Mkhira2

First post!

I was riding southbound on a popular cycling road here in town (Loop 360), and a car who was turning onto my road failed to see me and clipped the side of my rear wheel, causing me to crash. He admitted full responsibility. I broke my helmet, sustained a few injuries, and my bicycle is totaled. I'm in good spirits.

I'm mainly writing this post for two reasons:

1) To ask you all to please continue to stay as safe as possible out there. You never know what will happen, no matter how safe you are. Accidents happen.

2) To thank you all. A gentleman driving an SUV who I'll likely never meet again saw my accident and stopped to help me while I was lying on the ground. He told me he was a fellow cyclist and offered every bit of time and resource he had to ensure that my immediate needs were met. I took shelter from the wind and the cold in the back of his car while the paramedics looked me over.

The cycling community is a great one to be involved with. I see arguments between us on this message board from time-to-time, but I find comfort in knowing that any of us would do anything we could to help one another out in time of need.

Thanks!

peaches123

Sorry about your luck. I hope you aren't hurt too badly and recover quickly.

thelazywon

Very glad you aren't hurt any worse. Hopefully insurance will get you a new bike. While you're waiting, go post in the "Are Road Bikes Fragile?" thread.

spectastic

sounds like he completely ignored the stop sign and was in a hurry.

ahsposo 

How's the bike?

What a great town to be run over! In Dallas/Ft. Worth they would have taken you to the knacker. In Lubbock they use cyclists as target practice.

rangerdavid

Wow!! and the other driver who hit you didn't even stop?? what an ass.........


Glad you're not hurt worse man, you could have been killed. If I ever get hit, I hope it's in Austin!!

Kuotient

So glad to hear you are ok and that your brain bucket did its job well! I always get anxious about these posts to find out whether or not the car drivers stop or drive away...so I'm also very glad that he claimed responsibility. I've read too many hit-and-run stories in Texas these past few months.

Hope you can get back out there soon! 360 is one of my favorites, although I could do without that darned climb right before you hit Bee Cave heading southbound!

Kuotient

Nope...even though Austin has a lot of cyclists, it's still Texas.

zandoval 

Wow man - Welcome to the forum and great to see you are OK - I was never a big fan of helmets but one saved me from more severe injuries last August when I did a near miss of some feral hogs...

Seems even at slow speeds they are effective - What about the bike - I am over in Bastrop and have a pretty fair sized parts ben for your older bikes...

Carbon Unit

I am very concerned about riding in Austin. I just moved here from Orange County, California. The riding in Irvine was great. Every road has wide bike lanes and motorists mostly treat cyclist well. I never had a close call during the seven years since I took up cycling.

I have lived in Austin since August. My bike is still in storage in California but will be here in less than two weeks. I close escrow next week on a house in Dripping Springs. Cycling in Dripping Springs would be great except there are no bike lanes. I would like to staff off of 360 and 620 if possible but maybe I am just paranoid because I was hit by a car when I was six.

I hope you recover quickly from your car encounter. I hope this event doesn't keep you off of a bike.

Carbon Unit

Please explain. I am a native Californian that has recently moved to Austin.

Kuotient

I don't want to be too much of a debbie downer and scare you from riding in Texas, but there's a lot of the "my truck rules the road, get off and pay road taxes" attitude, which is really a Southern thing I guess. I could very well be generalizing since most of my riding has ever been in Texas, but I've ridden across the country twice, so I have my fair share of experiences.

Austin is a great town for cycling because it's relatively small in geography compared to other Texas towns, and the terrain of the hill country is awesome! It's a great place for the outdoors. A LOT of cyclists ride 360 and various West Austin highways all the time throughout the week. It's definitely always a better idea to ride with others if you can for better visibility purposes. Most hit-and-run or driver intimidation stories typically happen in the city at night, and I'm sure those stories are shared across the country.

But one thing that clouds my mind about the driver-cyclist relationship in Texas is the justice system's seemingly disregard for the life of cyclists. There are several big stories in recent years of car-bike collisions resulting in a cyclist's death due to driver negligence where the driver did stop (sometimes immediately, sometimes not until they realized the bike was being dragged by their car), but the driver always seems to get off with pretty much nothing. It's frustrating because the driver that takes the life of a cyclist gets off easier than the driver that hits another car and causes a few broken bones and bruises.

