Friday, January 16, 2009

Response to "Anonymous"

In my post about helmets, Anonymous commented:

your blog is really interesting! what happen with your wrecked bike and your healthy injury?? how did you fell??

How did I fall? I'll give you the long version. Because as a beginning commuter I didn't have a lot of experience riding on the roadways with the cars, I liked to ride on the sidewalk beside the street. In one spot, there was a gap in the sidewalk of about 10 feet where there was no pavement, only grass. I had ridden there before, but at night the grass is watered and was therefore very soft in the morning. As I traveled over that patch, my front tire sunk into the soft ground and by the time I got to where the pavement started again, it was like hitting a curb. Even though I was going very slowly, I flew over my handlebars and landed right on my face.

My injuries were minor. My helmet broke, but I was okay. The worst thing that happened is that I landed hard on my chin and the soft tissue where my jaw opens and closes was bruised and my jaw stuck out further than normal for a few days. Aside from that, I just had a few cuts and bruises.

The bicycle was pretty badly damaged. The rim was surpisingly straight (and I'm still using it on another bike), but the fork bent backward and the frame was bent. I bent the fork back, but there was no saving the frame. The bike was rideable but I didn't feel right riding it with that kind of damamge, even though I rode it for a few months like that.

Here is the frame damage:











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