I got my new IRO Mark V three days ago but had been too busy to put too many miles on it. I had some free time tonight, so I thought I'd take it for a little spin. There I was, riding down a pretty dark street, just cruising along when I roll up to an intersection (I had no stop sign) and see a woman pull up and roll through her stop sign perpendicular to me, but then slow down. I continue to ride toward the intersection thinking she had seen me because she slowed down and just as I get in front of her she accelerates and BAM! I went flying over her hood, did a flip and landed on my back, bumping my head in the process.
I wasn't hurting (adrenaline was flying through my system at that point) so I stood up and immediately ran to check out my bike. The front wheel was destroyed but the rest of the frame seemed well.
A long story short, the woman gave me a ride back to my apartment, gave me her contact info and said to let her know the cost of whatever repairs are needed.
My questions/realizations:
The front wheel is a goner (see pics at bottom of post), but the rest of the frame seems fine. Other than throwing my spare front wheel on and taking it for a spin, what else should I look for/check to make sure everything is still a-ok?
I was riding without a light and without a helmet -- both of which I will be using from now on, and I'm not denying my stupidity for not using them at the time of the wreck.
I realize just because I have the woman's business card, e-mail, etc. doesn't mean she'll actually pony up when it comes time to reconcile the costs, but if she ends up floundering on her end, I don't mind paying for repairs considering I was riding in the dark, wearing dark jeans and a black jacket with no light on a dark street. It's pretty sad it took getting hit by a car to finally make the decision to buckle down and use some safety equipment, but at least I escaped relatively unscathed (I've got a bump on the ol' noggin, but otherwise I'm fine).
Anyway, just wanted to get my story out there as I'm still a little freaked out by it all and needed to get it out of my system. Hope everyone else is safe.