My stupidest accident

[newfsmith]

Friday night I was riding home about 8:30 pm. Because we have had a record breaking warm winter so far here, I was still on my road bike. As I headed down a dark residential street I heard a car behind me so I moved right to about 3 feet from the curb, checked my rear view mirror to spot the car. When I looked forward again I saw a car parked on the street about 15 feet in front of me. I couldn't swerve either side, overtaking car on one side, 8 inch granite curb on the other. The best I could do was slow as much as possible. I'm guessing here completely, but given that I had been doing about 16 before all this, I probably managed to get down to 10 or 12 mph by the time I hit the car. Of course I went over the handlebars, face planting on the trunk. I knew I had broken at least one tooth, as I spit the chunk out. The car that was behind me pulled over. The 2 women came up, offered me baby wipes to clean up. Fortunately, I hadn't damaged the car, just bloodied it, so I wiped it off & forgot about it. My lips were pretty chewed up, 2 teeth broken, a lacerated chin, and the way my nose was swelling I suspected I had broken it. Called my husband to get the ice pack ready. Checked my bike over, thanked the women for stopping, and rode the rest of the way home. ER was busy, so it took 3 hours, but after x-rays to confirm the broken nose and a couple sutures we headed home. Fortunately, my dentist works Saturdays and could squeeze me in, so I have caps on my incisors already and will go to the ENT when the swelling comes down.

Today I gave Honeybee a bath to get the blood off her, went down to Providence Bike to get a new helmet (another Metro) and new helmet light for a further reach of light.

Looking back on it, I let my self get too distracted with the car I heard approaching behind me and wasn't checking the way in front of me often enough for the limited visibility of night riding. I was lucky to get off as light as I did.

[DeniseGoldberg]

Jean -
Ouch! I'm sending lots of healing thoughts your way.

--- Denise

[mimitabby]

well, your sense of humor and dignity survived your accident.
Thanks for reminding us all to keep a look out front and back!

[SadieKate]

Yee-ow! You have more exciting weekends than I would like. Heal fast.

[DebW]

Jean, so sorry to hear about your accident. Ouch! Heal quickly. And thanks for the safety reminder .

[bcipam]

Hope you heal all up soon.

We all have stories of stupid accidents, so don't feel bad. The day before Thanksgiving a friend and I were riding the local bike trail and watched this woman ride right off the trail into the creek, hitting her face on the big rocks. She was badly injured and we had to call the paramedics and ambulance. When asked why she rode off the trail she had to admit that she was about to lose her cup of Starbuck's coffee out of the water bottle cage and she had reached down to catch it before it fell and lost control of the bike. Moral of that story - yeah Starbucks is expensive but way cheaper than than the ER!!!!

[emily_in_nc]

Ouch, newf, so sorry you had to go through that. Dental work is the pits, and I am sure a broken nose is no walk in the park either! I can totally envision that happening riding in the dark. That's but one reason I am way too paranoid for night riding -- I just don't trust myself to keep up with everything going on around me, having had my share of crashes in broad daylight already!

My stupidest fall was just a couple of months ago when I went down on our gravel driveway trying to descend too fast on my road bike (kind forgetting I wasn't on my mountain bike, which I'd been riding more at the time). My front wheel started fishtailing, and before I could do anything, I was down on my left side with road rash, bad bruises, a dented helmet (yes, I bought a new one!), and a very sore rib. Nothing as serious as a broken tooth or nose, though.

Heal quickly!

Emily

[SalsaMTB]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the accident. Sounds painful! Hope you have a speedy recovery!

[IFjane]

Ouch! Yet another reminder of why I don't think I want to start riding at night.

Heal quickly ~ pain-free thoughts headed your way~

[Geonz]

Those parked cars jump out and get you every time!!! YOu're not the only one :p One of my buddies hit one in broad daylight and ruined his frame (but managed to miss his face somehow).

[run it, ride it]

Goodness! Heal quick!

Dental damage is just awful--I broke half a front tooth when I tripped into a brick wall. Thank God the tooth lived, but I have to get the filling replaced every few years (pulp is too big for a cap/crown).

And as for facial damage... well, last year I rode my horse under a doorway and punched a hole in my upper lip with sheet metal. However, the scar went away nine months later after I fainted into a faceplant and tore out the scar tissue... looked good as new when it healed!

I feel your pain, both in injury and freak accident!

[tygab]

Goodness! Heal quick!
And as for facial damage... well, last year I rode my horse under a doorway and punched a hole in my upper lip with sheet metal. However, the scar went away nine months later after I fainted into a faceplant and tore out the scar tissue... looked good as new when it healed!

that reminds me of one of my horsey incidents... was riding in Oregon on a 1/2 day trail ride (with an unfamilar horse who I never did gel with) when I was 10 (I went with a few other adults but not my parents who never rode), the boy decides he wants to canter in the forest (a fairly wide trail but still in the forest), and it was very dusty. Needless to say I did not have much hope in getting him to slow. Yep, you're about to guess it, WHAP right into my face goes a skinny branch, which split my upper lip open (not completely tho) along with several cheek scratches. I was pretty worried but we didn't stop for another few hours and I washed it out a little in a creek. On the way back, the horse decided he had an itch (and this has never happened to me riding anywhere else, with any other horse) and literally with me on him got down to start rolling. Fortunately I bailed by rolling backward, and at that point was extremely freaked out. I was talked into getting back on both for my and the horse's sake, and we returned without further problem. My parents inquired if I thought it should get stitches [like I would know?] and I said no way! To this day I still have a diagonal scar, which makes me smile thinking about that day/story, but in hindsight, I probably should have gotten the stitches. :rolleyes: At least I still enjoy riding, though don't get to do it nearly enough now.

[Crankin]

God, Jean, that sounds very scary... I am not a panic type person, but I think I might not have been able to ride home.
Glad you are healing and your bike is fine. I had a broken nose when I was 15 (car accident) and the healing went quickly. It was tender and I was freaked out about hitting/touching it for about a year afterwards, though. My son broke his nose in high school, playing speedball. He was given a choice of trying a "closed" procedure to fix it or the real thing where they rebreak it and set it. He went for the closed thing and it went right back to where it was in a few months. He now is a handsome, but crooked nosed adult. So, make sure you check out the treatment options.

Robyn

[Denise223]

I'm very sorry to hear about your accident :( ! I hope that you're feeling better with each passing day.

Sending you many healing thoughts & prayers for a speedy recovery.

Peace & Love,

Denise

[runningteach]

Ouch! I hope you heal quickly. Good that you got a better light.

[queeninjun]

I lost a battle with a guardrail and broke my collarbone. Actually, I shattered it and it needed to be surgically repaired.

It's always better to take the entire lane when you are in a situation like that--much safer. Wishing you a speedy recovery and just letting you know that you are entitled to the entire lane, which should help you avoid a compromising situation like that in the future.