First crash today

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

first crash today since I was seven .

coming up to the red light at the intersection of Tooley St. and Borough High St, right at London
Bridge. sharing lane with black car. black car seems to nudge a little to the left. nudges
handlebars. luigi goes sailing over the bars.

observation: time really does slow down when you're falling. i felt like i was in the air forever.
i see my arms come clean off the bars, and go over my head.

I land on my elbow, not my forehead. I'm not wearing a h*****.

I would suggest you go home past Waterloo and call in on Mr Evans to buy a helmet - even Guys
Hospital will struggle to repair broken brains!

RG

Quoted message said:

roll around in the gutter, dazed.

passers-by ask if I'm okay. I get up, i pick up my bike, i'm dizzy. someone helps me to a nearby
wall. black car driver comes out to see if I'm okay. I am unhurt, or at least not badly hurt.

passerby asks if I'm okay, if there was a crash, was he--pointing at car--involved? absently i
wonder if I have to do anything. i'm more concerned with getting myself looked-at and getting
to school.

i try to explain what happened to driver, who either cannot hear or understand me. it doesn't
matter. i'm not thinking straight either.

i cross the street to Guy's Hospital, ask for the Minor Injuries unit. after some waiting,during
which i see someone wheeled out, presumably towards the 'Tis-but-a-flesh-wound Unit, and several
people who are very calmly dressed and not outwardly injured go before me, a nurse calls my name
and I sit down. she cleans up the road rash, such as it is (small patch on elbow where I landed),
has me test my range of motion (complete. nothing broken) and cleans the blood off my toes (was
wearing sandals. stubbed two smallest toes on right foot, on landing).

I get out, pull out an allen key, fix my stem so that I can steer, and ride the rest of the way
towards school, from which I write this report.

so i'm waiting for the blame. go ahead and shout at my lane placement. i was where everybody else
rides, out of the gutter, clear of the doorzone, not in the full lane. I've taken that
intersection many times before. I crashed today.

i'm lucky to have gotten off so lightly. no head injuries, no broken limbs. no ugliness--and to
have crashed across the street from Guy's Hospital. Otherwise.

mind how you go out there.

-Luigi

Wear a helmet... everything other than your head (within reason of course) can be repaired....

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

first crash today since I was seven .

coming up to the red light at the intersection of Tooley St. and Borough High St, right at London
Bridge. sharing lane with black car. black car seems to nudge a little to the left. nudges
handlebars. luigi goes sailing over the bars.

observation: time really does slow down when you're falling. i felt like i was in the air forever.
i see my arms come clean off the bars, and go over my head.

I land on my elbow, not my forehead. I'm not wearing a h*****.

roll around in the gutter, dazed.

passers-by ask if I'm okay. I get up, i pick up my bike, i'm dizzy. someone helps me to a nearby
wall. black car driver comes out to see if I'm okay. I am unhurt, or at least not badly hurt.

passerby asks if I'm okay, if there was a crash, was he--pointing at car--involved? absently i
wonder if I have to do anything. i'm more concerned with getting myself looked-at and getting
to school.

i try to explain what happened to driver, who either cannot hear or understand me. it doesn't
matter. i'm not thinking straight either.

i cross the street to Guy's Hospital, ask for the Minor Injuries unit. after some waiting,during
which i see someone wheeled out, presumably towards the 'Tis-but-a-flesh-wound Unit, and several
people who are very calmly dressed and not outwardly injured go before me, a nurse calls my name
and I sit down. she cleans up the road rash, such as it is (small patch on elbow where I landed),
has me test my range of motion (complete. nothing broken) and cleans the blood off my toes (was
wearing sandals. stubbed two smallest toes on right foot, on landing).

I get out, pull out an allen key, fix my stem so that I can steer, and ride the rest of the way
towards school, from which I write this report.

so i'm waiting for the blame. go ahead and shout at my lane placement. i was where everybody else
rides, out of the gutter, clear of the doorzone, not in the full lane. I've taken that
intersection many times before. I crashed today.

i'm lucky to have gotten off so lightly. no head injuries, no broken limbs. no ugliness--and to
have crashed across the street from Guy's Hospital. Otherwise.

mind how you go out there.

