There will be blood! (aka: My 1st bad crash as an adult)
EDIT:
Sorry, I started to type and it became a mini-novel!
For those who don't want to read the whole thing, here's the...
...SYNOPSIS:
~ Riding on Lake between State and Wabash
~ Guy runs out from between two parked tour busses without looking
~ I plow into him, we both go down
~ Blood... BLOOD!
~ Hospital, stiches, sore, bummer weekend, eye swollen shut, missed my Sunday ride to get pic for the photo tag game thread
~ My wife is awesome
....and here's the long version:
CRASH INTO ME...
It was bound to happen sooner or later. I had my first bad crash on Friday while commuting to work.
I was on riding east on Lake Street between State and Wabash. This is the section of Lake Street that runs along the side of the Chicago Theatre, so there was a line of tour busses parked along the curb instead of just cars.
As I was riding (aproximately between 10mph to 15mph) a pedestrian darted out from between the busses and ran into the right side of my front wheel! He was probably more shocked than I was, because he didn't even look, and was running out into traffic in a morth-east direction so at his angle, he didn't see me at all, and my right side of my handle bar caught him in the torso as he was crashing into my front forks/wheel. I recall myself shouting "CROSSWALK!" when we hit, as I usually shout out to pedestrians crossing in front of me: "Use the crosswalk, please!"... but I guess my second nature in this unexpected meeting was to scream "CROSSWALK!" as we just hit. There was really no time for me to react, unfortunately.
We both went down in what seemed like a micro-second; however, the sound of my helmet scraping on the ground seemed like it went on forever.
BLEED FOR ME...
I didn't lose consciousness and I didn't feel dizzy or queazy. I popped right up and my first instinct was to look for my glasses. I looked towards the ground and located my glasses quickly, and that's when I noticed blood rapidly dripping everywhere it seemed. I was looking down at my broken glasses and watching blood cover my bike frame, the traffic cone that we toppled over, and the dirty while line in the road. I looked up at the guy and he said, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you, are you OK? Please sit down!" He instantly blurred out as blood ran down over my left eye and I finally hit me... "Oh, shit... I'm bleeding. Badly!".
The guy said "I'm calling an ambulance! ..let me get something for your head!" and he ran into Dunkin Donuts or Chic-Fil-A, not sure... and he returned with a fist full of napkins. I asked him if there was gravel in my cut, he said, "It's hard to tell... you're going to need stitches!" I figured, if there was any, the EMTs would flush it out anyways, so I stuck the wad of napkins to my head. It instantly saturated and I was dripping all over the place again. My left hand holding the napkins to my forehead looked black and red from the blood covering it drying, and then getting a fresh coat; which then formed multiple thick red tributaries down my forearm and finally dripping off my elbow. The guy was just staring at me with a shocked look on his face.
DOCTOR, DOCTOR...
The ambulance arrived very quickly and the two EMTs were very pleasant, fast and thoughtful. After they treated me on the scene and were about to put me into the ambulance, that's when I realied the guy that I hit had taken off on me! That really pissed me off. He could of at least gave me a business card and contact info and offered to pay AT LEAST for my deductible! Am I off base in thinking this would be the appropriate thing for him to do?
At the Northwest Memorial Hospital, I received eleven stitches above my left eye to close up a "star" or "X" shaped gash that is about one inch long. The Doctor and I believe it was the hinge of my glasses that caused it, as there is no road rash on my head. My helmet scraped the ground on the front edge just above my left eye, and I did have a mirror attached to the left arm of my glasses, so I think the mirror dug into the ground and pushed my glasses into my forehead. I could not locate the left arm of my glasses after the crash but found the mangled mirror. My left shoulder has a massive, gory scrape as does my left knee. both of my hands have scraped knuckles and my left palm feels bruised. I'm also generally sore all over, as my 40 year old flabby body can't handle these crashes as it once did 25 years ago routinely falling off skateboard ramps in a much trimmer, healthier version of myself. Thank goodness I didn't break anything on me or the other guy (although I'm glad I messed up his suit since he took off on me!).
ZEN ARCADE...
As I left the hospital, I finally had a chance to inspect my bike. It received minor damage (just a bent brake lever a ton of scrapes to add to the many). My helmet, a Bell Sweep Race did its job very well and there is a hairline crack through it now starting from where it hit the ground. I'm sad to see that helmet go, as it fit me perfectly and I don't see it on store shelves anymore. I got on my bike and slowly, carefully rode it around the hospital a couple times and realized that everything was working correctly.
I rode around River North for about an hour as leisurely as I could in my condition, just to give myself some zen time in the saddle. I then informed my office that I wasn't coming in today because of what happened and then my wife called me in tears with a whimpering voice as she had just gotten off the morning shift at work and had just read my text to her. I reassured her that I was OK and let her know I would be heading home on the train.
I got to Union Station and realized that I looked like a freak show! My huge bandage above my eye had started to ooze a grotesque mixture of ointment and blood down the side of my face, and I was getting some interesting looks. By the time I got home after the 1 hour 20 minute Metra ride, my left eye had swollen shut and looked like a plum! This made it difficult to watch Breaking Bad episodes on my laptop on the train, but at least I was able to relax as best I could for a little bit.
JUST LIKE HEAVEN...
