Crashed this morning :-(
Discussion
Ouch.
I live in NY and I commute to work when the weather allows. This is my typical route, from the Upper East Side down to Wall St, about 6 miles. I normally quite enjoy dicing with the early morning traffic as I'm a lot faster and I can take the traffic on my terms rather than being overtaken all the time. Plus it wakes me up!
About 5 miles in this morning and I'm in the right hand lane of two on Broadway (one way street, heading South) and I'm overtaken on the left by White Van man doing his morning bagel deliveries. He then decides he needs to make a delivery stop to a shop on the right hand side of the street, so cuts across me and brakes hard to try and make a parking space he's spotted. I have nowhere to go so brake as hard as I can, but road bike brakes aren't mountain bike brakes, and the skinny slicks just lock, and wham, I'm into the back of his van before I know it.
My front wheel hits his rear bumper, I go over the handlebars and my head hits his rear window (wearing a helmet, thankfully!). I landed heavily on my right elbow and right arse cheek. I've not got the mother of all dead-arses and I can hardly walk. We exchange a few words and a cyclist stops to see if I'm ok. In this city it's pointless trying to argue anything (especially as the guy's grasp of the English language isn't particularly great) so after a quick check of the bike, I tell him just to go away. The bike seems fine (Cannondale CAAD 9), I was expecting at least a buckled front wheel, but it's pretty sturdy. I just limped to the side of the road and had a sit down for 10 minutes to recover.
I made it into the office, and swallowed 600mg of Ibruprofen which is all we have in the first aid kit. Now the adrenaline is wearing off I'm starting to hurt even more. Having played rugby for 24 years I'm pretty used to dealing with the odd scrape but this is the worst dead-arse I've ever had, I'm actually laughing at how much it hurts even though it's not funny. I can hardly walk. This is gonna hurt tomorrow.
So, lesson learned, I'll add another mile onto my journey and cycle across the park and down the river path next time to avoid NYC's drivers (the taxis are the worst) and just deal with blind pedestrians, kamikaze joggers and dogs on extension leads.
I'm not sure why I'm sharing this, other than for a bit of cyclist sympathy and to get it off my chest.
Yours truly (with a very sore bum)
Mac
Edited for spelling
I live in NY and I commute to work when the weather allows. This is my typical route, from the Upper East Side down to Wall St, about 6 miles. I normally quite enjoy dicing with the early morning traffic as I'm a lot faster and I can take the traffic on my terms rather than being overtaken all the time. Plus it wakes me up!
About 5 miles in this morning and I'm in the right hand lane of two on Broadway (one way street, heading South) and I'm overtaken on the left by White Van man doing his morning bagel deliveries. He then decides he needs to make a delivery stop to a shop on the right hand side of the street, so cuts across me and brakes hard to try and make a parking space he's spotted. I have nowhere to go so brake as hard as I can, but road bike brakes aren't mountain bike brakes, and the skinny slicks just lock, and wham, I'm into the back of his van before I know it.
My front wheel hits his rear bumper, I go over the handlebars and my head hits his rear window (wearing a helmet, thankfully!). I landed heavily on my right elbow and right arse cheek. I've not got the mother of all dead-arses and I can hardly walk. We exchange a few words and a cyclist stops to see if I'm ok. In this city it's pointless trying to argue anything (especially as the guy's grasp of the English language isn't particularly great) so after a quick check of the bike, I tell him just to go away. The bike seems fine (Cannondale CAAD 9), I was expecting at least a buckled front wheel, but it's pretty sturdy. I just limped to the side of the road and had a sit down for 10 minutes to recover.
I made it into the office, and swallowed 600mg of Ibruprofen which is all we have in the first aid kit. Now the adrenaline is wearing off I'm starting to hurt even more. Having played rugby for 24 years I'm pretty used to dealing with the odd scrape but this is the worst dead-arse I've ever had, I'm actually laughing at how much it hurts even though it's not funny. I can hardly walk. This is gonna hurt tomorrow.
So, lesson learned, I'll add another mile onto my journey and cycle across the park and down the river path next time to avoid NYC's drivers (the taxis are the worst) and just deal with blind pedestrians, kamikaze joggers and dogs on extension leads.
I'm not sure why I'm sharing this, other than for a bit of cyclist sympathy and to get it off my chest.
Yours truly (with a very sore bum)
Mac
Edited for spelling
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 18th April 15:28
Cycle through major cities often enough and something like this is increasingly likely to happen. I used to commute across London every day and had a near miss about once a week and only one accident.
Hope you recover quickly, and re-check the bike before riding home - it's easy to miss damage when you're still hyped up after the crash.
Hope you recover quickly, and re-check the bike before riding home - it's easy to miss damage when you're still hyped up after the crash.
I had a collision with a pedestrian a few weeks ago, but got off lightly compared to you. as a previous poster said though, check the bike with a clearer head tonight before you head home.
I commute in London, and it is a balancing act between making effective progress and avoiding the danger hotspots. If I followed the designated quiet routes for cyclists, it would double the length of my commute.
Have a hot bath, a good stretch and a decent lump of steak tonight, and maybe a couple of beers too. You'll sleep like a baby.
I commute in London, and it is a balancing act between making effective progress and avoiding the danger hotspots. If I followed the designated quiet routes for cyclists, it would double the length of my commute.
Have a hot bath, a good stretch and a decent lump of steak tonight, and maybe a couple of beers too. You'll sleep like a baby.
Not an unusual scenario sadly and those deep bruises can take an age to heal fully, glad you're in one piece though. As far as your bike goes it's worth giving it a thorough check over round the head and down tube, I hit the side of a car and went over the bonnet, front wheel was absolutely fine but all the shock had gone into the frame and it was a write off
And it means I miss the next big race in 2 weeks time, but should be fit for the one after that in mid May. 
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