Yet another DHBC ride hit by a car

[HurtsLikeJens]

Yesterday afternoon I was out for a spin- the joys of being on holidays. I'm currently in Adelaide catching up with family and friends, though will be here for the Challenge Tour in mid-Jan as well.

Most of the time you get good levels of respect and room as there are loads of cyclists on the roads. I was hit as I turned right around a roundabout frequented by Adelaide cyclists.

As I turned I thought I'd made eye contact with the woman in the car, only to watch her accelerate into the roundabout. I yelled out, she kept coming. I yelled again, and a third time. I watched her front bumper collide with my rear stays, throwing me onto the floor with the bike not far ahead.

My helmet took a whack and is cracked, so time for a new one. That wasn't the worst of it though as the frame and groupset took a smack. A local bike shop in Adelaide (Super Elliots) has quoted me about $6,500 to repair and/or replace various bits and pieces. I took a hit too, landing on my right leg. I've road rash on my upper leg and currently find it difficult to sit down.

I've made a Police report and I got the womans details so all will be taken care of through insurance, however I need to claim and then my insurance company will chase the drivers.

So, the lessons I've learned from yesterday;

1) Insure your bike.
Mine is under my house/contents as a named item and is covered so long as I'm not racing. It's $10 a month or something negligable and gives me new for old replacement. My insurance also allows $1000 of unspecified personal items, so clothes etc. Worth looking into a cycling kit isn't cheap.

2) Never assume a car has seen you
As I mentioned before, I thought she'd made eye contact with me only to watch in horror as she tagged me.

My immediate future is dedicated to getting back on the road. Super Elliots have my bike at the moment, it'll cost more to fix than it's worth, so I'm being forced to buy a new bike. I'll be paying for it myself and having insurance reimburse me for the agreed value. That way I get back on the road as soon as possible. It hurts the wallet initially but when I took a month off work to ride the hills in Adelaide I'm kind of bored without a bike.

[Julio]

*censored* mate that sounds bad but your alive and breathing without too much pain and bikes can always be replaced. Hope you get back on top of a bike in time for the challenge (I will need someone to draft off lol).

[timyone]

far out man! hope your back on the road soon

[Stuart]

and I bet she said "I didn't see you" even though you were shouting at her. Did she even apologise? Years of motorcycling have taught me NEVER to assume that a car driver has seen you - people in metal boxes are too distracted by all the other stuff going on like music, radio, phones and sitting too comfortably in a lounge chair to be bothered actually looking out for vehicles smaller than a car. Get well soon.

[Stuart]

Also it seems you are in good company - even the famous get hit by cars

[HurtsLikeJens]

The most frustrating part of all is that I've come to Adelaide, taking a month off, purely to ride my bike. 2 days in, on a roundabout which I passed Stuart O'Grady on the day before (okay, he was going the other way, but let a man dream) and frequented by cyclists, I was hit. She admitted fault and apologized, however sorry is no good to me when I'm spreadeagled on the road.

I've received a quote of $6,000 to repair the damage to my bike, which makes the thing a write off. It's off getting a second quote now to keep insurance happy. Regardless of if it was a write off I'd have concerns getting on a bike that had been in an impact and plus the warranty on the frame is now void.

And no pressure, but I've only 2 weeks before a 160km charity ride through the Barossa. I've spent 6 months fund raising, I'm not going to miss it because some woman claimed "she didn't see me."

I've got a replacement in mind but have to wait for the second quote to come back first, so my month of riding in Adelaide is turning into a week or two riding and a whole lot of running around and frustration.

And those thinking about drafting off me, good luck. I'm the biggest wheel sucker I know...

[weiyun]

Sorry to hear that and glad that you are largely ok physically.

I am also disappointed to hear this because I also was just in Adelaide and was really impressed with the cycling facilities there and various ride options the city and surround has to offer. But guess that it doesn't matter how good the facilities are, human idiocy can trump them all.

Recover well!