As I was coming home last night around 8:30 pm, I was using the bike path
between Challis St and Cowper St in Dickson (Canberra). From the side of the
path, I was hit with hi-beams from a parked car, looked towards it
instinctively, and was obviously temporarily unable to see too well. About a
second later, I hit a metal frame (a ~1.5 m cube made out of 1 cm steel
tubing) that had been placed on the bike path. It would have been difficult
to see anyhow (even though I have a front light) and after being hit with
the headlights I had no chance. I'm not sure exactly of the physics that
followed, but I ended up on my back on the path, with my bike and the metal
frame on top of me. Apart from a bit of road rash on my back, the main
injury was my right elbow, which was cut open pretty nicely (cut down to the
ligament and pulled back). Took about 4 hours to get it sorted at the
hospital (xrays, determining if surgury/skin graft was necesary, etc) and
now I've got three stitches in my elbow and a box of antibiotics in the hope
that the joint doesn't get infected, and my right arm is out of use for a
week or so. I'm not sure if the car was just bad luck, but it seemed like a
bit of a coincidence.
Anyhow, I'd be interested to know if anyone saw anything around that area.
I'm going to file a police report, but I doubt it'll do anything apart from
notch one up in some statistical table. And also, keep an eye out when
you're going along there. I went back to the area this morning, and the
frame had obviously been put back into the path - I'd thrown it off to one
side in the process of getting out from under it, and this morning it was
standing up off to the other side of the path.
--
Michael Brown
Add michael@ to emboss.co.nz - My inbox is always open