Ride home for Monday, 30 April + hit by a car
Got hit by a car on the way home, as I was almost home.
I crossed Lacewood on to Parkland (a bike route, no less), and rode behind a black Ford Mustang, and a blue midsized car in front of that. As I rode down past Lancaster drive, I heard a loud engine noise behind me, which turned out to be a rather large brown jeep. I noticed the blue car start to turn up ahead, so I slowed down and the brown jeep came up alongside me. The next thing I knew the jeep was trying to turn into Langbrae while still parallel to me. I then made a sharp right turn into Langbrae myself to try to minimize the effects of the collision. I managed to make a sharp enough turn that I ended up hitting the side of the jeep rather than being run over.
The next thing I knew I was on the floor, with a friend who's a firefighter standing over me. We recognized each other, and my backpack was cut, as was my helmet and I was placed in a neck restraint and lifted into the ambulance. I was then brought down to the hospital and brought straight into emergency. I went in for x-rays which showed I had snapped off the top of the humerus bone. I was sent home and told not to eat and drink anything after midnight, as I was on a shortlist for surgery.
I was called into surgery on Tuesday, and went in around lunchtime. I went into surgery around about three o'clock and it was all done by around 5:30. I was then pumped full of drugs, there seemed to be some surprise in just how much drugs it took - I had a whole syringe which apparently was quite a bit. I then came home late night and slept at home.
I've been told to stay at home now for about a week. I'm playing with some voice recognition software to get stuff done and it's not the best solution. I should find out next week when the pins come out and when I'll be able to start riding again.
Distance logged: 6.754km
Time: 21:34
Average speed: 18.8km/hr
Max speed: 56 km/hr
Temperature: 4C
Cumulative distance: 2732.225km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.3
Monthly distance: 13.587km
Monthly cost per km: $0
I crossed Lacewood on to Parkland (a bike route, no less), and rode behind a black Ford Mustang, and a blue midsized car in front of that. As I rode down past Lancaster drive, I heard a loud engine noise behind me, which turned out to be a rather large brown jeep. I noticed the blue car start to turn up ahead, so I slowed down and the brown jeep came up alongside me. The next thing I knew the jeep was trying to turn into Langbrae while still parallel to me. I then made a sharp right turn into Langbrae myself to try to minimize the effects of the collision. I managed to make a sharp enough turn that I ended up hitting the side of the jeep rather than being run over.
The next thing I knew I was on the floor, with a friend who's a firefighter standing over me. We recognized each other, and my backpack was cut, as was my helmet and I was placed in a neck restraint and lifted into the ambulance. I was then brought down to the hospital and brought straight into emergency. I went in for x-rays which showed I had snapped off the top of the humerus bone. I was sent home and told not to eat and drink anything after midnight, as I was on a shortlist for surgery.
I was called into surgery on Tuesday, and went in around lunchtime. I went into surgery around about three o'clock and it was all done by around 5:30. I was then pumped full of drugs, there seemed to be some surprise in just how much drugs it took - I had a whole syringe which apparently was quite a bit. I then came home late night and slept at home.
I've been told to stay at home now for about a week. I'm playing with some voice recognition software to get stuff done and it's not the best solution. I should find out next week when the pins come out and when I'll be able to start riding again.
Distance logged: 6.754km
Time: 21:34
Average speed: 18.8km/hr
Max speed: 56 km/hr
Temperature: 4C
Cumulative distance: 2732.225km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.3
Monthly distance: 13.587km
Monthly cost per km: $0
posted by steve at 5/03/2007 01:41:00 pm
16 Comments:
Dude, that sucks. I hope your recovery goes smoothly and quickly. What is going to happen to the fool who hit you?
Oh man... so sorry to hear that. On Parkland Dr. no less, which has a wide shoulder. No matter, the guy turned into you without looking. Best wishes for your recovery... hope there is some consequence for the fool...
Best wishes for a quick recovery to full health.
Horrible story... glad your instincts kicked in properly and you saved yourself the way you did! I hope they get the guy who hit you and prosecute him to the fullest.
Here's to a full recovery and more cycling in your near future!
Am very sorry to hear the news. Hopefully it will be the first and last time. All the best to you and get lots of rest while you can.
"Here's to a full recovery and more cycling in your near future!"
Ditto!
Man! That's a nasty turn of events. Hope the recovery goes quickly. We'll watch for the 'muppets' while you're out of commission.
Steve, so sorry to hear that man. Our prayers and wishes are with you. If there's anything we can do to help, just post it up and let us know. We all wish you a complete and speedy recovery. Take Care.
Jerome.
Take care and get well soon. Sorry to hear about this.
You have an impressive attitude about getting back on the bike quickly. Makes me feel like a wimp that I wonder if I can make it to work after missing an hour of sleep.
Aw crap! I'm glad you weren't hurt worse.
Hey Steve, hope your friend the firefighter gave hell to the motorist, and I hope you are back up to speed and healthy asap.
Be well.
Steve,
You sound in good spirits. I hope you are. I think you are an amazing person and I wanted to thank you for all your posts and encouragements.
You do have the worst luck! :)
I have been commuting to Bedford for the last couple of weeks and there are times I think, "why am I doing this?". The 18km is pretty far and the weather has been lousy. I don't have an easy answer. But I know it has something to do with health, carbon reduction and being a good example for my kids.
What if it gets me killed? Well, I ran the numbers and we have about the same chance as a motorist. And frankly most motorists who have been in a serious car accident are not updating their blogs four days later.
Get well soon. If you need anything, you know my email address. BTW, if the investigating officers first name in D'arcy, he might be a friend of mine.
Cheers!
-Doug
Yikes! I hope you feel better and you are back on your bike soon.
That sucks, you are so kind as to not mention your thoughts on the id10t who turned into you. Hopefully the law in NS will turn out to be understanding of the violation the cager did. My friend here in Ottawa was tagged by a taxi who blew the stop sign. That carries a 6 point deduction, and the police officer did not give it to the cabbie as there were no witnesses. So he gets off on a "REAL" ticket and get some fail to observe traffic sign. All of these incidents (not an accident as the cager did something stupid) have made me make sure my Air Zound is fully charged on my short commute. And is making me think about putting one on all the family members rides.
Anyways between you and Vik my coverage of the country is nearly complete, get back to riding soon eh!
B
Steve!
I just saw this in my reader this morning and am totally bummed!
Good luck with the recovery and getting back on the bike soon.
I'm sending lots of positive thoughts your way for a speedy recovery
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