In the end, my wife has proven to be so amazing and has taken care of me, cleaning and dressing my wounds and keeping me smiling as best as she could given the circumstances. Looking back at the weekend, I'm even glad that she firmly told me that I could not go for a bike ride on Sunday at the McHenry Dam and Lock Site (because I wanted to get the next pic for the photo tag game thread). As I type this on the Metra train, I'm still super achy and sore all over, so I'm glad she didn't let me ride on Sunday or go to Flugtag like I wanted to on Saturday.
So, to my wife I would like to say: Thank you babydoll, for being the one in our relationship with compassion and a brain in your unscathed head! I love you!
Views: 676
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mattrb on
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I fell off my bike yesterday on Lake St around the end of the bears game as I was coming home. I looked at my rear wheel because it was making noise and swerved into the curb. I should have stopped but I was being absent minded. I fell onto the concrete sidewalk and scraped the back of my hand. Helmet touched the ground lightly. I was going about 6-8mph so I guess that is why it was not bad.
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Permalink Reply by igz on
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in regards to the guy that ran away - is there liability against him? did he flee the scene of an accident? he called 911 for the ambulance, so it should be rather easy to track him down...
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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on
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Are you planning on another crash?
There WAS blood is past tense, WILL is future tense, IS is present tense.
Don't be tense, relax, take a Yoga class, chill with some bud(s)... but seriously be careful.
And give me the artist/singer of Zen Arcade I got the rest.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on
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+ a gazillion for your wife. :-) and for you for having the sense to listen to her :-D
Heal soon.
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Permalink Reply by JimmyD on
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I had a similar mishap... I looked down at my cassette to see if I was on my 4th ring while coming to a stop at a traffic light, and I accidentally swerved into the side of a stopped cab! OOPS! Like your situation, it's a good thing I was going very slowly and the cabbie had a sense of humor (he told me "lay off the sauce kid!" and laughed).
Good thing you were wearing a helmet!
Mattrb said:I fell off my bike yesterday on Lake St around the end of the bears game as I was coming home. I looked at my rear wheel because it was making noise and swerved into the curb. I should have stopped but I was being absent minded. I fell onto the concrete sidewalk and scraped the back of my hand. Helmet touched the ground lightly. I was going about 6-8mph so I guess that is why it was not bad.
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Legally speaking, I really don't know where the liability lies in this situation. All I know is, I was riding legally, and he ran out in the middle of the block without looking, and he was not at a designated crosswalk.
A few people have told me that my insurance company might contact me to find out what happened, and suggested that I track him down via the 911 call. However (I'm not sure how true this is, but...) my brother in law told me it might not be worth it, because I would likely need to hire a lawyer to subpoena the 911 call and track the guy down. Who knows... is this the process to get the guy's info?
I suppose since I was cycling on a city street, and cyclists have to follow the rules of the road, it's technically a "traffic accident" that the guy did flee from, right?I'm not one to seek out a lawsuit for a "pay-day settlement", but I do feel that he should have stopped and I probably should have filed a police report for my insurance to follow up on, right?
This whole situation is frustrating to think about.
igz said:in regards to the guy that ran away - is there liability against him? did he flee the scene of an accident? he called 911 for the ambulance, so it should be rather easy to track him down...
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LOL... I was just playing with the thread title and thought of the movie title "There Will be Blood".... so I stole that.
I'm a fairly chilled out guy... with, or without bud(s) ;)
The artist you're looking for who created the awesome album "Zen Arcade" is the great band, "Hüsker Dü"
Here you go... give the album a listen... it's a classic!
Mike Zumwalt said:Are you planning on another crash?
There WAS blood is past tense, WILL is future tense, IS is present tense.
Don't be tense, relax, take a Yoga class, chill with some bud(s)... but seriously be careful.
And give me the artist/singer of Zen Arcade I got the rest.
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Thanks.... She's a keeper... I'd be a mess without her! =)
Lisa Curcio 6.5 mi said:+ a gazillion for your wife. :-) and for you for having the sense to listen to her :-D
Heal soon.
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It might be worth a call to the Active Trans Crash Support help line to ask some questions. And you can still go to a police station to make a report. Crash Support: 312-869-4357
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Great idea, thanks Lisa!
Lisa Curcio 6.5 mi said:It might be worth a call to the Active Trans Crash Support help line to ask some questions. And you can still go to a police station to make a report. Crash Support: 312-869-4357
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Thanks.
JimmyD 3.75 mi said:LOL... I was just playing with the thread title and thought of the movie title "There Will be Blood".... so I stole that.
I'm a fairly chilled out guy... with, or without bud(s) ;)
The artist you're looking for who created the awesome album "Zen Arcade" is the great band, "Hüsker Dü"
Here you go... give the album a listen... it's a classic!
Mike Zumwalt said:Are you planning on another crash?
There WAS blood is past tense, WILL is future tense, IS is present tense.
Don't be tense, relax, take a Yoga class, chill with some bud(s)... but seriously be careful.
And give me the artist/singer of Zen Arcade I got the rest.
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+1
Lisa Curcio 6.5 mi said:It might be worth a call to the Active Trans Crash Support help line to ask some questions. And you can still go to a police station to make a report. Crash Support: 312-869-4357
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