I just got T-boned by a car at an intersection. F-me! My front carbon wheel was destroyed, and I think my STI shifters are gorked too…I am in the Kansas Tri a week from Sunday. I bought the wheels as a set. (156 mi.'s on them!) No telling if I can get a front replacement.
I was trying to post pics, too, but I can’t figure out how to do it.
It was a spectacular hit I ended up splayed across her hood, while my bike launched up in the air. No head hit, just a body shot…one witness said “Dude, we didn’t think you were getting up after that.”
I hate people. And cars.
Did you run the intersection/stop sign/red light, or did they?
I stopped, did a track stand, and started through the intersection, and she was into me. The view was obstructed by a car immediately to my left. (I just went through this with the cops.) I’m still trying to figure out the procedure
Sucks.
Glad you are around to post
Ouch. Wheels are easy to replace, glad to hear you are mostly OK.
very sorry 
.
Wheels are easy to replace.
You must be rich. We should be friends. Can I borrow some money? Dude, I am TOTALLY good for it.
It was a spectacular hit I ended up splayed across her hood, while my bike launched up in the air. No head hit, just a body shot…one witness said “Dude, we didn’t think you were getting up after that.”
That sounds incredible. I’m glad you’re OK. You should have played dead and screwed with her… Could you provide step by step details of how the crashed occurred. I’m just hoping something in the details will somehow allow me to prevent a similar fate. I’ve got terrible luck.
I hate people. And cars.
Amen. I’d never drive a car if not for the fact I have to drive all over the state for work.
Glad to hear you’re ok, wheels are replaceable body parts aren’t always. A friend of mine got nailed by a lady talking on her cell, smoking, and ran a red light.
Finally tally, 3 broken ribs and a mangled right sholder that required a huge metal plate to hold everything together. He just got out of hospital after a week of laid up in bed. It’s good to see him walking around again.
So, did you do the track stand, run through the red light and get hit? Or did you do the track stand, go when the light turned green, and then get hit.
Glad you are o.k.
I think many people can learn from this accident. Always be cautious and always assume there is something moving coming towards you in blind spots. When ever there is a car at an intersection assume that they do not see you and yield to them.
To be clear(er): It was 4-way stop intersection. These annoying by-products of power hungry municipalities are a whole other thread, probably on another forum. Anyway, 4-ways proliferate the community I live in. They are so prevelant, they have changed peoples driving behavior: The St.Louis stop* is, I believe, taught in drivers ed. here. So, I was north bound towards the intersection. There was an extra left turn lane to my left, and a large Suburban, in my lane , just in front of me, veered into as we approached the intersection. This effectively visually blocked the east bound lane, to my left. A North bound car was already rolling through the intersection, as I approached. A west bound car, to my right, went next, as I was stopped, in track stand. My (wrong) assumption was that Mr. Suburban and I were next, so I started into the intersection. Well, lil’Miss Geo Prizm was apparently in a big, BIG hurry, and shot into my field of view as I was a bike length into the intersection. I had MAYBE 1.5 seconds to grab the brakes, and I skidded 6" then,
skkKKBAM! (That’s what it sounds like). I remember thinking as I was slamming into her hood: “Her engine is still revving UP?”
My take home from this is when riding, you have to be thinking for EVERY driver around you.
*St.L stop, approaching stop sign, doing a quick head check while lifting off the accelerator, then flooring it through the intersection.
best of luck getting a new wheel at no cost to you, and good luck in ironman.
To be clear(er): Well, lil’Miss Geo Prizm was apparently in a big, BIG hurry, and shot into my field of view as I was a bike length into the intersection. I had MAYBE 1.5 seconds to grab the brakes, and I skidded 6" then,
skkKKBAM! (That’s what it sounds like). I remember thinking as I was slamming into her hood: “Her engine is still revving UP?”
My take home from this is when riding, you have to be thinking for EVERY driver around you.
Did you total the Geo?
I would take the bike into the shop and have the frame and fork checked over for any cracking.
That sucks for sure. A new wheel should be easy to get…did the Geo driver have insurance? She will have it more difficult, finding a replacement hood with a matching color to that fine, rare limited production GEO Prism will be almost impossible.
Her hood was deformed, it was peeled up at the edges, like an inside out umbrella. It was a beater before she hit me though.
