To the people who saved my life.

[Apomonomenos]

I was biking my usual route, but it was rush hour, and I was rushing a little, too.

On my second busy intersection, Beckwith and Shermer, I hit a car. I hit it, on the side. It was going somewhere around 35 mph (Or at-least that's what he said), and when I got to the other side, I laid my bike down, span around for about 2-5 sec, and then regained consciousness. Two people pulled over, and asked if I was fine. I didn't really feel anything, and I was eager to keep biking. They kept me busy while the police came and took me to the hospital. I wasn't wearing a helmet.

The good thing is that there was no serious injury, and it wasn't the first time I hit a car on my bike, and that if I didn't go into the hospital, I would've kept riding, and maybe hit the train that I always pass on my route.

Lesson learned?

Don't bike during rush hour.

[Mythos_Ruler]

Well, also there are two instances of celebrities recently that have died due to "minor" bumps to the head. They felt fine, refused to see a doctor, then died the next day.

[Apomonomenos]

Thank you for that comforting after thought...

[MrChocolateBear]

The good thing is that there was no serious injury[...]

Wear a helmet from now on. We can't afford to lose 0 A.D. fans!

Seriously though, be more careful & I'm happy you're alright.

[Pandemyk]

Apomonomenos...

For what it's worth, with regard to wearing a helmet -- my cousin as well as his mom and dad were all avid bikers, and they all wore helmets when they rode.

Of course, my cousing sometimes left the helmet off when riding with his buddies, I guess because it "wasn't manly" to them.

One day when riding with his buddies -- sans helmet -- this experienced rider lost control on a patch of sand on a curve and went headlong into a very large and substantial tree. My cousin Ken was permanently disabled, confined to a wheelchair with limited use of his hands and arms and barely understandable speech from the severe brain injuries.

Does he regret it? Yup, and he's had the past.... oh.... 25-30 years to do his regretting, too.

Please reconsider the helmet, ok?

[Silver]

On topic - helmets are really amazing. My dad was biking to his Lab and a car ran a light and hit him, his bike was trashed, his helmet cracked into two pieces but he only had a few scrapes and bruises.

I couldn't believe his head was fine after I saw the helmet.... WOW.

For some reason in Canada, the cars and roads and police are very anti-bike. We had 5 cyclists get run over by a van and the police decided instead of patrolling the streets catching bad drivers, they'd send bike patrols to ticket people riding bikes on the sidewalk.

Plus government officials don't understand what needs to be done - bike paths have a low speed limit... they're not meant for traveling to work. I remember Europe having bike lanes and everything, in Canada if you're lucky, some of the major roads have painted bike lanes.

I edited because biker sounds too much like biker gangs (motorcycles).

Well, also there are two instances of celebrities recently that have died due to "minor" bumps to the head. They felt fine, refused to see a doctor, then died the next day.

Just to be clear, they didn't really feel 'fine'. They complained that they had headaches, dizziness, etc...

Not severe enough for most people to consider a hospital, but it wasn't like it came right out of the blue.

Just thought I'd comment on that because I snowboard at Mont Tremblant, where that actress died.

And also, these are fairly rare cases - though I would suggest to everyone here and anyone I meet that wearing a helmet for bikes/snowboards/skis/motorcycles is a good idea.

But at the same time, people can take safety too far, especially some parents. I understand it, but let your kid live a little.

Edited August 29, 2009 by Silver

[Belisarivs]

Apomonomenos, I somewhat missed the point. How did they save your life?

By protecting you from possibly hit the train? That possibility wouldn't be there anyway?

Whatever. It is still better to know that someone is OK for reason not obvious to me than knowing exactly why is someone hurt/dead.

[MrEmjeR]

hmmmm is this about normal biking or "high-speed" biking??

i always bike to school, a minute or 20, and i never wear a helmet while it's always quite busy on dutch ways....

i never "high-speed" biked, but every one i see doing it is wearing a helmet.

i hit a car once, but that was cuz i was biking on the sidewalk and didn't see the car coming... i only bumbed of their bumber but i could click it back at once.

[Apomonomenos]

Been a while since I checked back up on this.

I never crossed that street again. If ever, it was a small street or a street with a light. Never Shermer/Beckwith Again.

All I remember from that incident was that I blacked out for a couple seconds, and remember touching my head and seeing a little blood on my hands.

I was delirious all day. I blame it on the neck brace.

Shermer is just a bloody busy street. And there's no darn lights because there ain't any stores nearby, so the gov. department won't waist money there.

There is a light about Southward that street, but it's a tricky cross and I don't go there so often.

@Emjar. I bike daily like a "Sunday Drive". I do it for kicks. Not going anywhere, not for exercise. Plus it gets me of the computer so much.

Edit: There are two crosses for the trains. Both have had people killed on both foot and car. The most recent being about a teen(?) who had an MP3 Player or an iPod, couldn't hear the train coming, and early pancakes for the crows. (Too soon?).

Edited October 24, 2009 by Apomonomenos