Some of you on here may have heard about the accident I was in last month. I have a lot of messages in my inbox that I've been avoiding. I'll get to them eventually but wanted to let everyone know I was doing about okay as I could be doing.

A little short summary about what happened...

On 2/14 I had food poisoning really bad to a point where I was throwing up everywhere. On the morning of 2/15 I felt better and met my riding partner in Old Town San Diego where we biked the few miles to the starting point at Ocean Beach Park, dipped our rear tires into the Pacific Ocean and then started heading east. The ride was going great until we hit the Mission Gorge area. It was around 80*F and my stomach started hurting again. Outside of Alpine we stopped for a break at an RV park and inquired about camping there for the night. The RV park didn't allow tents and despite our pleas they didn't budge. I let my riding partner go ahead to secure a campsite at a campground about 11 miles east on the other side of Alpine. Shortly after he left I started throwing up again and sat there for an hour before another Southern Tier rider, a girl named Rebecca, came upon me. She offered to ride the last 11 miles with me to the campground and I accepted. I was still feeling sick but it was early afternoon and wanted to get to the campground to rest since I couldn't stay where I was at anyway. A few miles later as we were on Olde Highway 80* outside of Alpine a car driven by an 84-year-old lady made a sudden right turn in front of me. Never saw it. Never had a chance to brake. I don't remember anything from the accident but according to the police reports I hit the passenger side door of the car and ended up on the other side of the car. The lady was confused and twice asked the police why they were there during the investigation. She told the police she noticed at the last moment she was about to miss her turn and she turned (without looking....). She was charged with reckless driving and her license was suspended. No bike lane in this section but a good shoulder. That's irrelevant though. I broke 3 ribs, punctured both lungs, broke a bone in my right foot, suffered a mild concussion, tore my spleen and tore a tendon in my right hand. I spent 10 days at a hospital in San Diego before being released. I'm currently on week 3 of an 8 week physical therapy regime. Otherwise I had an MRI on Tuesday to see how bad the damage is on my right foot. Doctors originally thought I'd be better off letting it heal as is because surgery would do more damage than good but it hasn't healed like they'd thought. Anxiously waiting to hear back about the results. Headaches are a daily thing but I've gotten use to them. Doctors are optimistic that I'll be back on a bike around May. Hoping to do a short tour in July that I'd already had planned before the accident. My bike was totaled beyond repair.

Two important things here; 1. My helmet... Based on the damage I'm certain I'd be dead had I not been wearing it. 2. I hit the car instead of her hitting me. I'm also certain I'd be dead had she hit me instead of me hitting her.

My riding partner was a guy named Larry so if any of you met him along the route please let me know! Rebecca made it as far as Phoenix and bailed. She couldn't deal with the heat from what I hear.

*At least one news outlet said I was on "Olde Highway 8" but Highway 8 is the interstate that parallels Olde Highway 80

Anyway, I think that covers it for now.

Hoping to get back into the forums in the next few weeks as I start feeling better.

PS: I got these cool socks from the ER Gotta stay positive, right?

Best wishes.

-Snuts-

Hi, Ty;

I tried emailing you but it didn't go through. Best wishes in your recovery. I hope you bear up ("bair" up?) well. Sorry to have missed you in Phoenix, too.

Glad to hear your recovery is going well. Take time to heal up. No hurry to get back out there before you are fully recovered.

I am glad you are alive. May you heal rapidly and completely, with no more suffering. I look forward to seeing your posts here.

Get well, man! See you on the road soon

Ty0604, Thanks for the update, wishes for a speedy recovery.

Brad

I kinda want to crash so I get some of those socks!

Kidding, of course, best wishes to a speedy recovery! Remember that your long term health is more important than quickly returning to the bike, and there is no such thing as a mild concussion, be smart about the recovery timeline and jumping into a tour while still showing symptoms.

I hope you have a full recovery and can get back to biking again. Your story sent chills down my spine as I ride every winter in South Florida and have had many close calls there, and here in NY, with elderly drivers who were oblivious to their surroundings. The tolerance our society has for age impaired drivers is a major problem, not just in California or Florida but throughout the US. A few years back, my father developed dementia and I can't tell you how difficult it was to get him off the road even though he had 7 accidents in 3 years. Even with that, NYS DMV was more than happy to renew his license (at age 81). We were finally able to convince his doctor to file a report with DMV to get his license pulled.

I do hope there's an 84 year old woman in Alpine CA that will never drive again!

Yes, elderly motorists are more deadly than teenagers and don't have the hormone or inexperience excuses. After a long battle, we finally got my mother-in-law off the road by taking her car away and convincing her that if she drove again we would have her physician contact the DMV to get her license officially revoked. She passed away a few months later still convinced that she could drive just fine in spite of abundant evidence to the contrary. My own mother is finally giving up driving next month at age 82, about a decade too late.

IMO, we need to take age-based impairment much more seriously. I've had way too many "interesting" encounters on the road with people who simply cannot see or process information adequately to be behind the wheel.

Ty, Best wishes for a full recovery.

Your experience reminds me of the old line about not asking how things can get any worse because there may be an answer. I wonder how much the dehydration/illness played in your not "spider sensing" the reckless driver, but it's all water under the bridge and thankfully you didn't end up far worse.

Wow, it sounds like a very rough patch in your life at a time when you were supposed to be enjoying a long tour. I didn't realize this happened so early in the ride.

Heal well and fast.

I have crashed on tour and had to take time off the bike mid-tour to assess my ability to continue. Obviously, in your case, the tour was over. It is hard to go from exhilarated bike tourist to patient in a blink of an eye.

Sorry for your difficulty and best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.

I hope self-driving cars will soon make stories like this a thing of the past. I wonder how many incompetent drivers will still stubbornly vow "you'll pry that steering wheel out of my cold, dead hands!" (and cold, dead cyclists from their windshield, no doubt) I personally know at least one terrible driver that's said that to me.

Heal well & best-est wishes

Deleted - double post

Disagree. We need to test ALL people on a road test far more frequently than we do, and take age out of it. Have a objective test that says you are not competent to be driving that you must take at every license renewal. I'm only 31, and still think in the 15 years since I've been driving it is ridiculous that not once has my competency to operate a vehicle been retested.

whoa brother. Glad to hear you're alive. Best wishes and a speedy full recovery.

As an aside do know if you pooped your pants? You know with the upset stomach and all? You should find out. That way you can say she literally knocked the $#!+ out of you!





(my apologies if its too early to joke about it)

Wow! I hope you heal up well & soon. Good luck!

Agree completely.
My last job before retirement had me behind the wheel most of the day. There are a LOT of people on the road that shouldn't be, and the vast majority are under fifty.