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Finally! First crash...

Phil

Maximum Pace
Sep 1, 2007
1,816
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...and it was a pretty good one.

Happened last week on Wednesday, as I was coming home from a short ride to meet trucksan at one of our LBSs.

Don't want to get into too many details of the causes etc (insurance blah blah in negotiation blah blah) but it was a classic left hook by car at intersection. First thing I remember is seeing the winkers on the car way too late, thinking "uh-oh", being surprised how fast the car turned into me, trying to somehow steer left with the car, then having the handlebars ripped from my hands.

Don't remember flying through the air, but I do remember my head hitting the ground and feeling the force of the impact being spread out along the inner ridges of the helmet. Vividly remember thinking, "wow, these helmets do work."

I opened my eyes to look up at the sky, with various people's heads entering my field of vision from disorienting angles. I tried to get up, but for some reason my right shoulder was glued to the road and refused to move.

One witness in particular was very helpful and told me not to move and that an ambulance had been called. I could see my Uncle John and the car several meters away...the front wheel was crushed under the car's front wheel, with the bike lying off to the side.

I lay in the road until the ambulance came. The paramedics strapped me into a neck brace and backboard, then spent the next 20 minutes phoning around trying to find a hospital to take me in.

Lots of Xrays and a CRT scan at the hospital, final conclusion being what I already suspected, a broken collar bone. Also had grazes and bruises on both knees, cuts and bruises on my right face, and of course a big bruise on the right shoulder.

Been holed up at home since. Hurt like the dickens for a while, but pain easing off now and I've start typing two-handed again for short stretches through careful positioning of the wireless keyboard on my stomach.

No idea when I'll be back on the bike, but not for a while yet. I'm amusing myself in the meantime by admiring the new frameset I'd ordered from Competitive Cyclist a week before the crash...Motivation to get better soon!



I'll add a detailed write-up about the insurance and crash itself to Philip's accidents thread when all the insurance stuff is concluded. It's going to be a long process though, as nothing can be settled until the doctors are done with me...
 
おめでとうございます!
:rescue:

Hope you get a fair compensation...

It's the type of crash we all dread and as a car driver the type that I also can't find a fair solution to.

But if this car overtook you, then turned left on you... take them to the cleaners...
 
Ouch! :eek: Sounds nasty Phil. All the best for a speedy recovery! You'll have time to decide exactly what bits you want on that swanky new frame.
Collar bones do hurt but they heal up nicely (speaking from direct experience.....); in a few weeks you should be OK for gentle riding.

AW.
 
Hope the recovery goes well. How were Competitive Cyclist to deal with. Have a MTB in my sights and finger on the trigger. Any hassles with shipping, customs?
 
Sorry to hear! This is bad news. I hope you will get better soon, and there won't be any lasting damage to your health.

This is one of the accidents I am always worried about myself...

Cheers, Ludwig
 
Sorry dreadful news to hear. I hope you'll get better very soon looking forward to taste new frame set.

Cheers
 
Phil,

My sincere sympathy. Hope you recover quickly, hope this will not affect your work (self employed?) and hope the paperwork is resolved in your favor sooner rather than later.

Must be hard having to sit and stare at your beautiful new Bianchi :mad:

Get well soon,

Philip

(I don't want to turn this into a helmet thread but) it sounds like your helmet saved you from a head injury. I keep hearing this.
 
I would also like to wish you a speedy recovery, Phil! Just shows the importance of wearing a helmet, even on the shortest of rides. :eek:

And of course, welcome to the club. Lovely new frame, Sergey will be jealous.
 
I'm really sorry to hear about the crash Phil.

I hope you get better soon and reach a favourable conclusion with the insurance company.

Lee
 
Wow!

Scary accident, Phil! :( - I wish you to get well as soon and as safer as possible - take your time to recover (or you can also try asking your doctor to attach a titanium plate to your collar bone to let you ride sooner).



Please, get well soon!

PS
congrats on the Infinito - you really bought it, didn't you?!!! :D (oh how do i appease the gods of Envy now?) Hope to see you riding it in the nearest future.
 
