HereNT

Seems stupid but...

I just had to watch a friend of mine somersault onto the rear end of a parked car a couple of hours ago - he had just lost a lens in his glasses and the screw too... The frame is shot, but he's okay...

I now feel bad because I should have been leading since I had the lights and helmet and lenses. Problem is we did a bit of a race on the way to the bar that we just left (I dusted him fixed uphill) and he had a lot more gear inches than me...

I'm probably going to have to call him in the morning to see if he needs some of my leftover codine from my wisdom tooth... It hurt seeing it... and he was already swollen an inch or more out on his left shin...

He didn't see the car, and only had 4 beers (long time span) - it was the glasses that made it so he didn't see the car.

If you need corrective lenses, USE THEM!!! My eyesight is worse than his, and now it's his frame that got bent out of usability.

Anyways...

glenghillie

Makes sense. Make sure he watches for a clot in his shin if it has swollen like that. As, prin may help reduce the risk.

Although I think we are all guilty of sharing let over meds..I have given a friend whatg was left of my phenigrin before...codine is not something I would suggest. If he has taken it before the risk of problems is minimal. If he is in a lot of pain have him go to a Dr. He can ask is Codine is appropriate and if he is given a rx for it, and the strenght, etc match, giving him your leftovers wouldn't seem like a problem.

The only reason I write this is when I coached I had a girl allergic to asprin, she asked for tylenol and another girl had it. Later she actually looked at the pills again and they were asprin. Luckily not enough time had elapsed for digestion and player 1 was able to reguritate the pills almost whole and we had to give her charchol to counteract what was left. Luckily we had no problems, but it could have been much worse.

HereNT

He's taken it before (broken ankle twice)- he sent out an email this morning letting us know he was still alive but hurting... hasn't asked for the codine. I just know that I'd be looking for something a little stronger than asprin to take the edge off if I'd done what he did... The main reason I was offering was because he doesn't have medical insurance right now - the office visit and prescription could add up...

I may have to look him up later today and buy him a few shots of whiskey though - that's what they used to use as a painkiller, right?

Asprin to reduce clotting is a good idea though...

glenghillie

no insurance is hard on people. My DH had to go without it for almost a year.

If the whisky doesn't ease the pain it will at least put him in a better mood.

OregonBound

OK, at the risk of being flamed, he didn't have lights, no glasses, no helmet, and 4 beers (even over a "long" time) when he smashed into the back end of a parked car. Let's try to imagine if this was a car driver who was driving with no headlights, no seatbelt, no glasses, and had come from a bar where he had four beers before he crashed into the back of a stopped cyclist. Everyone on this board would be calling for his death and moaning about those murdering drivers.

My guess is this had a lot more to due with drunk and dumb, than just plain poor vision. Sorry he got hurt and I hope he learned something from this.

Paul

Ryan

Anyone who drinks should not operate anything on a public road, your friend should be ashamed of his self.

Roughstuff

Gee man, that is just tho cool! Drunk driving cyclith! What a great contwibution to the fabwic of human hithtory.

Maybe John Kerry will drive his bike off the bridge in Chappaquidick after having a few brewskies and really cement his Kennedy legacy?


On another note: corrective lenses or not, all cyclists should have on some kind of eyewear. I was on a bike trip on Vt rt 30 a couple years ago when a junebug hit my left lens and knocked it out entirely! You can imagine the result if i did not have eyewear on. The fancier brand names are very light, fashionable and do a good job at screening out unwanted UV rays as well.

roughstuff

HereNT

Okay - a few things :

1) He was on his bike, not a car. That's saying something.
2) He didn't hurt the car, only himself - much different than a car.
3) He has ridden after drinking before - the difference here was the glasses - it was the proverbial straw that flipped the camel upside down on the trunk of the car.
4) He almost learned something from this - while we were waiting for his ride to his art studio, he was saying it 'almost' made him want a helmet... that's the biggest idiot thing I think he does.
5) He was riding a bike that coasts and has brakes - if he didn't have those things, he'd probably have been paying more attention. I know if I found out there was something in front of me, the bike would immediatly be going slower, and I would be turning/swerving around it. He only relied on brakes, which don't always work that well (especially when your hands are on bar ends and you have to move them and lose steering control to even touch the brakes). Sometimes it's better to just avoid things, and not rely on your brakes....

And finally :

6) Though it's probably going to make everyone here hate me, I myself am usually over the legal limit almost every time I ride. So far there's only been one incident, and that was years ago that there was a real problem (and that was a lot more than just beer) But I don't even leave the house without corrective lenses. When it's raining, I wear contacts. If I get caught in the rain with glasses, I stop and clean them pretty often.

I dunno - it's just that seeing where you are going is one of the most important things when riding. I use lights at night to see where I am going and to be seen...

And BTW, I think my buddy's still fine - I saw him yesterday and the swelling had gone down almost completely. There was a lot of dried blood on his shin that came out over the intervening 24 hours, but it was mainly from dripping, not anything serious. What I think is funny is that we got together after he went to collect some $ from a deadbeat client that had been bouncing checks and making excuses for awhile. I imagine that they were more than happy to pay the crazy bloody guy... Probably better than hiring goons...

hollow

I think you summed it up perfectly.

Ebbtide

General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) is available to those w/o insurance. You actually live in a good State for that, you should check it out for future crashes.

greaper007

The only problem I see with drunk cycling is the effect it can have on you (dui, injury, death). Otherwise, who cares is someone is drinking and biking. It's not like he'll run into a schoolbus and kill a bunch of kids. So seriously what's the big deal. We're all adults and we can make decisions about personal risk.

OregonBound

Considering this gem, plus your avatar, have you considered that you have a drinking problem?

Paul

HereNT

Never occured to me - but now it's all clear... And here I thought drinking was the soloution for everything that I hate in life. I'll go check into Betty Ford....

Tomorrow.

My point in posting wasn't meant to be the drinking and riding - it's not what caused this crash. It might have been a contributing factor, but what made him wreck was not wearing his glasses. I think that was a lot more of an impairment for him than the 4 beers.

I could be wrong, but I do have a lot of experience with drunken riding. My professional drunk's opinion is that it's because of diminished eyesight.

LittleGinseng 

Um, let's say that Mr. Drunk Cyclist doesn't hit the schoolbus, but causes schoolbus to suddenly hit the brakes trying to avoid Mr.D.C. The tractor trailer rig behind the school bus isn't paying attention for just that moment, and careens into the back of the bus. See where I'm going with this?

Drinking and driving/cycling is just plain stupid. You may not get into an accident, but you may still cause one.

holicow

Darwin wins every time, eh?

bkrownd

Is that really true? From the description of the incident I find it hard to believe that the
car didn't get scratched, dinged, dented or something.

bkr

bkrownd

Oh please. Think about it a little bit harder. Drunk cyclist not aware of surroundings swerves into path of car, cyclist smashes through windshield and car loses control. Out-of-control car swerves into pedestrians, other vehicles or on-coming traffic. That doesn't sound dangerous to you? Not to mention the property damage. Even a bicycle driven by an average 150 pound person can easily kill a pedestrian, speaking as a pedestrian who has been hit by a jerk on a bike who refused to follow the traffic rules.

bkr