and lived to tell the tale. i'm a bad mofo!

no, but seriously...i'm okay. my back wheel was a little out of true, and i'm shaken...the worst injury was emotional...i still had a couple more hours to work, and i just got back out there and rode again, but i was scared. i got a ride out of downtown in order to avoid rush hour traffic. i bought a helmet. i had my wheel trued, i told my partner i loved her, and i'm going to go out tomorrow and start over again.

but i felt sad, after the events in boston recently...i felt sad that it could have been worse, and that we can't be safe, that there are people who go out to work, either riding a bike to work or for work...who have to worry at some point about whether they'll make it home. i felt sad, if i had been hurt worse, you know...i mean...i've met the love of my life...we're set to get married...i can't go now.

and i didn't, and that makes me really happy. maybe the worst thing is that i felt less confident the rest of the day. i can cut lights like mad, find holes in traffic and weave a maze through fast traffic on a busy street. this afternoon i was putting my foot down at all lights and riding sort of slow...i know what i can do. but i'm a little shaken. i'll get over it. mostly right now i'm tired because of the adrenaline rush that's wearing off.

i'm a little achy, but that's it. i fell on black ice a couple weeks back and got hurt worse, only i was drunk and didn't notice.

oh, and how it happened. i was going through a green light, and he was turning left. i thought you were supposed to yield to oncoming traffic, i guess he didn't.

I've almost been hit a few times, by people not yielding when executing a left turn...

ive been hit..same as you. it's more scary than anything. cars are ****in huge when your under them.

columbus drivers suck big ones, seriously glad to see your ok though, what streets, just wondering

most of the time, i'm able to turn left and go around behind the car. i've used this numerous times.

this time, it didn't work because of the speeds involved. by the time i realized i was going to get hit, all i could do was try to whip my tail around and either hit its side or start riding alongside it. i almost made it.

yeah...it is scary. what's funny, though...i was tumbling through the air, and as i was doing so, i was calculating just what had happened, looking at the lights as i flew through the air so that when i landed, i could tell who was in the wrong and ****. thinking practically about the situation. the scary part came later, like now when i replayed the scene in my head and felt sort of sick.

i can't focus on that though. i'll be back out in the battlefield soon enough (well, tomorrow), and i gotta be ready to go. get rid of this thousand mile stare and just go.

The world can be a very dangerous place, not just for cyclists, but for everyone. Just be glad that you live in one of the least dangerous parts of it. More drivers die and are seriously injured every day than cyclists, numerically and proportionately. Also be glad that you don't drive a car, the odds are more against you there.

Anyway, it's good that you're okay. Good luck getting over it and always be suspicious of left-turners!

atta boy, u can do it. inspire all of us to get back on another day
did the driver stop or just shrug his shoulders and continue his commute to starbucks for a venti latté

glad you're ok.

he stopped and asked me what the hell i thought i was doing, and i tried--as calmly as i could--to tell him that he's supposed to yield to oncoming traffic. which did, in fact, mean me.

That's horrible man. I've been hit under the exact same circumstances.

Did you file a police report?

Glad to hear you're alright!

no, and i'm on the fence as to whether that was the right call...my decision not to call the cops had to do with... wanting to just check my frame, wheels, bars, cranks, limbs, and head (for blood) and get out of there to get back to work...also a lot to do with not wanting to bring cops and the law into it. i don't really like cops, don't want to deal with them and red tape, etc., not to mention a certain extent to which i suscribe to anarchism and don't want to be a hypocrite...i'm hoping if there are future problems (and i suspect there won't be) i can work them out without having to appeal to any "authority".

I had a cabbie pull out in front of me a few weeks back as I was taking the lane and heading down the street at a good 20 mph clip. Livery cab was at a stop sign and suddenly just went right in front of me. No time to stop ... I drilled his rear quarter panel and did a summersault through the air over his car, landing on my back, w/ the bike landing a few yards away.

Luckily he stopped, and luckily other than my bars being trashed, my bike and myself were mostly ok. His car (brand new mercedes) had a massive dent. I called the cops on him. He was driving on expired plates, and of course, the NYPD chose to not ticket him for anything at all, even though he was clearly at fault. But, at least I got an accident report so I can submit damages to his insurance company and file a complaint w/ the taxi and limo commision here in NYC.

In any rate, don't mean to hijack your thread. Just wanted to say, I feel your pain. Spooky getting back out there.

I drive a jeep when I'm not driving a bike.

I was hit this same way in November. It never makes sense to me because before anyone executes a left turn across oncoming traffic, they are checking for, well, oncoming traffic. Which means that they HAVE to see us coming! And yet they go anyway! Augh!

I flew over the hood of the car and got my fork totalled. Stay posi.

I'm so sorry. Please be careful.

Also please make sure you are ok to the full extent. Something might start hurting tomorrow, and listen to it. If you **** something up, you will be out of work all together.

I can't believe the guy got out of the car after he hit a human and asked what you were doing. That ****.

Jesus, please be careful out there.

So hows that anarchism working for you? You really should have called the cops.

that's not nice.

humanwhatchacallit, glad you're ok.

+1million

...anyways, all the damn time people make left turns in front of me. Often they will keep inching out as if I'm going to stop for them...then I have to weave around them.

its only a matter of time folks
we all get hit

humancongereel, a truck hit me. broke an arm. I'm $ poorer and sometimes I still get spooked, but do ride you got to be a do ride do ride dude. Pump and heal.

Best part of the thread.

glad to hear you're ok. In columbus, even if you file a police report, a lot of times they won't do **** to help you out. I got t-boned by a motorcycle and I got cited for it because they weren't there to see what happened.

Where did it happen?

**** like this happens all the time but you know what helps situations like this not end in wrecks?




A ****ING BRAKE.
Grow up, accept it, get one, be less likely to get injured.

Magic helm +1

This is one of the reasons I always wear a helmet. I agree with the folks above that sooner or later we all get hit and that we just have to do our best to be prepared so that we don't panic and get hurt even more.

I gotta disagree with not calling the 5-0 however. Should you be hurting tomorrow, you have no way of covering your a$$. Just my opinion, but to each his/her own.

Very glad to hear you are ok however, and do be careful. I think folks in cars are mostly in their own little world when they drive, and so you have to assume they are all going to try and hit you. Again, glad you're ok, and please bike safe.