Jeez Phil, glad you're alright !

Well at least you picked the right time for it - nothing but rain on the weather forecast ....:(

-- Steve
 
Broken collarbones? My speciality ! Left 4 times and twice on the right! Hurts a bit doesn`t it? But soon fades. Thats when you have to be careful. Once about a week into recovery I woke up and used the wrong arm to push myself up....Back to square one! Ouch!
Nice looking new bike..... Did C.C run out of Ridleys?
 
I've got a lump of grizzle on an old collarbone fracture that floats around over the bone... none of my broken bones (4 of them) have been bike related though...

I'd rather a broken bone though than my ruptured ACL...

Will be interesting to hear the details later...

Have fun playing cat and mouse with the insurance guys...
 
Get well soon mate.

Also if they haven't given you one yet ask for a shoulder brace for the collar bone and not a sling (It the one that looks like a shoulder holseter for a gun) ... If you have problems getting one I'll have the wife pick you one up from work
 
Thanks for the well wishes, guys! I had suspected that the MTBers and the former motorbike racer would have me beat on the broken bones front, but six collar bone breaks seems overly competitive. :eek: (James, thanks for the offer of a brace, but was given one in emergency. Actually asked for another last hospital visit as the first was getting a bit smelly :warau:)

Pete, as a car driver I share some of your ambiguity about this type of crash, but the weight of legal responsibility appears to fall mostly on the driver. Still, we'd best save that discussion for later.

Am trying to keep up with work, but there has been lost income and that is part of the discussions. Good thing is I work at home at a desk, and not, say, as a traveling curtain rod installer or something.

Helmet > Must say I'm glad I was wearing it. I'm not going to claim that "it saved my life" or anything, but I bet it saved me a couple of stitches in the noggin. I confess I haven't always been convinced of their effectiveness and sometimes skipped wearing one on solo rides, but not any more.

Yeah, Sergey, I ended up buying the Infinito after all. Actually tried to get a Roubaix here in Japan, but Specialized had sold out of 2010 58s by early Feb(!) and weren't willing to bring more in(!!). Was glad in the end, because I prefer the looks of the Infinito anyway and the 61 is an almost identical fit to the 58 Roubaix. From the bits I can see sticking out of the packaging, the frame looks as good in person as it does in those Competitive Cyclist pics. More than ride it even, I'm anxious to build it up and see how it looks, but that, too, must wait... :)

Simon, Competitive are great to deal with, top-notch service. As you probably know, they are never going to be the cheapest for parts, but their bike prices are in line with most other online retailers. This is actually the third bike I bought from them. (The second was a Ridley Crosswind that I had to send back because the geometry #s didn't match Ridley's listings. CC took it back no questions asked and paid for shipping etc.). The Bianchi came in less that two weeks, I think.
 
Sorry to hear about the accident Phil. Wishing you a very speedy recovery and that you are back riding again soon.

The Bianchi looks a beauty. Looking forward to seeing some photographs of it when it's all built up.
 
Phil, I'm very sorry to hear about your crash -- that must have been terrifying. Thank goodness you are on the mend and seem to be in excellent spirits.

And congratulations on the new Bianchi! Wow, that's a real beauty. I can't wait to see it in person.

Wishing you a speedy recovery,

Deej
 
...and it was a pretty good one.

First thing I remember is seeing the winkers on the car way too late, thinking "uh-oh", being surprised how fast the car turned into me, trying to somehow steer left with the car, then having the handlebars ripped from my hands.

Hello Phil,

The car turned into your way was a fatal violation of traffic law regardless whether you noticed the winkers flashing early or not. The car had to wait turning until you passed by the car without being closed your way.

Cheers
 
Crash

May you have a speedy recovery and appropriate compensation.

Had a similar experience some years back when a car suddenly turned left with me on its port quarter - no injuries to bike or rider fortunately. Then there was the idiot who swerved left nearly crushing me to a guard rail coming down from Hakone pass.

I always wear a helmet.
 
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