My new Madone - you will NOT believe what happened to me!

**Aquila** · 08-04-2009, 06:32 PM

Echoing the others: glad you're okay, really sorry about your bike.

I bet she looks more carefully next time!

**NoNo** · 08-04-2009, 06:58 PM

How did you escape injury if the bike hit hard enough to snap in 4 places? Someone was looking out for you. I bet that young driver learned a lesson she'll carry with her forever.

**KnottedYet** · 08-04-2009, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by NoNo

How did you escape injury if the bike hit hard enough to snap in 4 places? Someone was looking out for you. I bet that young driver learned a lesson she'll carry with her forever.

Carbon fiber. It absorbed the impact by breaking spectacularly. Goooooood bike! Extra love in that bike's direction!

ETA: be sure to replace your helmet, too. Another designed-to-be-disposable item which sacrifices itself on impact.

**divingbiker** · 08-04-2009, 07:42 PM

oh, my.

**Kelly728** · 08-04-2009, 08:23 PM

Wow, glad you are ok and that her insurance will cover that bike.
Poor bike...At least you can say you got 2 new bikes in one week?

**OakLeaf** · 08-05-2009, 07:21 AM

Oh, man, that stinks.

So glad you're okay!

**Aggie_Ama** · 08-05-2009, 07:26 AM

Glad you are ok! The bike is replaceable but you aren't.

It is still a beautiful machine.

**kenyonchris** · 08-05-2009, 07:42 AM

So sorry, I know firsthand (having recently destroyed my new bike) that it SUCKS....but you can replace it and make it even better!!
Good for the cop to cite the driver, lots of times on accidents they don't (for a bike v. car accident I will cite either party that is at obvious fault....that is just way too close to a fatality for me)....
Make sure you get a copy of the CFS (probably no official report, but there will be officer notes on the call sheet)...he probably gave you a "report" or "call" number. It just says he was there and an accident involving you did occur.
GLAD YOU ARE OK!!

**Mr. Bloom** · 08-05-2009, 07:44 AM

As a fellow Madone owner...I still say - I'm glad it was the bike and not you!

Wow!

**MtnBikerChk** · 08-05-2009, 08:11 AM

Thanks everyone - I still choke up when I talk about it and it helps so much to have so many good vibes coming from all directions

Your questions - let's see:
1. I picked up a copy of the police report today and he got it SPOT on. I sent that along with the receipt for the bike and computer today.

2. how did I escape injury? LUCK! I remember grabbing the rear brake as hard as I could - I don't remember if I hit the front at all but I'm sure the rear skidded around in front of me as it locked out and hit the car first - that explains the impact to the rear triangle. Then my shins hit the car and or bike. I have no road rash and no bruises that would indicate I hit the ground. It's very odd - I wish I could remember but it all happened so fast. I have a nasty bruise behind my left leg (I'm guessing from the seat or top tube) and my right knee has a big bruise and a few cuts on my right shin and my right elbow is bruised - not sure if you can picture that impact. I never hit my head or my neck. My clothing isn't ripped and my shoes are ok. WEIRD!

3. I think my next madone will be a different color - I start to tear up when I look at the pieces in the back of my car (it folds up very small now LOL)

4. I've already spoken to the shop (several times). At the first sign of low balling I'm calling an attorney - I'm not in the mood to mess around

**arielmoon** · 08-05-2009, 11:06 AM

OMG! I am so glad you are ok.

Sorry about the beautiful Madone!

**papaver** · 08-05-2009, 11:08 AM

bummer.

**lunacycles** · 08-05-2009, 11:56 AM

Carbon fiber. It absorbed the impact by breaking spectacularly. Goooooood bike! Extra love in that bike's direction!

Are you seriously suggesting that the frame breaking into 4 pieces is a sales point for carbon fiber? And are you suggesting that if it hadn't she would have been hurt?

It is a huge bummer, but good to hear there is insurance to cover it.

**Tri Girl** · 08-05-2009, 01:03 PM

HOLY SMOKES

I'm so glad you're ok, but it pains me to see your bike so torn up. Better the bike than you. I'm just soooooo sorry.

**KnottedYet** · 08-05-2009, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by lunacycles

Are you seriously suggesting that the frame breaking into 4 pieces is a sales point for carbon fiber? And are you suggesting that if it hadn't she would have been hurt?

It is a huge bummer, but good to hear there is insurance to cover it.

Nope. I'm saying that the breakage absorbs energy. She loved that bike, and I was putting the positive spin on the fact that the bike absorbed a lot of energy that her body didn't have to. Losing the bike is heartbreaking, but thinking of it as a positive self-sacrifice on the part of the bike (I anthropomorphise bikes) lessens the heartbreak.

From the physics standpoint, yes, the breakage was a plus for her body which hit after the frame already collapsed. (absorbed energy)

FWIW, all my bikes are steel. But I honor any bike that gives its life no matter what it's made of. So, I honor her bike. I wasn't being sarcastic.

Edit to Add: steel would bend, aluminum would crack, carbon fiber would break. In an accident like this, I see a frame as something meant to be replaced just like a helmet. Each material fails in its own way, but each has absorbed energy the body didn't have to. I work every day analyzing the effects of forces on the human body. The less trauma the body experiences the better, in my book. Bend, crack, or break; if I'm not having to teach an athlete how to use a wheelchair at the end of the day, it's all the same to me.

Thread: My new Madone - you will NOT believe what happened to me!

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