Well between cars, horses, water, rogue meat and various medical conditions it seems we’re a set of lucky beggars on here!:eek:
Well here’s my two pen’orth:
Closest I’ve ever been to saying ‘Ayup, Reaper, how’s your @rse for spots?’ was about 14, 15 years ago. I was a fairly keen cyclist then, proper race bike etc, none of your mountain bike crap. Weekends, evenings, I’d hop on the roadbike and do miles. One this particular day I’d just jumped on my bike (to pop down to the newsagent’s to pick up my copy of Flypast ironically), there was I pedalling along happily at a fair lick. Next thing I know I’m airborne; a car approaching from the opposite direction had turned across in front of me. I hit the NSF wing at speed, burying the bike in the wing, and went over the bars. My feet stayed where they were, in the toe clips on the pedals. After my momentum pulled my knee and ankle joints out, the metal toe clips finally snapped and I carried on over the car. I bounced off the bonnet, into and back out of the windscreen. I still have this clear memory in my head, being airborne, looking down at the driver as I bounced back out of her windscreen and thinking ‘well no wonder you didn’t see me, driving around with your windscreen broken. Silly woman.’ Then I caved her roof in, and finally landed in a heap on the road next to the drivers door of the car. She then tried to drive off apparently, with my bike embedded in the wing of her car. I came round, realised what had happened, jumped up and started shouting at her. Then something in my muddled up brain must have registered that both my legs hurt like hell, so I sat down in the middle of the road and continued my remonstration. This is what I was told by my best friend at the time, who saw the whole thing and thought I’d had it. Obviously after looking down at the driver through her broken screen I remember little or nothing until the hospital. Said friend has never forgiven me, as in his rush to get to me he dropped his motorbike and broke its brand new fairings!
End result was both knees and ankles were knackered, only last year I had yet another op on my right knee to keep it going for a bit longer hopefully (no more cycling for me :(). I also smashed the nerves in my left elbow and because of this have limited feeling in and use of my left hand. Bit of a sod as I’m left handed… Also various scars and one index finger a good bit shorter than the other. But hey ho, least I’m still here.
The bike was totalled- my Dad, an ex-cyclist himself, had never seen such a sorry-looking wreck in all his time on the road. The front wheel had disintigrated, the forks looked like they’d been taken out and replaced backwards, the tubes of the frame had concertina’d in on themselves, the chainring (which still hangs on my wall) was bent oval. Poor thing.
Never did find out where the snapped-off toe clips landed after they finally broke and released my feet…
The woman in question was charged I believe. Her excuse was she’d only just arrived from Thailand a couple of weeks before, and over there cyclists give way to motorists…
Figure I’d used 5 of my 9 lives in one go that day, and I’m still here to irritate you lot 🙂
I never did get that month’s copy of Flypast!:mad:
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