-Luigi

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Luigi de

Guzman) said:

first crash today since I was seven .

coming up to the red light at the intersection of Tooley St. and Borough High St, right at London
Bridge. sharing lane with black car. black car seems to nudge a little to the left. nudges
handlebars. luigi goes sailing over the bars.

Problem here is that the two of you were too close. Overtaking vehicles have to give adequate
clearance regardless of vehicle mass. Who was overtaking whom? If you were both going the same
speed, why "share" the lane? Hard to place blame on either operator without knowing more, but is
blame really what you want to assess? You got through it with only a minor owie. The driver
apparently did not get his paint scratched. Chalk it up to experience and be sure to give adequate
clearance when passing, and demand it when being passed, but don't share a lane with a car.

David L. Johnson Department of Mathematics Lehigh University

"RG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

first crash today since I was seven .

coming up to the red light at the intersection of Tooley St. and Borough High St, right at
London Bridge. sharing lane with black car. black car seems to nudge a little to the left.
nudges handlebars. luigi goes sailing over the bars.

observation: time really does slow down when you're falling. i felt like i was in the air
forever. i see my arms come clean off the bars, and go over my head.

I land on my elbow, not my forehead. I'm not wearing a h*****.

I would suggest you go home past Waterloo and call in on Mr Evans to buy a helmet - even Guys
Hospital will struggle to repair broken brains!

RG

Helmet thread!!!

--
Robin Hubert <[email hidden]

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

first crash today since I was seven .

coming up to the red light at the intersection of Tooley St. and Borough High St, right at London
Bridge. sharing lane with black car. black car seems to nudge a little to the left. nudges
handlebars. luigi goes sailing over the bars.

observation: time really does slow down when you're falling. i felt like i was in the air forever.
i see my arms come clean off the bars, and go over my head.

I land on my elbow, not my forehead. I'm not wearing a h*****.

roll around in the gutter, dazed.

passers-by ask if I'm okay. I get up, i pick up my bike, i'm dizzy. someone helps me to a nearby
wall. black car driver comes out to see if I'm okay. I am unhurt, or at least not badly hurt.

passerby asks if I'm okay, if there was a crash, was he--pointing at car--involved? absently i
wonder if I have to do anything. i'm more concerned with getting myself looked-at and getting
to school.

i try to explain what happened to driver, who either cannot hear or understand me. it doesn't
matter. i'm not thinking straight either.

i cross the street to Guy's Hospital, ask for the Minor Injuries unit. after some waiting,during
which i see someone wheeled out, presumably towards the 'Tis-but-a-flesh-wound Unit, and several
people who are very calmly dressed and not outwardly injured go before me, a nurse calls my name
and I sit down. she cleans up the road rash, such as it is (small patch on elbow where I landed),
has me test my range of motion (complete. nothing broken) and cleans the blood off my toes (was
wearing sandals. stubbed two smallest toes on right foot, on landing).

I get out, pull out an allen key, fix my stem so that I can steer, and ride the rest of the way
towards school, from which I write this report.

so i'm waiting for the blame. go ahead and shout at my lane placement. i was where everybody else
rides, out of the gutter, clear of the doorzone, not in the full lane. I've taken that
intersection many times before. I crashed today.

i'm lucky to have gotten off so lightly. no head injuries, no broken limbs. no ugliness--and to
have crashed across the street from Guy's Hospital. Otherwise.

mind how you go out there.

-Luigi

As I've been told many times in the past. Its not a matter of "if", but "when". You ride enough and
odds will catch up with you.

Welcome to the club.

"RG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

first crash today since I was seven .

I land on my elbow, not my forehead. I'm not wearing a h*****.

I would suggest you go home past Waterloo and call in on Mr Evans to buy a helmet - even Guys
Hospital will struggle to repair broken brains!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

(was wearing sandals. stubbed two smallest toes on right foot, on landing).

