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Author
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Topic: Well, it's about that time...
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Xanthine
Solid Nitrozanium SuperFan!
Member # 736
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posted April 11, 2006 22:14
IIRC, it's been about a year since my last wipe-out, which means I've been due for another hit on my multiple lives. Sure enough, it happened tonight.
I hit a SUV on my way home from work. My bike frame took most of the impact and it shows. I cried pretty hard when I saw that - I love that bike. I feel like I've lost a part of me. The rest of the impact was absorbed by the right side of my face, and that shows. Only thing that boke is my nose, and I chipped a tooth. However, I have a fat lip and the whole right side of my face is swollen so I look kinda like some sort of surrealist portrait. I was not helmeted. I should have been, but I wasn't. Luckily enough, I did not black out or hit my head. Just my face. Nothing else, other than scratch or two on my left hand. Someone called 911. The EMTs were impressed, and no, I did not get strapped to a board (Woohoo!!).
What happened was this: I had just turned right onto the sidewalk of the street I live on. I was half a block from my apartment building, crossing the driveway into a parking lot of a 7-11. I was on the sidewalk because I didn't want to take the across-busy-traffic left turn I'd otherwise make to get into my complex. I saw, too late, a SUV turn in. I wasn't going superfast, but my bike doesn't stop on a dime. I tried to swerve and brake. I really didn't want to hit the guy. But I side-swiped him. I don't think I flew, but I definitely came off the bike.
The doc gave me some Vicodin for the pain. Thing is, I'm really not in a lot of pain (on a 1 to 10 scale, with 1 being a stubbed toe and 10 being compound hip fracture, I'm about a 2). I guess if I change my mind it's there.
Maybe I can get my bike fixed, but I doubt it. Te frame was pretty bent. The cops didn't give me any tickets, but we'll see what the accident report says. The driver seemed pretty shaken. And wow, do noses bleed...
I'm going to miss that bike. She and I were one. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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And it's one, two, three / On the wrong side of the lee / What were you meant for? / What were you meant for?
- The Decemberists
Posts: 7670 | From: the lab | Registered: Mar 2001
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Snaggy
Sir Snaggalot!
Member # 123
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posted April 11, 2006 22:28
aw crap...
Sorry for your bike loss and your pain... ouch. But I'm really glad you weren't hurt worse!
WEAR A HELMET FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!! ![[shake head]](graemlins/shakehead.gif)
/me makes you some tea
Posts: 8170 | From: Canada | Registered: Jan 2000
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Rhonwyyn
Solid Gold SuperFan!
Member # 2854
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posted April 11, 2006 22:34
If we can figure out a way to get my bike to you, you're welcome to my Giant Cypress 21-speed until you get a replacement for your wounded steed. I'd even throw in my purple helmet! The bike's less than two years old and has maybe been ridden for 100 miles. It has front and rear suspension and a really comfortable seat!
Send me a PM if you'd be interested.
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Change the way you SEE, not the way you LOOK!
Posts: 3851 | From: Lancaster, PA | Registered: Jul 2004
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Xanthine
Solid Nitrozanium SuperFan!
Member # 736
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posted April 11, 2006 22:34
Totaling the bike hurts much worse than anything else right now.
I don't think I can quite express what that bike was to me. I could ride it through anything, and I know this because I did.
Edit: Thanks Rhonnie but I do have a mountain bike that someone threw in a ditch and I brought back to life. It's a solid bike, but it's not my Stellar. For one thing, it doesn't fly.
I gotta stop thinking about that bike. It makes me cry, and then that makes my nose start bleeding all over again.
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And it's one, two, three / On the wrong side of the lee / What were you meant for? / What were you meant for?
- The Decemberists
Posts: 7670 | From: the lab | Registered: Mar 2001
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macmcseboy
Solid Nitrozanium SuperFan!
Member # 1232
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posted April 11, 2006 23:46
/me gingerly hugs Xanthine...
That truly sucks X... I know you loved that bike. But WE love YOU more. Alive preferably. Thank god you are ok.
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Live long and prosper.
Posts: 1151 | From: Victoria BC... | Registered: Mar 2002
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Ashitaka
SuperFan!