A North bound car was already rolling through the intersection, as I approached. A west bound car, to my right, went next, as I was stopped, in track stand. My (wrong) assumption was that Mr. Suburban and I were next, so I started into the intersection. Well, lil’Miss Geo Prizm was apparently in a big, BIG hurry, and shot into my field of view as I was a bike length into the intersection.
Dude - you lost me. Car on right goes through. You’re next… you have a big Suburban beside you, and you both enter the intersection at the same time. Here is where I’m lost - the Suburban is turning left, so he would have had to cut in front of the Geo. In addition, you admit you’re doing a good speed, since you say you skidded before hitting her. You got up to “skid speed” from a full stop in less than the width of a full lane of traffic?
In the amount of time it takes you to get up to speed, the Suburban wouldn’t have cleared the intersection.
I totally sympathize with you, but I have to admit - it sounds from your description like you had a running start and ran the stop sign.
Dude, ease up on the victim. Facts he stated: he stopped, car only slowed. Additionally, traffic on the longitude had just gone, making it the turn of traffic on the latitude. Finally, he was to the right of the car that hit him. 3 strikes, the Geo driver is out.
To be clear(er): It was 4-way stop intersection. These annoying by-products of power hungry municipalities are a whole other thread, probably on another forum. Anyway, 4-ways proliferate the community I live in. They are so prevelant, they have changed peoples driving behavior: The St.Louis stop* is, I believe, taught in drivers ed. here. So, I was north bound towards the intersection. There was an extra left turn lane to my left, and a large Suburban, in my lane , just in front of me, veered into as we approached the intersection. This effectively visually blocked the east bound lane, to my left. A North bound car was already rolling through the intersection, as I approached. A west bound car, to my right, went next, as I was stopped, in track stand. **My (wrong) assumption was that Mr. Suburban and I were next, so I started into the intersection. **Well, lil’Miss Geo Prizm was apparently in a big, BIG hurry, and shot into my field of view as I was a bike length into the intersection. I had MAYBE 1.5 seconds to grab the brakes, and I skidded 6" then,
skkKKBAM! (That’s what it sounds like). I remember thinking as I was slamming into her hood: “Her engine is still revving UP?”
My take home from this is when riding, you have to be thinking for EVERY driver around you.
*St.L stop, approaching stop sign, doing a quick head check while lifting off the accelerator, then flooring it through the intersection.
So you came to a 4 way stop sign behind the Suburban but than you took off in front of the suburban and a car side swiped you? As a cyclist following the law, if you got to the intersection behind the suburban, doesnt he have right away? Or did you crawl up beside him and basically you assumed both (you and the surburban) could go at the same time?
In that instance, are cyclists allowed to “share” the intersection (basically ride up and be beside vehicle) or are we suppose to stay in line at intersections?
In instances like this, I always check every direction. Defensive riding is the best way to ride in congested areas. Sorry you got hit, hope everything is taken care of.
Yeah it’s confusing…It’s a dynamic situation I’m trying to describe in a static medium:
The black Suburban was immediately in front of me as we approached the intersection, w/leftturn signal on…There was a left turn lane for the Suburban to peel into from the main traffic lane, so that leaves me alone in the “through” lane, so I crept up roughly even w/the front end of suburban. I stopped, and held a track stand for 3-4 seconds, while the traffic was clearing the intersection south bound was already rolling through, then west bound, then…the Suburban remained stationary, (in hind sight, because the Geo already jetting through the intersection). I was on my cranks for about a turn and a half, placing me center of the Geo’s East bound lane. I heard the car before I saw it, and it caused me to reflexively grab the brakes. And I skidded appx. **6", before impact. (I’m riding 23c slicks that break loose at the lightest braking. I’m 6’4", and weigh 180, so the contact area relative to the mass is small) The Geo actually had enough time to get up a head of steam, and POP. Was I blameless? Nope. I got hit. The first words out of her mouth were, "Fk, I didn’t see you".
Have I ever blown a stop sign before on my bike? Yes. And, probably, everyone who reads this has too. That wasn’t the case here, I was making the effort to follow the rules; so take what you want from my story.
I know this, when you’re riding an 18 lb. bike, and get hit by a 2,000 lb. car,
Car wins. Every. Time.