W&W London Bridge Pointless Prize Log

[Steve O]

@ltierstein 185225 wrote:

I just checked the citation, a copy of which was handed to me a few hours later in the hospital by the police officer who wrote it. It doesn’t say what the citation is, just that the driver was “at fault”. The police officer explained that the driver could either pay a fine or contest the citation in court. At the time, I was too out-of-it to pursue and ask for details, but I do have the officer’s contact information. And the citation number.

The helmet doesn’t have any cracks in it, but there is an indentation on the left front, where my head evidently made contact with something, and the adjustable frame of the helmet was pressed into the styrofoam. The part of my forehead that sits just below that part of the helmet is where I have the gash that required the stitches. There is blood all over the inside of the helmet, and some smeared on the outside — it must have come out of the vents before someone got the helmet off. It was not fun trying to wash the dried blood out of my hair and eyebrow.

No whiplash, just overall soreness on the left side of my body, and what must be a bruised rib at the bottom of the rib cage. I was thinking that the car just slammed into me. I have no idea what object could have caused the cut on my forehead — it’s straight, not jagged. The edge of a sideview mirror? Anybody know the physics of car vs bike incidents?

I’m going to try to make it to the Freezing Saddles Happy Hour tomorrow night; unfortunately, not by bicycle, but by public transportation+walking or Uber/taxi.

Sorry for the gory details.

Sticking with my original theory. The front of the car struck you from the left as it was turning into you. The bike was knocked free and you were thrown onto the hood with your head making contact with the point of impact where the helmet is smashed. The helmet caused the gash. Your ribs hit at the front of the hood at about the same time. Then depending on how fast the driver stopped you were either tossed off or slid down off the car.

[ImaCynic]

Hi Leslie,
I am so glad that you are okay and this wasn’t more serious than from I what witnessed. I was heading west to Falls Church from Chuxtr’s ride on Sunday with another when we came up onto the crash scene. Waiting at the light, I first noticed a crowd of people and several cyclists, a black truck/SUV in the middle of the road with no driver, a police SUV with flashing lights, and to my horror, a cyclist laying motionless on the road. There were no signs of paramedic at the scene, but I can hear the approaching sirens. It appears that someone had placed a jacket covering the cyclist (you), but I can see that you were wearing a dark colored helmet.

Seeing that authorities are already present and paramedic appears to be on their way, I did not want to be a gawker and decided to continue. As I rode closer, I did not notice any obvious damage to the front nor left side of the vehicle involved. However, I did noticed what appeared to be a thread of red yarn near your head that looked odd. But as I processed what I saw, I soon realized it was actually a small stream of blood running down the road. Recognizing this and based on the fact that no one was administering first-aid, I was thinking the worst. I mentioned what I witnessed to several fellow cyclists in Strava, and even scanned local news outlets for updates but did not find any.

I believe right turning vehicles pose the greatest danger to pedestrian/cyclists at this intersection. Law states that motorist must stop before making a right on red, I even believe there is a no right on red when pedestrians are present at this intersection, but is rarely observed. Given where the trail enters the intersection, I think it gives inadequate sight-line and a false impression to right turning motorists that they are free and clear. I have personally witnessed and experienced several close calls with drivers try to beat the light. This should be a No Right on Red intersection.

Wishing you to a speedy recovery!

[JoM]

ltierstein, Just catching up on the forums, it was nice to meet you at the FS HH last night. Glad that you were well enough to come out. Take care of you first, don’t worry about FS!
But please let Team 4 know when you are ready to go, maybe a few of us can join you.
Healing thoughts for you.
Jo

[Steve O]

@ImaCynic 185451 wrote:

This should be a No Right on Red intersection.

I suspect she was hit while both she and the driver had the green. She was eastbound.

[bikingjenn]

I had my first 2019 London Bridges entry this morning in the snow. Went down when trying to turn on a hill where there was some piled up plow remains. Little bit swollen and abraded left elbow and pump sheared off of the down tube. No worse for the wear, but learned a valuable lesson about snow riding on slick tires.

[wheelswings]

Just a reminder to keep posting any falls or crashes on this thread. You can share as many or as few details as you like. I don’t want you to go down, but if it happens you may as well win a prize for it! Be safe, everyone. w&w

[wheelswings]

I’m hoping the lack of additional entries on this London Bridge thread means that everybody has stayed upright!

[komorebi]

Alas, I have one to report from this past Friday, on the W&OD.

My bootlace came undone and wrapped itself around my pedal, which I didn’t notice until my pedal stopped rotating. I tried pedaling backwards to unwind the bootlace, but I didn’t have enough momentum and went ker-PLOP! straight into a snowbank alongside the trail. No damage to bike or body, thankfully. But my boot was pretty firmly attached to my bike at that point. The only way I could get enough leverage to lift the bike off myself and get back on my feet was to pull my foot out of my boot. Since I was already in a snowbank, that meant putting my socked foot straight into the snow — and doing the rest of my ride with one wet sock. Thank goodness for wool socks.

