This Ordinary Life

Well, today I had my first "proper" accident after almost 5 years of commuting in London. I've had 2 other minor dropping of the bike, but today was a whopper.

I have been getting quite fit over the last months and this has made commuting to work an increasingly quick affair. Add to that my almost animal instincts when it comes to reading traffic and you get a very nimble cyclist. The only problem is that a deer's instinct leads it to be paralysed in headlights and my ability to read traffic is fallible.

This morning I was passing up the inside of a white van (damn white vans and the fact traffic is too narrow to pass on the outside) when the driver suddenly decided he really wanted to pull up and grab a coffee. The problem was that he braked,indicated and turned in simultaineously and when I was right along side him.

What then ensued is a bit of a blur. The van hit me, I flipped up into the air still attached to my bicycle (thanks to those clip in pedals), I smashed the side mirror and kneed the curb when I crashed to the ground.

Initially I was stunned, what happened? I was suprisingly alert and not at all in pain. In line with previous accidents I've had, I did a self check and seemed ok. Well, at least I could move... The van driver stopped and some bystanders gave me a hand.

"Are you ok?" "I'm calling an ambulence" "Don't move"... The bystanders were all very helpful. While lying ther I made sure I informed the driver of his error to make sure I helped prevent him from doing it again and tried to be upbeat. Nothing hurt, so I thought the ambulence was
unnecessary. However, I was asked to wait.

Seems that the main damage was to my Focus Variado, whose Shimano 105 derailer (that'll cost £32 to replace!) was sheared off and other bits scraped. As to myself, kneeing the curb split my right knee open to the bone, definitely needing stitches. My left knee and elbow suffered minor scrapes...

I was glad that I had helmet and gloves on as these probably prevented even more serious injuries. I am definitely adding a high viz vest to my cycling gear and perhaps and air horn.

Well, the paramedics picked me up and took me to the hospital. I had a good chat with them about everything from cycling to "no win, no fee" to how to get girlfiends into cycling. After such candid chat, I thought things from here on out would be quick, but alas as I write this I am well into my second hour of waiting in A&E (Accident & Emergency). Seems that a gapping wound to the knee requiring stitches is a low priority injury in this hospital.

I've had some fun though. I wandered from the A&E into the hospital proper to get some breakfast. I hobbled through to the cafe with my bandage drooping to the point of exposing my wound only to be met with such appalling coffe and expensive food that I abandoned my efforts and hobbled back. Luckily there was a coffee stand with halfway decent coffee and a chocolate croisant on the return journey. The looks on peoples faces seeing my knee were golden and made the increasingly sore knee well worth it.

I forget to mention that the police also took my statement. Seems I was involved in an official traffic incident and someone may get a warning, fine or worse. Also seems that cyclist passing traffic on the inside, irrespective of circumstances and safety, may fall foul of the UK Traffic
Code which insists traffic can only be passed on the right. More likely than not, we'll both be considered at fault and the whole incident will be forgotten in the system.

It'll be interesting to see what happens next. Seems my ribs are now quite sore and the soft flesh above my hip as well.. A cracked rib perhaps? Well, only time will tell... I'll give an update later.

LATER...

Well, here's the verdict. Seems that while flipping in the air, it was my knee that smashed the van's wing mirror. This in turn slashed and peeled back the skin on my knee (eeeeewwwww!) before I hit the ground.

Getting stitched up was quite a laugh actually. First, a very charming nurse asked me to get undressed... that doesn't happen every day. This involved me getting naked and putting on one of those robes that are open to the back and your bum sticks out. Very fashionable...

Next a nice foreign doctor came in to assess the damage. Some blood pressure was taken, chest sounds, etc... Turns out he's a Polish doctor who was disillusioned with the hospital and the UK medical system in general. "Too many people taking the piss..." he said after telling a story about a girl who complained about a sore left shoulder and wanting to get written ill from a job that required her to use her right arm and the fact the busiest days in A&E are always Mondays. I had a good chat with him, which I think led to him taking a bit more care with me.

Wash, inject, wash and sew... before I knew it he'd put 8 stiches in my knee. It's amazing what the human body can take when anaestatised. I took a look when he was done and admired his work. He struggled a bit getting the bandage to stick on my hairy legs and ended up having to shave a bit to get flat skin. It was then that he shared with me a little secret, namely that he sometime shaves rude or unpleasant patients who don't need to be for the hell of it as revenge...

As part of the final evaluation, he took a look whether my ribs were materially injured. To do this he basically pressed down quite hard on my ribs... problem was he managed to hit exactly the spot that hurt. After a big jump and yelp, I couldn't help laughing. This not only dispelled my pain, but of all the things... he said there weren't any cracks or brakes and, yes, that was going to be very sore in the morning...

Well, thus ends my saga of crashing my bike. I am now at home for the afternoon to rest and recover.

Lessons learned:

- Overtaking on the inside on a bicycle is technically illegal
- Always relax when you crash and try to roll, it'll hurt less that way
- Always wear safety gear, especially a helmet, and high visibility clothing
- Cycling in London can be dangerous
- A&E sucks... always pack a good book in case you injure yourself and have to wait hours in A&E to get treated
- Always be nice to people, it'll ensure they don't mess things up on purpose.