Saturday, October 25, 2008

One Less Fixie

One finally got me. I guess its just a matter of time when you tempt the automobile's playground day after day. Riding home from work in the bike lane, doing all the proper things I should be doing, I approached a driveway on my right and before I could shout "Fuh..!" I was plowing my beloved fixed-gear Trek into the passenger door of a silver Ford Mustang convertible that appeared effectively out of nowhere.

For a split second I thought I'd be going over the hood. Then there was an explosion of plastic, glass and carbon fiber as I slammed into the sideview mirror and promptly dropped to the asphalt.

Rewinding a few minutes, there were 2 lanes of traffic to my left as I rode. Bumper to bumper, not moving. I was moving however. And so was the driver of the Mustang who took advantage of a gap in traffic to zip into said driveway on his way to work. Thats the point at which we were violently introduced.

He called 911 and put me on the phone. I was in shock/denial/tough-guy mode of course so I declined an ambulance AND the police. 30 minutes later after swapping insurance and drivers licenses, I came to my senses and told the driver I'd be calling the police to document the incident with a police report. Otherwise I was ready to leave with a bloody knee and a broken bike. Ungood.

Which brings me to the bike, which I actually mourned in slo-mo as we both collapsed onto the street after impact - "oh noooo myyyyy biiiiiiike....."

Its fucked. The fork was shoved straight back towards the downtube and the downtube itself has crumpled. The handling of the bike is noticeably more twitchy now thanks to the modified head angle. Two of the Spinergy Rev-X bladed snapped off the rear rim. How the front wheel stayed intact and the rear failed is a mystery of science.

So now the aches & pains have set in. Bruised ribs, jacked up wrists, gimpy walk and a whiplashed neck. Insurance companies contacted, police report submitted, pain meds swallowed. All in all I'm lucky to get tangled up with a car and walk away. The bike won't be ridden again but can be replaced (and I just had it powdercoated about a month ago! Grrr!). The Spinergys are toast as well. All because some fool didn't look close enough to anyone that might be approaching him in the bike lane. C'est la vie. Its done and time to think about what will take the Trek's place.

And now in tribute to my bike, vis-à-vis a post on BikeSnobNYC earlier this year, I give you One Less Fixie.

1 comment:

ewxlt66 said...

"Isn't it ironic...don't ya think...a little too ironic."