While Austin is often considered the cycling mecca of Texas (whether by the slowly improving infrastructure or by Lance Armstrong), the attitude towards and treatment of cyclists is nowhere near the likes of the Pacific Northwest or Minneapolis.

the sci guy 

I noticed you are in Houston. I just moved here in August and I've noticed just since then we've had, what, 3+ deaths and several injuries? It's awful here. And you're right, none of the drivers are cited. Do you do Critical Mass?

10 Wheels

It is Not Awful here.

SirHustlerEsq

I had a crash back in November where a car hit me from the side while telling me to get on the sidewalk. I laid in the street for a while with cars honking and driving around me, I remember the heat of exhaust blowing on my from the angry cars. I crawled over to the grass with my severely broken arm...then all the cars left. Eventually someone saw my bike in the road and stopped to help by calling an ambulance and taking my bicycle home for me. I wish I still had that guy's number, he deserves another thank you.

My GF lives in Houston and I visit frequently. I would never, ever considering riding a bicycle in the Houston area in or near the loop. Since you're in Houston, I also encourage you to lock your bicycle to whatever you can when transporting. People are stealing bicycles off roof and hitch-mount racks in traffic jams.

Kuotient

Most of the tragic collisions seem to be at night and in urban, high-traffic areas. Nope, I hate CM, but mainly because I grew up cycling in Austin, and the CM attitude there was to be annoying arses in rush hour traffic. I'm not sure if it still exists, it definitely died for a while because many urban cyclists trying to advance cycling in Austin seemed to disagree with it as well. From what I've read and seen in videos, the Houston CM looks cool and I'm sure it's a fun social ride, but I still don't believe in its message and actual effect. The only mass type of ride I used to do were full moon rides while in college in Austin, but those would start at 12:30am so there was barely any traffic on the streets to interrupt.

I've personally never done any cycling inside the loop as I live in the suburbs, and don't really have a desire to haha. Houston is developing a great network of off-the-road paths though along the Bayous and I think it's a great start towards getting people out on bikes recreationally. But like any multi-use path, it's not ideal for the roadies to train for mileage or speed.

And wow, I haven't heard of bike theft in traffic. It's not really a super fast process to remove bikes from racks, so I can't imagine the driver not having enough time to do something.

dstrong 

Mkhira2...welcome to BF...sorry to hear about your crash but glad you're ok. I've ridden 360 (and Bee Caves, 620, etc.) for the last 6 years. I've had one close call (right hook) and been yelled at a few times...but so far, nothing so dramatic as your experience.

Carbon Unit...welcome to Austin-ish. I LOVE riding out of Dripping...there are some beautiful routes but no bike lanes. PM me and I can send you some route info. I've recently moved down to the Circle C area and ride weekends with the local club. We often head south towards Buda or Southwest towards Dripping. You're welcome to come join the group once your bike gets here to get familiar with the area. There are definitely a few roads you DON'T want to ride on due to high speed traffic and lack of space...so I can help you out there.

Kuotient...nice to see you posting here...ridden across the country lately?

Kuotient

Seattle to NYC this past summer =] Though this time I rotated driving the support van 1/3 of the time as a tour leader!

shoota 

Some of you need to learn some reading comprehension.

the sci guy 

if you're a road rider/commuter it sure is. but the MUPs in THP/GHP are excellent, yes.

Sounds cool. I haven't done a CM yet. Might in the future, not sure.
I live in the west 'burbs as well - Eldridge area. I do GBP and Mason Creek constantly. Great riding!

jerrycan42

I'm sure it will come around and become better over time... TX is awesome is most other regards!

TrojanHorse

How else would he have taken full responsibility? I read it as "he stopped" in which case I give him massive double thumbs up for at least stopping to take his medicine. There are far too many stories of drivers who hit a cyclist and just take off, at least out here in CA.

rangerdavid

somehow I think I skipped that sentence. my bad

Mkhira2

Yes, the driver did stop. He was at my side immediately calling 911 and looking after me. Other than the whole hitting me part, he was a perfect gentleman about the whole thing.

I have never felt unsafe while cycling in Austin, and for the most part, have found drivers to be accepting of the sport.

I will certainly be on my bicycle here again as soon as I heal (and figure out a way to finance a new bicycle while waiting on reimbursement....).

Bah Humbug

Austin is awesome. My girlfriend (Atomic Girl here) is out there right now, on 360 too. Stay safe, everyone.