[LhasaCM]

@wheels&wings 186184 wrote:

I’m hoping the lack of additional entries on this London Bridge thread means that everybody has stayed upright!

At least relatively speaking – I almost went down yesterday on the zig-zag ramp from 4MR on my way back to Target to get shovel #2. I went off the pavement in the first turn and the front wheel got caught and sent me tumbling sideways. but the railing kept me from falling all the way down. (It was one of those super slow motion types of falls like when someone forgets they’re clipped in and come to a complete stop.)

[Steve O]

@komorebi 186186 wrote:

Alas, I have one to report from this past Friday, on the W&OD.

My bootlace came undone and wrapped itself around my pedal, which I didn’t notice until my pedal stopped rotating. I tried pedaling backwards to unwind the bootlace, but I didn’t have enough momentum and went ker-PLOP! straight into a snowbank alongside the trail. No damage to bike or body, thankfully. But my boot was pretty firmly attached to my bike at that point. The only way I could get enough leverage to lift the bike off myself and get back on my feet was to pull my foot out of my boot. Since I was already in a snowbank, that meant putting my socked foot straight into the snow — and doing the rest of my ride with one wet sock. Thank goodness for wool socks.

I anxiously await the video of this.

[Sunyata]

Oh man. In the five BAFS that I have been involved in, this is the first time I have actually fallen due to winter weather.

A group of us went on a gravel ride out of The Plains on Saturday. The first climb on gravel was Bull Mountain, which faces north and was a pretty nasty mess of snow, slush, and ice. Everyone was being pretty careful coming down the mountain, and one guy had stopped to warn of a big hole on a particularly slushy section. While I was paying attention to him, I hit a really deep slushy spot and both wheels slipped out from under me and down I went. Luckily, it was a pretty soft landing and no damage to anything other than my ego.

Valuable lessons learned on that ride though:
1) gravel tires suck in snow and slush
2) falling into snow and slush is better than falling on gravel
3) whisky helps that bruised ego recover very quickly

[Dachs6]

I have two to report.

Sunday morning (20/1), jet lagged, I joined a local CX race (non-UCI sanctioned) and went ahead and fell over while descending a short steep drop at low speed. Mostly fine, other than the cacophony of laughter from the Germans and some pointers on how to ride a bicycle.

Today (23/1), I just went ahead and dumped it over on a frozen gravel trail. Oddly, no torn clothing, and a tiny bruise on the outside of my right calf muscle…and torn bar tape (need to rewrap the bar anyhow)….I missed the big rocks and giant frozen mounds of mud from the logging trucks.

Not sure if they count, though, not due to ice or snow.

[rcannon100]

@Dachs6 186348 wrote:

I have two to report.

Sunday morning (20/1), jet lagged, I joined a local CX race (non-UCI sanctioned) and went ahead and fell over while descending a short steep drop at low speed. Mostly fine, other than the cacophony of laughter from the Germans and some pointers on how to ride a bicycle.

Today (23/1), I just went ahead and dumped it over on a frozen gravel trail. Oddly, no torn clothing, and a tiny bruise on the outside of my right calf muscle…and torn bar tape (need to rewrap the bar anyhow)….I missed the big rocks and giant frozen mounds of mud from the logging trucks.

Not sure if they count, though, not due to ice or snow.

Pictures or it didnt happen!

[SamDenes]

I fell down thrice on my commute this morning. Hit a patch of ice on cracked asphalt on Sligo Creek Trail. The crack was enough to cause a bit of a wobble which eventually brought me down. I ended up on a clear patch of pavement, my bike was a few feet in front of me on the next patch of ice. After sitting for a few seconds to curse myself and snap a few pictures, I stood up, walked over to my bike (which was on ice), bent over to pick it up, and – you guessed it – fell ever so gracelessly. Aside from a bruised psyche these falls did not cause much damage. I was able to scoot over to the grassy edge of the trail, stand up, and get my bike upright. I walked down to the next clear section of trail and got back on the bike. Continuing along for less than a quarter mile, I encountered some more ice, this time with hesitation. The lack of confidence led to the worst fall leading to a sprained ankle, torn shirt and glove, and some scrapes, and worst of all, a smushed banana inside my backpack. Now to convince my wife that continuing to ride is a smart idea.
Pictures are from the first fall – notice the ice under the bike that leads to the second fall. Upside down phone = upside down pictures
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19141[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]19142[/ATTACH]

[drevil]

@SamDenes 186504 wrote:

The lack of confidence led to the worst fall leading to a sprained ankle, torn shirt and glove, and some scrapes, and worst of all, a smushed banana inside my backpack. Now to convince my wife that continuing to ride is a smart idea.

Solved:

Also, as a member of another team, I highly agree with your wife. It’s way too dangerous to ride now and you should stay inside and play Xbox until the summer.

[Author]

Posts