And some shoes!

Bill "sandal thread! for Robin" S.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

first crash today since I was seven . coming up to the red light at the intersection of Tooley St.
and Borough High St, right at London Bridge. sharing lane with black car. black car seems to nudge
a little to the left. nudges handlebars. luigi goes sailing over the bars.

Why were you sharing a lane? That is very dangerous, as you found out.
-----------------
Alex __O _-\<,_ (_)/ (_)

[email hidden] (Luigi de Guzman) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

first crash today since I was seven .

coming up to the red light at the intersection of Tooley St. and Borough High St, right at London
Bridge. sharing lane with black car. black car seems to nudge a little to the left. nudges
handlebars. luigi goes sailing over the bars.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

so i'm waiting for the blame. go ahead and shout at my lane placement.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

-Luigi

No one in internet land can tell you if anything you did lead to the accident, mull over in your
mind if YOU think you were in the wrong. If you were not then don't beat yourself up! Even if you
could have done it different then don't beat yourself up, just think "next time I will
do...."

I would also try and cycle in quite areas for a few days, build your confidence back up.

being hit is nasty, but not the end of the world

Also if you have not read "cyclecraft" I think it is worth a read.
pickabook.co.ukbkdetail.plOpen ↗

Fragg

Sorni said:

"RG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

first crash today since I was seven .

I land on my elbow, not my forehead. I'm not wearing a h*****.

I would suggest you go home past Waterloo and call in on Mr Evans to buy a helmet - even Guys
Hospital will struggle to repair broken brains!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

(was wearing sandals. stubbed two smallest toes on right foot, on landing).

And some shoes!

Bill "sandal thread! for Robin" S.

softline-online.comairbag.htmOpen ↗

"STRUCTURE OF OUR SAFETY AIRBAG JACKET Our airbag system consists of jacket and airbag vest:
- Jacket: The motorcycle jacket is attached by an airbag system in the type of vest, removable
easily from the jacket. The jacket is wearable without air bag system but installed by optional CE
certified protectors
- Air bag vest: Our jacket consists of liner-type vest and the vest contains the air bag so that it
is very easy and quick to assemble or dismantle. This liner-type vest is installed with air bag
system, easily attached and removable, in order to protect neck, body, and hip.

FUNCTION As soon as a rider wearing a jacket equipped with airbag being thrown away from a
motorcycle by the impact of a sudden accident, the trigger in the key box hits the gas cartridge
pulled by a coil wire fixed to the motorcycle, to release the CO2 gas into airbags installed in the
vest within 0.5 second like the air bag in a car working by impact sensor. The swollen airbag
protects a rider's neck, body and hip by buffering from the impact of crash, and the swollen airbag
becomes deflated through gas release valve, to make a rider feel comfortable. One of the features is
that another airbag runs beneath the gas distributing compartment in order to protect the rider's
breast from the projecting objects in case of an accident. The swollen airbag becomes deflated
gradually through gas release valve within 10 seconds, to make a rider feel comfortable. In case of
difficulty in tightness or in breathing, unfasten the front zipper of your jacket. "

11 Aug 2003 06:24:45 -0700,

Quoted post said:

first crash today since I was seven .

Let's just hope it's not the start of a trend.

Glad to hear you're okay.
--
zk

Sorni said:

Quoted message said:

I would suggest you go home past Waterloo and call in on Mr Evans to buy

helmet - even Guys Hospital will struggle to repair broken brains!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

(was wearing sandals. stubbed two smallest toes on right foot, on landing).

And some shoes!

My feet are damn tired of being in shoes. I want sandals!

My ingrown toenail has gotten much better, you can't even tell now, since I started wearing sandals
whenever I could.

I will now proceed to acquire SPD sandals.

Quoted message said:

Bill "sandal thread! for Robin" S.

--
Rick Onanian

Luigi de Guzman said:

first crash today since I was seven . ...

-Luigi

So did I this last week.

