Not sure if you can tell what happened but there was a wire hanging from a telephone line on the left side, that hung down across the sidewalk and was tied to a post on the right side. I didn’t see it until it was too late. In a nano second I was body slammed onto the concrete. I slammed my head hard enough that as I was sliding across the pavement I thought “Damn I’m glad I have a helmet on.” Left hip and rib is bruised pretty good, but somehow I didn’t break anything. I did report it and stayed until the city removed the wire.
Oh, and where I live it’s literally one of the worst areas in the US for cyclist. I normally don’t ride on sidewalks because I’ve found there’s often more hazards there than in the street (see video for an example), but stretch of road is the exception. It’s extremely, extremely busy. Legally I’m allowed to be on the sidewalk because the road is too narrow to allow a safe pass, and I’ve been told by LE they prefer cyclist use the sidewalk on this street because it’s so dangerous. Kinda damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation in this place that’s so unfriendly to anything that isn’t a motor vehicle.
Be safe out there.
This is why I wear a helmet
byu/inDefenseofDragons inbikecommuting
by inDefenseofDragons
8 Comments
Just curious with the road-is it four lanes? Two lanes on each side?
What camera do you use?
I’m glad you are okay. That looked really nasty.
I can see the wire for a few frames when I pause the video at the moment when the grey pole on the right side is on the edge of the screen.
Looks like it’s hanging down and making a loop in the air. What did the wire snag? Or am I not seeing all the wire?
Damn and I hit the red-white gate pole with my inner thigh while trying to manoeuvre through the gap
bent one of the poles by almost 90° and did a nice somersault and still didn’t hit my head
Ouch. Thanks for posting this and I hope you feel better. Absolutely awful that this happened, and that there was not more thought given to this situation by whoever put that wire there. That makes me super furious on your behalf. I hope you recover well and keep cycling. Very glad you had your helmet on as well.
One of the best bits of advice about helmets I ever heard was a question from a bike shop owner, back when I used to ride without a helmet pretty often: “When are you planning on having an accident?”
Damn thats scary. What got snagged on the wire?