So I'm riding along in midtown yesterday on the right side and I was making my way to the middle lane where it was faster when someone hails a cab about half a block ahead of me and this desperate cabbie cuts across 2 lanes of traffic for the pick up, wangs into my rear wheel, I go flying off onto the right (as always), landed on my right knee, rolled to my shoulder and my head hits the ground but not too bad cause there's only a small ding in my helmet.

Isn't it funny that the first thing you do after an accident is run back to see if your bike's ok. Cab driver's like what are you doing, blah blah and I didn't want to be late for lunch with my girlfriend so I said "i'll settle this next time" and took off because I thought it was just another minor spill.

So I get there, lock up my bike, grab lunch. And only then did I realize a) when I fell, the lump of flesh that had formed on top of the last scab from the last fall had ripped off, b) my knee hurts, c) the ingrown toenail I had was jammed in even further by the fall and I didn't realize it and d) it was only later on that I realized while my bike was parked on a busy street, some dick stole the little multitool I had stashed under my seat.

My rear wheel taco'ed but was still plenty ridable and I rode it home. Fixed it up but now in order to stay true and tensioned, some of the spokes are so tight that the only course of action that I have is to loosen some on the other side to the point where it really feels loose. Is this safe?

And I must've falled about 3-4 times now each time flipping over to the right side so the bike always lands on the rear derailler. The thing *looks* pretty fragile but it's still there and shifts so I can't complain but can anything be damaged internally?

I hope your wounds heal fast, but if I were you I'd be getting that bike checked ASAP. Guess we all have those days. I see your taxi drivers are morons just like ours.

Do you have an ID on that cabbie? I think a little jail time would be good for him.

Paul

Or at least a pink slip. If you can report just the time and approximate location to the company, that might be enough.

Nah I got nothing. Only thing going through my mind was, "moron hit me, oh **** how's my bike, wait, i'm fine, bike seems ok, i'm late for my lunch, my bike's fine, i'm hungry." Not a very public person in that aspect, when I realize, I'm alive and well, everything's fine, I tend to get along on my way

I have to admit, drivers usually are a lot more alert about bikers in the city since there are so many delivery guys around, they're pretty much everywhere. While I wouldn't recommend jail time for something that was probably a fluke, I would ask him what the f**k he was thinking cutting across 2 lanes to pick up someone when there were perfectly good cabs right behind me.

I ran into a car at a pretty good clip once and what I did afterwards was pretty shameful so I guess this is life turning full circle...

What actually angered me more was later as I was fixing up the bike, I said to myself, what dick stole my tool!

If he gets away with it once, he'll not think twice about doing it again. The next cyclist may not be so lucky. Report him next time!

Dang, man! Hope you're ok!

Ya, that was a real bad on that cabbie. He needs to pay up for a new wheel. Don't set yourself up for any more problems--get the bike checked out!

Pete

I guess I'm of a different mentality. If someone knocks me off my bike and damages any of my stuff, no matter how minor, they're gonna pay for replacements.