29 August 2014

Recombobulation

 So, on 13 August, I was out cycling and was hit by a car.  I was crossing Logan on the Martin Goodman trail; the driver was turning off of Lakeshore on to Logan in the apparent (and false!) expectation they had the right-of-way.  The Hypothesis' fork and front wheel didn't survive; the wheel looks fine but when a dynamo hub shocks you through the wheel rim, something has gone wrong.  (Also, when the mechanic has to cut the front skewer to get the wheel off the fork, you start to suspect how the hum hub may have gone wrong... [Though the hum has definitely gone wrong, too.])

I'm fine; there was some minor bruising, the kind that doesn't hurt when you move, never mind make moving harder, and it's faded. The driver's insurance company has been remarkably easy to deal with and the final release has been mailed off, so I'm expecting the comfortable price of a replacement fork and wheel to arrive next week.

Immediately post-collision, with the rando bag off
This is an ex-fork
The former fork's off at True North for paint-matching purposes against the new fork.  I'm trying not to wince at the prices for the rack struts, riding the Experiment, and generally developing a desire for a much more distinct bicycle infrastructure with the kind of barriers that would stop a full articulated cement truck at 100kph.

2 comments:

Janice in GA said...

Oh my goodness, glad you're (mostly) ok, and the bike is repairable. That's scary stuff. And the hub shocking you? Wow, impressive.

I recently got knocked off my bike. An inadequately secured piece of pipe or conduit came off a truck from my right and caused me to fall. I don't know what happened exactly, because I never saw it. One second, going forward. Next second, on the ground. Disorienting, but not really damaging to me or the bike either.

Separated infrastructure would be wonderful to have, wouldn't it? Stay safe out there.

Graydon said...

Knocked off bike with no warning's pretty darn scary.

Glad you weren't hurt!

Just deposited the insurance cheque yesterday; very pleasant and professional insurance guy, plus indications that they've been getting very careful about car-hits-bike claims, which is a bad thing (means it's been happening a lot) as well as a good thing (it's being taken seriously. Same with the accident report.)