if at all possible) within striking distance. Not sure what else I could have done to avoid this. Randumb....
I got hit in the head with a 2x4 and jacked for my bag back in the early 90s when I rode courier in Cleveland. Thank goodness you were able to ride away from yours. Hope you heal up soon.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to my Tour de Cure ride! With matching funds, I raised over $1500 this year. :-)
I hardly know what to say but glad you could keep riding! I commute through some high risk areas for that sort of thing in New Orleans. Even today I thought this guy was making his move on me. I also get grief around here for my riding style in my videos - running lights, riding double yellow lines etc. ANYTHING to stay away from the "edges" where knuckleheads lurk or to present them with a stationary target.
Heal up man. Hopefully that was a once in a lifetime event.
why did you wash the blood off? those are battle scars for the bike. no one is gonna steal a bio hazard bike. imo some of the splashes of blood looked really cool, like the top tube.
clarification. so you got hit. did you go down or somehow keep balance and kept on riding in a ton of pain? also were you wearing a helmet? and really how did you get home bleeding that much? i'm glad you didn't stop, but how did you keep on going?
real cyclist can bunny hop potholes on a recumbent.
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Originally Posted by Barrettscv
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