Today I was on my way home on an alternate route through the city. Crossed "The KILL ZONE" (otherwise known in these parts as 10th Ave. South) Which is the busiest street in Montana, per state traffic statistics. Its a nice sunny hot day. The legs feel great. I feel great. Even got off work an hour early!

Cruizing down 12th St So. after getting through "The KILL ZONE", left on 9th Ave. So., right on 10th St. So., left on 6th Ave. So. to catch the stop light at 9th St. So. (The only way to safely cross 9th St during the day)

I'm cruzing up to the red light. It changes to green. The Pickup on the other side of the intersection is waiting on me to cross. I'm doing around 19MPH, I stand and begin to hammer so I can clear the intersection quickly. I mean, afterall, the lady driving it was so nice to wait for me instead of cutting in front of me. Seemed to be a nice jesture for me to move it along a bit. A quick check of my "cycloputer" shows my speed to be 23MPH. Ah, I am pleased with myself!

The last thing I remember is making eye contact with lady driver. The next thing I know, I'm laying on the ground about 10 feet in front of my bike!?! The lady in the pickup is yelling at me, "Are you ok!? Are you ok!?" I'm thinking to myself, "Well, I was a second ago!" I got up, grabbed my bike out of the intersection with the rear wheel dragging. My reply to the lady was, "I'm not sure. Thanks for asking." There were a total of 4 vehicles that had seen what happend and stopped to render aid, offer a ride to the hospital, or a ride home. I was filled with warm fuzzies at the out pouring of humanity! I thank them all!

From what was described to me, I sort of endo'd. Not the face plant kind, but I was launched over the bars landing on my back. (left side) I slid a few feet rotating onto my left side. I wonder if I bounced?

Anyway, I get the bike up on the sidewalk and begin trying to figure out why the rear wheel won't spin. I mean, this thing is locked up harder than hard. I can't believe what I see. My left side pannier is wrapped into the spokes and wedged between the rack and wheel!

I pull the pannier loose. Try to figure out why it got caught in the first place. Looks like since it was empty it was flopping around when I was hammering. I guess its just a fluke! (I hope it is a fluke)

I rode the bike the 6 miles home. The bike has some strange new noises. The panniers are ok. The helmet is craked big time. I am very glad I never ride without one! I have a little road rash on my left leg. Nothing real bad. The worst is the softball size hematoma (sp) on my left hip. I also feel like I may have broken a rib in my back on the left. There is a pretty good bruise there too. I also have a cut over my right temple.

Not the worst external carnage, but I just had to share the story. There has been some posts asking why you should wear a helmet. Not to mention, I have to share my "battle wounds." (edit: scars changed to wounds)

You can see the swelling on my left hip in this shot.

My little weenie road rash.

I see no scars

hehe, j/k, glad you're ok

Here is the helmet.

The left side of the helmet.

The inside of the helmet.

Wonder if the shorts and jersey will come clean.

Good god... that helmet really saved your life. Well I'm glad you're ok and all of the cars responded to you. Definitely get that baseball sized lump out of your hip.
Heard a story of someone getting a large twig kicked up from the guy in front of him and that got caught in the front wheel, cracked the fork and off he went. Walked away though, and I'm glad you did too.

Go figure!

Man that lump looks badass though.

What a great example of why we should always wear our helmets!!
Glad your ok!

Wow! Blows to the back of the head can be nasty. Glad to see your helmet gave it's all for you. Give it a place of honor.

The lesson for the day: Keep loose articles secured on the bike. Maybe a bungy cord or similar on that pannier to prevent a repeat performance.

Thanks for the comments guys. I just got back from the doctor. He says that I could have fractured a rib, but that there is no treatment for it. He said if the hip is much worse in the morning then I should go back in and get x-rays. Otherwise, 2 days off from work. (yea right)

I think I'll try the bungie on the panneirs. Actually, I may bolt on some rigid sides to the rack. This is the first problem I have had with my panniers. I'm normally loaded to some extent which keeps them from moving around much. Lesson learned.

Thanks!

... and he walks away..Dude you be 'd man!

Remember eye contact don't cut it 'cept in Bridge.
Always let the big dog go first!

Something else that should be learned from this, too. Never, never let what a motorist does (or doesn't do) change what you are doing. It's entirely possible here that you may have hit some debris on the road and just not seen it in your attempt to get across the intersection quickly. Forget about this whole "they were so nice to me by stopping" attitude. Since when has following the law been a "nicety"?

Sure, it was good that she enquired about your safety after you crashed, but if you were concerned about "holding her up" in anyway, you would have been better to just be more careful proceeding through the intersection in the first place.

Yep, you are right, Chris. If I had simply kept pace and line, I would not have crashed. Live and learn.

Now don't be too hard on yourself. That helmet,reflectant, and hi vis stuff probably saved your life.

But think primal rather than racing. Keep an eye on car's wheels rather than their eyes. As a wheel nearest you begins to move, you'll know when you're in trouble more quickly. Begin braking and swerving away if possible.

It's never really a matter of being hard on anyone. I myself have had some remarkably stupid crashes over the years. I was merely pointing out that:'

a) we should always seek to learn something from these crashes. After all, the lesson here may be sufficient to avoid far more severe consequences next time; and

b) the fact that the lady in the car was actually following the law and giving way should never make us lose sight of some of the fundamentals.

Thanks Kelly. She was actually stopped and waiting. I have avoided some nasty situations by evasive manuvers.

I am very safety minded. Like I said before. "Just a fluke."

So true. I hope by my sharing this experience, others will also learn from it as well.

I admit to being euphoric about the nice weather and good pace I was setting. All would have been ok if the equipment failure had not happened. OR I had kept my pace. This is by far the worst crash I have had to date. Most damage to myself and my equipment. Fastest speed just before the sudden stop as well. When I got hit by the car in March I was able to avoid the worst of that situation. Managed to stay up. This is much worse.

I never saw this coming.

OUCH!!! That hip looks nasty.

You rode to work today, right?

Looks like typical mountain bike honor marks to me! HA!
Just funnin ya....Glad yer alright!

Thanks for sharing your ordeal bro, I truly hope you get well. I'd advise you go to a chiropractor to have your spine checked, there are little things in a fall like that which won't come out until later, I know that first hand. So have yourself checked up thoroughly.
It obviously paid to ride equipped (helmet, gear, hi-vi gear, etc), to think that I see
many guys out on the road riding their bikes in the morning (to work obviously) w/o helmets, w/o proper gear, and a very precarious way, sometimes they even ride along the major highways, don't they know that with a little planning you can get to your destination using BACK ROADS and be safer that way?
There so much need for traffic and safety riding education.
Corsaire

man.... bob, time to take that bulls eye jersey off....you have wayyy to many encounters with cars......may not be so lucky one of these times.....change your route or walk the bike to a safe point.....commuting is not worth getting killed!!!!!!



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