Re: The INJURIES I survived while riding a bike
I was riding up a hill in the left lane at about 70 km/h, around 3 months after buying my first bike.
The car was in the right lane slightly ahead of me. The driver suddenly remembers that she's a nurse, and she's going to work, and the hospital is on her left... right now! She jumped into the left lane (directly in front of me) and hammered the brakes, stopping to make the left.
I panicked and hit both brakes, trying for the first oncoming lane which was clear, but locked the rear, inducing a low side to the left. The bike went under the back end of the car and caused enough damage to write it off (my Honda Nighthawk basically mated with a Honda Civic). I can only imagine that I jumped just prior to impact as I flew past the car on the left side (the driver reported feeling the impact and, as she was looking left to make the turn, I Superman'ed past her window). I hit the hill I had been going up and thankfully rolled to a stop (seemingly forever) rather than sliding, which was good as I was only wearing a military combat uniform that provided NO protection from abrasion. I got up and ran off the highway.
I ended up with a 3rd degree separation of my left shoulder, several rather interesting muscle tears and rips (one of which still makes the front of my right shin appear to have a spine and another which causes piercing pain in the back of my left shoulder after certain repeated movements), and some light rash.
Looking back at the accident 25 years later;
- I had gotten into an argument with a co-worker shortly before the accident... was my mind somewhere else? Never ride mad.
- I've become a much better, safer rider because of the accident
- I rarely use my rear brake at anything over parking lot speeds
- My ATGATT mentality was born that day too (I was guilty of wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals to ride to the beach prior to that day).
- I'm nervous every time I have a fresh tank of gas on board; I'd JUST filled the damn bike when I wrote it off. ****
