Hit by a suburban!! (I'm OK)

[Running Mommy]

First of all I AM FINE, but it was a rather scary encounter. The worst thing was that it was my NEIGHBOR! And she is the nicest person you would ever meet, so I feel really bad.
It was a slow speed affair, but my bike did sustain a bit of damage.
Here is how it happened...
The weather was FABULOUS today, so I decided to take a ride this evening. I haven't been on my bike for a week, so I had an itch. I was about 2 miles into my ride when I approached a busy 4 way stop. As I was coming to the stop I heard a car so I turned and acknowledged that it was my neighbor. We waved to one another and she hit the stop a few seconds ahead of me. I unclipped and cruised up to the stop right anlongside her. She had given no indication that she was going to be making a right turn. I clipped my left foot back in ready to take off alongside her when it was our turn. All of the sudden she started to go making a right turn right into me. She nicked my front wheel and her mirror clipped my shoulder. I screamed and hit the side of her truck with my hand to get her attention. She immediately stopped and jumped out. Well in the midst of this I lost my balance and fell over on my right side. She thought she had really hit me and became hysterical. Her kids ( all SEVEN of them) started screaming MOMMY HIT MRS. AMOS!!! And then I heard her oldest son say "She's not dead. I see her moving" to which I had to laugh.
She was shaking and I felt really bad. She helped me up and we started inspecting the bike. A guy on a Kuota came up a couple of minutes later and helped me to inspect it as well. My right armrest on my aerobar snapped in half, and my bar tape is chewed up, but everything else seems to be in order. My wheel seems fine, tho we did have to straighten out my front brake. I ended up riding for an hour and she seems none the worse for wear. But I think I'm going to take her in tomorrow and have them put the front wheel on a trueing stand just in case. Body wise I'm fine. My shoulder feels like a bruise is brewing, and I know I'll have one on my right hip. Luckily my tuckus took the brunt of the fall, and god knows I have a lot of "soft tissue" down there to cushion the fall.
Even though I'm ok, I won't say that it didn't rattle me. She told me that she looked over to see if I was next to her and didn't see me so she thought I had stopped behind her?? I guess being only five foot has it's disadvantages. Those vehicles are so large that I guess how I could see that she didn;t see me. I'm thinking maybe her side mirror obscured her view? I dunno. But the next time I come to a stop like that I will do things a bit differently that's for sure!!

ANyhoo, I added some pics of the damage to my photobucket site:

http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...sc%20pics/

Everyone stay safe out there!
Denise

Oh- one other odd thing.. It was like someone was trying to tell me something. First I decided to wear my new helmet tonight for the first time. I've had it since Christmas, but I finally decided that I needed to wear it since the other one is pretty old. And second, when I left my son came up and gave me a big hug goodbye. He NEVER does that when I go out to train.... Hmmmm...

[KnottedYet]

I'm sorry you had a collision. But I keep thinking about those 7 children in that Suburban...

[crazycanuck]

Oh dear! RM..Glad to see you're ok.

((((((((hugs)))))

7 children!

C

[margo49]

Yeah, you will be a bit shaken for a day or two. But no serious or lasting damage.
Remember that "She's not dead. I see her moving" line. It's a corker!

[LBTC]

RM I am so glad you're alright! And you sure can tell a story! It's not often I get to laugh out loud to a cyclist hit by a suburban story! "she's not dead" hahahaha

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[momof4greatkids]

Running Mommy, I am feeling sympathy pains for you! My goodness, and to have it be your friend and neighbor.

Yes I have no doubt Someone is looking out for you. Thank God you are safe and not seriously hurt.

I looked at a cyclist safety page just this morning and they advised that we ride as if we were invisible. Good advice since to many motorists we are, or even worse, they see us as targets.

[GLC1968]

Wow, RM - I'm glad you are ok!

I have to ditto LBTC - it's not often that I get to laugh out loud (at work nonetheless) to a story about a suburban hitting a cyclist. Well told!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Cars have a very hard time seeing us when we pull alongside them. You're better off taking the middle of a lane at an intersection and waiting behind the car, not pulling up beside it. Glad you are OK!

[cosc]

RM, I'm so glad you prefaced your accident story with I'm o'k so I could laugh when I heard about the 7 kids.The kids will probably never let Mom forget that she ran over Mrs. RM. I hope you and your bike recover quickly from this scary accident.

[surgtech1956]

Glad you're OK

[Running Mommy]

Thanks all, and yeah it was kind of funny. I mean really the only reason why I ended up on the ground was because I was clipped in on one side and the nick to the front wheel caused me to lose balance.
My neighbor came down lastnight to make sure I was ok, and this morning when I was coming in from my run I saw the oldest kid out putting out the garbage can. He told me that they were going to bake brownies for me. I told him that there was really no need and that I was fine, but thank you. I also asked if his younger sisters were ok or if they were scared by it. He said that the youngest one was scared at first but then she saw me laughing so she knows I'm ok.
I have to say again that this is the nicest family you will ever meet. My son plays at their house all the time, and yes there are seven kids! They are very religous and I've been told that in their religion the more kids you have the higher up in heaven you will go. I'm thinking that mom and dad are headed to the front of the class!
Now one other funny thing. This morning when I was headed out for my run my son said "Don't get hit by any suburbans mom" and we had a chuckle. So I was running through the residential streets and I came upon a lady that was climbing into her already running SUBURBAN!! I picked up the pace a bit to pass so that she wouldn't back into me! Could you imagine???!!! I think that Chevy has it out for me!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I think we Amaericans should take a clue from Europeans and make more cars that are closer in size to bicycles.

Obviously a family with 7 kids actually needs a large vehicle, but I see so many gigantic heavy RV's and pickup trucks driving around all day long with just one person in them- what a waste of our world's precious gasoline and oil. These are vehicles that are not being used to haul hay or lumber in- they are spotless. Why such massive 11,000 pound vehicles just for everyday errands??- just for going to the office, the bank, the drugstore.... oooh don't get me started....

[slinkedog]

So glad you're okay, RM! I had to laugh, too, at the "She's not dead, I see her moving" comment!

Hope you're not sore today!

[Python]

Glad you're OK. Had to chuckle at the "She's not dead, she's moving". Out of the mouths of babes and all that

My car is a large 4x4 (SUV) and I don't have a problem with blind spots. My mirrors are all set so they see out the back and down both sides of the car. If I'm in the least bit doubt, I'll physically turn round and look over my shoulder or even stick my head out the window. Better safe than sorry...and THINK BIKE!!!!!!!

My husband has a small car for his job (salesman). I hate driving it because even though it's half the size of my car it has a number of blind spots that no matter how you set the mirrors it still has blind spots, especially at the back.

[teigyr]

I am so glad you're ok! Yeah...that was funny. But scary. It could've been much worse.

I like to think good can come of all of this. Your neighbor is nice and I'm sure she feels bad about it. I bet she will be a bit more careful AND I bet she will warn others about being careful. Of course maybe she ought to sell her car too, it appears like it is having Christine characteristics.

How's your bike? Has it been checked out yet?