Yesterday, I’m out at a local Dallas lake (whiterock, for those of you who know it) on a hard training ride. The lake is pretty much dominated by cyclists (200+ on a typical Summer evening). I’m riding down the road on my aerobars at about 23 mph. I come upon a car who is obseriving the 20 mph speed limit. Without changing my body posture, I place my hands on the cowhorn brake levers and coast up to within 10-12 feet in his draft. I’m looking down at my cyclocomputer when the car comes to a complete and unexpected stop in the middle of the road, no intersections, crosswalks, or signals in anywhere nearby. I slammed on my brakes, and flipped my bike over the front wheel (I don’t know whether the endover was caused by impacting his bumper or poor braking, it all happened too fast). I went over the handlebars, face-first into the trunk of the car.
Damage report: bent rear titanium derailleur hanger, broken brake lever, sheared-off bottle cage screws, grapefruit-sized purple knee with a big scab, lots of bruises, sore neck, vomit on the side of the road (I often vomit when in severe pain). Luckily, I was only about 2 miles from my LBS, so I was able to get the bike into the ICU for immediate mechanical attention. Oh, and I got some bactine for my knee.
Cause: I was being a dumbass following this guy so closely. The guy driving the car was a sweet old man. He was probably more traumatized than I was. He said he was “looking at a bird” and that he didn’t even know I was behind him. He offered to take me to the hospital.
Interestingly, other cyclists circled the car and its driver, ready to throw down. They obviously hadn’t seen the accident and I assured them that it was not his fault and they stood down. Hehe. Nice to know that these strangers were ready and willing if needed. We had a law professor intentionally run over (in her words “I was just trying to give him a nudge”) a cyclist at this lake last year and I think everyone is on high alert.