Well, the Kiyo has been officially initiated. Got clipped today on my way in to work. While riding in San Jose a car passed too close and hit my bars with the rear-view mirror. Turned the bars all the way to the right and sent me sliding across the pavement. I don't think the driver even knew what happened, and just kept driving.

Most importantly, other than a ripped soyo grip, a flat front tire, and slightly out of true rim, the bike is fine. Amazingly, there is only the smallest of scrapes in the clearcoat on the fork.

I'm very thankful I was wearing a helmet. My head hit the ground pretty hard, I heard a loud pop and my neck and helmet are both scraped up as well as my arm and knee. I am wearing my helmet at all times from now on...

Edit: Someone in the picture thread mentioned that they hoped we SF guys were riding our nice bikes into the ground. Well, hope this qualifies...

good to hear you're ok and you're finding the good in that situation. Isn't that bike a new setup for you?

eeek :(
glad you are ok
now i'm going to go pull my hair out and curse bad drivers

Judah - good to know you're a-okay. Isn't it funny how we worry about the bike?

Hey, as far as helmet use goes, you should print out my post-injury poster from March and keep it around to remind you.

sh|t dude! glad you're ok.

you should get a new helmet.

Glad you are ok Judah! Let me know if you need a ride back into the city tonight. I am close by in sunnyvale.

Whooh, chest is starting to hurt pretty badly now that the adrenaline is wearing off.

Yeah, helmets are important. I'm heading to the LBS at lunch to get the wheel true'd and I think I'm going to buy a new helmet. Probably one with lots of vents so that I will wear it even if it's really hot out. Damn, got a mean headache...

you alive and well and kicking.stay safe and watch your six..

S/F<
CEYA!

I'm glad you hear your're okay. I've had some bad luck lately, too. About three weeks ago I was hit and suffered some pretty nasty injurys to my arm. This past friday I had yet another incident with a car (again it was the driver's fault) and broke a couple ribs. The worst part is that it looks like I'm grounded from cycling for a couple weeks.

We should start wearing full body armor. Stupid chicago drivers!

Stay safe, fellow riders! We may be losing the battles but I'm confident that we'll win the war.

If pain and headaches last, get checked out.

Get a decent helmet but don't spend too much on one. I had a pneumo a little while ago (I had it when you were down - just got it then) and then the whole collarbone thing happened and I cracked that sucker in two places. There went a whole load of money.

So I got a nice Monza on sale at performance and it's still racey and all but costs a lot less and looks like it'd take more of a beating.

Still, all cheaper than a trip to the hospice.

poster? link please?

Oh man glad you're ok. I can't believe this $#!^. I think you should ride with your sword. Bring your wheel by tonight and we'll true it.

Wow some people will do anything to get out of work.
But you don't have to go to those extremes.

I just keep a jar handy for my hand to get 'stuck' in.

first and foremost, go to the doc if you're really starting to have pain. Even a mild concussion will rock your ass for days, and it never hurts to be on the safe side. Things can get worse, remember torrin's case.

secondly, you need a new helmet, no two ways around that. If the one you smashed was old, it was time to replace it anyway, but if it was a newer one, check the manufacturer's website -- they typically have a replacement program which will get you a new lid at a pretty decent replacement cost.

taken from bell's owner's manual

Crash Replacement Policy
Bell is interested in your safety and in advancing the state-of-the-art in
head protection. If your helmet is involved in an accident you may obtain
a replacement from Bell by doing the following:
For U.S. Customers:
1. Send the following:
a. The damaged helmet (prepaid);
b. A copy of your dated cash register receipt;
c. A letter describing your accident in as much detail as possible; and
d. A check for $35.00 for Fusion In-Mold helmets or a check for $20.00 for non-Fusion helmets

no helmet is designed to take more of a beating than another -- one crash, one solid blow to the helmet, hell, even dropping the thing hard enough, can be enough to render the helmet useless. Helmets are designed to absorb the force of a blow once, disperse it through the foam, saving your skull from doing the same. After a solid blow, the integrity of the foam can be so comprimised as to render it useless. Yeah, i work at a shop, but i'm not just trying to sell helmets. Helmets that have been crashed need to be replaced -- that's why manufacturers have the replacement policies.

I know you're probably trying to be funny, but **** you. I'm at work now, and will be riding home afterwards.

crap Judah that sucks.

you should take the rest of the day off and get yourself checked out.

judah--glad you're OK, and I will echo the sentiment: Get checked out. Hit by car bad. Better safe than sorry good. best wishes--patrick

Oh, I know, trust me, I know. When I mean, beating, I mean just from general everyday use, not as in, "hey, I'm going to go whack my head against pavement today and then tomorrow too!"

The other thing that irked me is that pneumo has a really thin shell and in some parts very little holds it together (for that oh so cool aero look) while the Monza has thicker foam and is solid throughout, meaning the vents are all attached to one another, instead of the pneumo which has it's vents and curves/lines just abruptly stopping in places. Given the two and comparing them, I'd opt for the Monza again and again just because it looks sturdier and in the event of a crash, I'd rather have a helmet that gives me what looks to be more protection (even if that's untrue). Take a look at the two and compare. The pneumo is dainty.

Glad your okay judah... I used to never wear a helmet but lately i'm remembering to wear mine more and more. It's just not worth the risk.

absntr, I agree with you about the monza. Its a great helmet for the price, I think the only real advantage the pneumo has is it looks a bit cooler, all the other things are just bells and whistles. As long as it saves your a$$ its a good helmet.

Damn, yea. Sorry for the jinx and poor choice of words. Get well and be careful!

It's cool man. :)

Hope this means that I'm good with crashes for a while. I guess it's good that I'm going to DC for a conference so I won't be on the bike until next Monday. Some R & R time. I was considering taking it with me, but now I'm not sure...

****, take care bro. make that ride back safe.
you got insurance or some other means that will allow you to get checked out?

also, thirding the monza call. It's a pretty decent helmet.

zoikes. hope you heal up soon, and again - glad you didn't come off too much worse for wear. all of NYC is sending you good vibes...

Merde, hope you'll be okay Judah. Get checked out by a doc.

I'm going to wear my helmet more consistently. My exposure time on the Sac streets is starting to freak me out. Either that or I'm just getting more reckless.
I had a close call today that was eerily similar to yours. A car came really, really close to clipping me with his mirror.

Get better bro. Good vibes your way from the Capitol Mall.