Friday will be one month since I got hit by a truck on my commute. I was
really lucky not to suffer serious injury. Nothing broken, no serious cuts,
not even road rash. I did develop a hard hematoma at the top of my tibialis
anterior which is requiring some torture from PT, but that's the worst of
it. Biggest pain has been spending a month away from my commute. I was off
the bike totally for a week(Vicodin and bikes not good combination, but
Vicodin and Guinness surprisingly effective) and have been gradually working
back.
The first time I rode post-hit, I took my town bike for a short(5 mile)
spin. It has Look MTB pedals----big big mistake. Being locked in, even with
the pedal set at the weakest retention, hurt my calf and knee. So I retired
that one and rode my slick tired MTB with BMX pedals. That was OK but
putting the left foot down hurt. Now I can ride with pretty much no pain,
sprinting, climbing, unclipping. There's still some soreness but that's from
the hematoma, and the sports medicine doc thinks PT will get rid of the
hematoma.
My bike shop is pretty busy and understaffed, so it took them until
last week to get the bike broken down and frame sent back to Gunnar for
inspection. It's going to need a new frame but Richard Schwinn wanted to see
it so off it went. Now the waiting game starts---another 6 wks at best
before I get the new frame. This will be expensive for the insurance
company, as the frame, crankset, wheels, tires, light, taillights, rack,
panniers, handlebar, bar tape, cassette, and brake levers all need to be
replaced. That plus disassembly, shipping, and reassembly AND the helmet,
jersey, gloves, and bibs I lost should push the total cost over 4 grand.
OUCH for them but I'm being honest.
In closing, I will be back on the commute as soon as I can. I'll take
the same route, but I'll take more of the lane next time. 18 inches wasn't
enough for that section, I guess. I am now going to wear my helmet any time
I ride. I don't want to start a helmet war, but seeing the crack in the back
of my helmet where the mirror hit me scared the [censored] out of me. My head
would have taken some sort of impact. OUCH. I also like the Flash
Flag---http://www.flashback.ca/products/accessories.html
as that looks like it would get more space from motorists. It would be
better if the flag stuck out farther, but that seems like an easy fix.