Yes, you read that right, I was hit by a car while on my road bike yesterday! I am fine, but I've been feeling a little bit like this lately:
and yeah, that last bullet was the car hitting me yesterday.
In the last seven days I was nearly hit by a car while riding home from work...this is all of a three minute ride, Roxy somehow stepped on a boulder weighing about twenty pounds and rolled it onto three of my open sandal'ed toes, I've fallen completely over twice on a single trail run, smoked a tree with my left wrist/hand on a separate trail run (it still hurts), and just yesterday I literally got hit by a car...while doing 35km/hr on my road bike!!
HOLY CRAP, I'm about to encase myself in bubble wrap, lock myself into my apt, and await my Dad's arrival next Monday night...maybe I should arrange something other than driving to California as well!
I was on my way home from the beaches of Vancouver yesterday afternoon, as we have seen one of our nicest springs on record and it has not rained a single drop in almost a full month! As I was cruising along at about 35km/hr I had just enough time to process this thought:
"F#$K ME, I can't believe I'm about to hit a car right now! Dammit, I've worked too hard for this shit to happen now!!"
A fraction of a second later and traffic had stopped in all directions, there was an 8-9 inch gash taken out of the hood of the vehicle I collided with, a piece of my handlebars was on the ground, and I was in total shock. I honestly can not fully remember if I even fell off of my bike? I think I simply came out of the pedals but effectively stayed upright. Somehow in the split second that I had to react I managed to slide my bike completely sideways, I remember hearing my tires skidding, and in the process I prevented a definitive cartwheel over the front of the car and effectively rammed into the side of the front 1/3 of the vehicle. It all happened so quickly that it was hard to even process what had just occurred.
The husband was in the passenger seat and he quickly jumped out to ensure that I was alright. Neither of us said a word for about ten to fifteen seconds, which is rather shocking to me cause I thought for sure I'd have lost my mind on this person...he just seemed too honest and concerned to start yelling at, and truth be told, even though they were cutting across traffic and did not see me, I probably could have prevented the incident had I been riding a bit more defensively. There was no doubt who was at fault, but I felt as much remorse for what I had done to their car as I did anger for being hit! Eventually we spoke and after confirming that my bike and I were both pretty much unscathed the gentleman climbed back into his car and I continued cycling the opposite way. It was about five minutes later when the adrenaline dissipated and I pulled off onto a sidewalk and called a friend,
"I WAS JUST HIT BY A FREAKNG CAR!!"
Yeah, it can all change that quickly. In fact not a month has passed by this year that I have not heard a story of a friend of a friend getting hit while on their roadie. Some, like me, have been fortunate enough to laugh it off, some however, are lucky to be alive right now and will have metal objects in their bodies for the rest of their lives.
It was a lesson learned. I am a much different rider than I was just 36hr ago.
Eleven days...I just need to survive another eleven days!!
GR
11 comments:
Dude, that is retarded!! Glad to hear you made it through unscathed! Now that you've got that out of the way, I think you're safe till race day :)
Confucious say, "man get hit by car and live, man can do anything...like run Western States"
Glad you're alright. Forget about, Gary. Just run.
Yikes, stay safe and watch out for cars, rolling rocks and other moving objects.
I am hearing to much of people getting hit by cars of late. I am now looking at crashes as a good omen before races since PB'ng after a road bike fall 60 hours before my last race (Coincidentally on the same day I crashed last year which is hence forth Jeremy Bike Free day)
Bailed twice trail running at Sunday at SFU and thought it was just me, I blame the weather,s eason pollen or something like that.
Glad to hear you are ok and look it as a process of getting all the bad luck out of your system before race day (a cleansing of sorts)
Dude! That's freaking crazy!! Please do make sure you're okay, as little stuff can come up a day or two later. Then rest yourself up for WS, man.
I'm looking forward to seeing you there, Gary.
Bad news: hit by car
Good news: not injured, not dead!
Thats gotta make you not only thankful for your life but also change your perspective on a few things. Mindbender.
Glad you're alright. I agree with Tom!
Yeah some tightness and swelling popped up two days later, in my knee, hamstring, and shoulder. However, both my Dr. and massage therapist have assured me that NOTHING is out of whack and it's all good. Outside of some shoulder tightness on a run this morning all is 100%...nine days!!
GR
taper gary, taper! get off the bike, off the trails, let those muscles and bones rest! good luck
I was just commuting to and from the beach, I swear, haha!!:)
GR
Holy cow! Glad you're okay! I always get so annoyed at the drivers who don't pay attention to us poor little runners (or bikers) crossing the street.
Be like a bear, and hibernate!
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