First cycling accident since I was about seven years old...



Instead of going to the gym I took the new bike out today. It's a Trek 3900, a pic was in a previous post.

The bike went really well, no problems. It has two features that my old mountain bike lacks: good brakes and shock absorbers. About 22km into my first journey on the bike and I was happily racing along, weaving in and out of a road full of cars, all resonably slow moving thankfully when disaster struck.

A gap between a bus and a car I was heading towards quickly closed and I hit the brake. I hit the wrong brake, the front one. Being used to my old bike which took its time about slowing down this one didn't. The front wheel stopped the front dipped because of the shock (which I'm not yet used to) and I flew over the handles and ploughed shoulder and head first into the road. I was lucky the cars weren't going too fast otherwise it would have been a lot worse.

The accident happened on the other side of the river in Nonthaburi. Fortunately roadworks meant the traffic wasn't flowing at it usual speed on this three lane highway.

The bike is ok but I'm cut and bruised, having trouble breathing because of internal bruising around the heart and chest and I managed to break a tooth. The hospital have pulled the broken half out and taken the nerve and root with it so I now look like a street fighter with half a tooth missing. I'll have to visit the dentist regularly now for treatment until, finally, they will put a cap on it.

For amusement value here is a before and after shot of the offending tooth. Apologies to nayone who finds this tasteless.

Other than this drama everything was going ok. The bike is good. I think a wider seat is in order if I'm to spend 10 hours a day sitting on it. Something of armchair dimensions springs to mind. I will also be investing in a cycling helmet before long. I almost passed out from the hit to the head and it took about five minutes to get a clear view of the world. So, whereas a helmet won't help against car wheels it should lessen the likelyhood of head injuries from falling off. I feel I should mention that I have cycled a lot in Bangkok and I haven't fallen off a bike since I was seven.

I'm going to take my bandages and aching bones and get an hours sleep.

First cycling accident since I was about seven years old...