Member # 4924
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posted April 12, 2006 00:27
I must admit I also only wear my helmet when I know I will be riding on busy city streets. I don't wear my helmet when I ride around on sidewalks, but then again I have never wrecked.
What kind of bike did you lose? I would hate to lose my bike as it is a Schwinn from before they went bankrupt, sold out to wal-mart, and started producing junk.
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"If they're not gonna make a distinction between Muslims and violent extremists, then why should I take the time to distinguish between decent, fearful white people and racists?"
-Assif Mandvi
Posts: 3093 | From: Switzerland | Registered: Feb 2006
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The Famous Druid
Gold Hearted SuperFan!
Member # 1769
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posted April 12, 2006 02:18
Sorry to hear about your bike (and face) but you know what they say, any crash you walk away from is a good one.
I never used to wear a helmet, until a guy I was riding with snapped his frame at high speed going down a hill, flew an unbelievable distance, and landed on his head. He was wearing a helmet, and it probably saved his life.
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If you watch 'The History Of NASA' backwards, it's about a space agency that has no manned spaceflight capability, then does low-orbit flights, then lands on the Moon.
Posts: 10702 | From: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: Oct 2002
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TheMoMan
BlabberMouth, a Blabber Odyssey
Member # 1659
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posted April 12, 2006 05:07
Xanthine__________________NOT AGAIN
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Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin,
Posts: 5855 | From: Just South of the Huron National Forest, in the water shed of the Rifle River | Registered: Sep 2002
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dragonman97
SuperFan!
Member # 780
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posted April 12, 2006 06:28
Damn it, Xanthine! There's no +1 button for those 9 lives (@6 now?), ya know?
Sorry to hear the news...but glad to hear that your mostly well. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) And hey...maybe this'll right your nose after the mountain - I know you weren't thrilled about that gem did. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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There are three things you can be sure of in life: Death, taxes, and reading about fake illnesses online...
Posts: 9345 | From: Westchester County, New York | Registered: May 2001
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GMx
Solid Nitrozanium SuperFan!
Member # 1523
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posted April 12, 2006 07:02
Ouch! Glad you weren't seriously injured.
Posts: 5855 | From: S-4, Area 51 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Luke Skywalker
Assimilated
Member # 3096
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posted April 12, 2006 07:48
Glad to hear you're ok. Hopefully you can get thie bike fixed. I know how much stuff like that means.
and
GET A HELMET!!!!! AND USE IT!!!!!!!
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Use the Force, Luke.
Posts: 406 | From: The Line Between Time and Space | Registered: Nov 2004
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Mac D
BlabberMouth, the Next Generation
Member # 2926
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posted April 12, 2006 08:00
I'm glad to hear that you are alright. Sorry about the bike
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There's nothing wrong with me, This is how I'm supposed to be.
Posts: 1449 | From: Where I am is very relative to my location at that time. | Registered: Sep 2004
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TMBWITW,PB
Member # 1734
Member Rated:
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posted April 12, 2006 09:50
Aw man, I cringe just reading that. I'm glad you weren't (too) seriously injured. Condolences about the loss of your bike. ![[weep]](graemlins/weep.gif)
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"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye."
—Miss Piggy
Posts: 4010 | From: my couch | Registered: Oct 2002
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zesovietrussian
SuperBlabberMouth!
Member # 1177
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posted April 12, 2006 10:19
That's a doubleplus ouch! Glad to hear you're (more or less) all right though. As far as the bike goes, it might be a good idea to salvage undamaged components and replace the frame - you can't easily replace individual tubes on a welded frame, and simply bending it back to original shape will make it much weaker. You really don't want your frame to snap on you while you're flying down a hill at 35mph...
PS: If the frame is brazed, just take it to your local framebuilder and have them replace damaged tubes, it shouldn't cost that much.
Posts: 1094 | From: Boston | Registered: Mar 2002
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skylar
BlabberMouth, the Next Generation
Member # 1422
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posted April 12, 2006 12:48
... really sorry to hear that, Xan. Absolutely sucks about the bike, but very glad indeed that you're okay.
Posts: 1994 | From: Deutschland | Registered: May 2002
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Flashfire
Assimilated
Member # 2616
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posted April 12, 2006 13:02
I've very sorry to hear about what happened, Xanthine, though I am glad that you weren't the one to take the brunt of the damage.