I am 51 and took up cycling for health reasons on doctors orders. (I can not jog or walk due to
knee problems)

Here in Orlando it has been raining for about three months. We have ten thousand darn Oak trees ---
many in my yard. Well, they give off some darn black stuff that collects on the street and is pure
oil when it is wet.

I hit a patch and then the road. Damn well surprised an old fella.

Nothing in life is totally safe. I will tell the Doc that his cure may yet kill me! :-) But, I find
that I love to cycle. Shoot, I now have bikes all over my garage.

--
Regards, Joe

Fraggle said:

No one in internet land can tell you if anything you did lead to the accident, mull over in your
mind if YOU think you were in the wrong. If you were not then don't beat yourself up! Even if you
could have done it

Whether or not you were in the wrong, you should still try to think of ways you could have
avoided it.

Fault doesn't matter in the end; you're just as dead / broken / whatever injury, regardless of whose
fault it is, when it has happened.

Fault is good for determining who pays the bills.

However, as another poster said...the odds catch up to you, no matter how careful you are, if you
ride enough. Sooner or later the odds will catch up with me, and I can only hope it's as minor.

Quoted message said:

Fragg

--
Rick Onanian

Rick Onanian said:

I will now proceed to acquire SPD sandals.

They are great for all but the longest rides. I tend to wear mine all day -- in fact I have them on
right now.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored _`\(,_ | by little statesmen
and philosophers and divines. --Ralph Waldo (_)/ (_) | Emerson

x-no-archive:yes

Quoted message said:

I am 51 and took up cycling for health reasons on doctors orders. (I can

not

Quoted message said:

jog or walk due to knee problems)

Here in Orlando it has been raining for about three months. We have ten thousand darn Oak trees
--- many in my yard. Well, they give off some darn black stuff that collects on the street and is
pure oil when it is wet.

I hit a patch and then the road. Damn well surprised an old fella.

Nothing in life is totally safe. I will tell the Doc that his cure may yet kill me! :-) But, I
find that I love to cycle. Shoot, I now have bikes all over my garage.

--
Regards, Joe

Makes you feel like a kid again, doesn't it? Just carefree and zooming about without a worry. People
wonder why we ride. If they knew, they'd all be out there riding!

Pat in TX

RG said:

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

first crash today since I was seven .

coming up to the red light at the intersection of Tooley St. and Borough High St, right at London
Bridge. sharing lane with black car. black car seems to nudge a little to the left. nudges
handlebars. luigi goes sailing over the bars.

observation: time really does slow down when you're falling. i felt like i was in the air
forever. i see my arms come clean off the bars, and go over my head.

I land on my elbow, not my forehead. I'm not wearing a h*****.

I would suggest you go home past Waterloo and call in on Mr Evans to buy a helmet - even Guys
Hospital will struggle to repair broken brains!

RG

If he'd been wearing a helmet it would have saved his life!

--
Chris Bird

I'm glad that you're okay. No h****t comment, no "you should have" advice.

Regards, Bob Hunt

In article <[email hidden]>, Chris B.

[email protected] said:

Quoted message said:

I would suggest you go home past Waterloo and call in on Mr Evans to buy a helmet - even Guys
Hospital will struggle to repair broken brains!

RG

If he'd been wearing a helmet it would have saved his life!

At least Luigi had his allen keys at-hand:

(copied & pasted from original post)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I get out, pull out an allen key, fix my stem so that I can steer, and ride the rest of the way
towards school

Hey, Luigi -- I'm glad you're okay.

From now on, I'm not riding at all without my allen keys.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

Pat said:

x-no-archive:yes

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Makes you feel like a kid again, doesn't it? Just carefree and zooming about without a worry.
People wonder why we ride. If they knew, they'd all be out there riding!

Pat in TX

Yes, spot on.

The funny thing is that folks who walk for miles and miles wonder at how I can ride my bike for so
far, and for so long. Little do they know that cycling is far easier and much more funthan walking.

--
Regards, Joe