I feel for you; I know how it is to break/lose something irreplacable like that. I hope you can find a good bike repair shop to get her back up and on the road again.
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"No silicon heaven? That's absurd!
Where would all the calculators go?"
--Kryten, Red Dwarf
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My Web Comic: NSTA: Semper Vigilantis
Posts: 368 | From: State of Denial | Registered: Mar 2004
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Grummash
Gold Hearted SuperFan!
Member # 4289
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posted April 12, 2006 13:09
Xanthine - sorry to hear about your crash.
I hope the bruises fade soon.
And it's a real bummer to have trashed your favourite cycle.
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...and yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this earth with envious eyes...
Posts: 2335 | From: Lancashire,UK | Registered: Aug 2005
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garlicguy
Member # 3166
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posted April 12, 2006 15:24
Screech! Crunch! Ouch! Whimper!
(My onomatapoeia-tic attempt at empathy.)
Sorry for your trouble, Xanth, but glad it is no worse.
gg
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I don't know what I was thinking... it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Posts: 3753 | From: Pluto, no matter what you call it, is still my home. | Registered: Dec 2004
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GrumpySteen
Solid Nitrozanium SuperFan
Member # 170
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posted April 12, 2006 16:25
/me plays a funeral dirge for the bike
I'm glad to hear you weren't seriously injured. Hopefully you'll look less surreal soon.
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Worst. Celibate. Ever.
Posts: 6364 | From: Tennessee | Registered: Jan 2000
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ARJ
SuperBlabberMouth!
Member # 157
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posted April 12, 2006 19:46
Ooh, my sympathies. Sydney is not a particularly bike-friendly city so I avoid riding here. But I do miss having a bike. Hope you can get yours repaired or find an equally-beloved replacement. And here's wishing you a speedy nasal recovery.
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Katie West: Well done steak? Really?
Warren Ellis: Yes. Because MAN COOK MEAT WITH FIRE UNTIL IT NO CRY ANY MORE THEN EAT IT DEAD
Posts: 1197 | From: Sydney, NSW, AU | Registered: Jan 2000
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csk
Member # 1941
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posted April 12, 2006 23:27
quote:
Originally posted by ARJ:
Ooh, my sympathies. Sydney is not a particularly bike-friendly city so I avoid riding here.
Ain't that the truth. Better in the burbs though...
Yeah, sorry to hear about that Xan, but glad you're OK out of it. Hope a suitable alternative biking arrangement can be made soon...
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6 weeks to go!
Posts: 4455 | From: Sydney, Australia | Registered: Jan 2003
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Astronomer Jedi
Highlie
Member # 4699
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posted April 13, 2006 02:11
Glad you're ok Xanth. As long as you're good, who cares about the bike. Bikes are replaceable, you are not.
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Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?
Posts: 606 | From: Perth, Western Australia | Registered: Nov 2005
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Doco
SuperFan!
Member # 371
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posted April 13, 2006 06:56
I start reading the thread get through the first line and say to myself - uh-oh! Well - at least she is posting this and not someone else.
Xanth, for crying out loud, wear that brain bucket! Us geeks need to protect the one good thing we have. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Hope you feel better soon and that the pain doesn't come in too bad. I know sometimes it hits me worse a day later.
Posts: 419 | From: Minneapolis, MN | Registered: Mar 2000
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Sxeptomaniac
Member # 3698
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posted April 13, 2006 09:24
Glad you weren't mangled as badly as the bike was, Xanthine. Here's praying for quick healing.
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Let's pray that the human race never escapes from Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere. - C. S. Lewis
Posts: 1590 | From: Fresno, CA | Registered: Mar 2005
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David Rogers
Mini Geek
Member # 1373
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posted April 13, 2006 09:35
Wear the helmet. That was the first thing I learned when I survived an accident that should have killed me when I was 15. When I was 29 that lesson saved my life in another accident where I ended up creasing the helmet on the edge of the the curb. Without the helmet I don't think that I would have survived that one.
I don't post here often but I do frequently read these forums, and while I often skim threads I usually stop to read posts from certain posters and you are one of those posters. This place would be different without you here so take the necessary safety precautions whether you are getting ready to go rock climing or just riding your bike to work.
Posts: 66 | From: Champaign IL USA | Registered: May 2002
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