The big bang theory

So, last time was a pretty rotten post to this blog. It was full of 7ish months of misery and pain and I wish I could say that this post will be better, but only in that being hit by a 1 tonne truck is better than being hit by a 10 tonne truck. Ya follow?

So last time I was still recovering from a infected leg. It was ugly.. REAL ugly (see pics).
First set of stitches
Infected!

It took ages to heal up and during that time I had to do very little which of course includes- very little riding.

Finally it healed up and all stitches were removed. I was finally able to ride again and I replaced my drive train (but not before the chain skipped over the teeth on the chain ring upon accelerating from a set of lights! Eeek!

So it working hard towards regaining strength and fitness when one day on my way to work, I had a coming together with a stupid woman in a 4WD that left me with a damaged bike and scrapes and bruises.

I was riding down a road behind her as she slowed and slowed, with no indication of what she was doing (I was looking for indicators like a hawk), then, with a side road to our left coming up, the driver started to veer towards the left and slow down (still no indicators). Finally, fed up with sitting behind her and with plenty of room, I over took her on her right only to have her throw her right blinker on and turn right just as I was next to her.

I went straight into the side of her 4WD, scraping along the side, hitting her mirror and over the bars and onto the road. I WAS PISSED OFF!

Furious I got up and looked at bits of my bike scattered over the road. I yelled at the woman and her response was "why were you passing me on my right? ARGH... With no witnesses, I called the cops but they said it was my word verses hers. Brilliant! I was screwed. Again!

An ambo turned up (not sure who called them) and I was bandaged up and checked over. I broke my helmet, smashed my right shifter and ripped the crap out of my hand and arm. Sheesh.. I only just got my bike back on the road too. For Fuck's Sake!

So, I'm back to public transport again and suffering another set back to my riding and training. I was feeling crappier and crappier.

Back on the road again (thank goodness I work in a bike shop so I can get parts wholesale) and I'm working really hard to regain fitness. I struggle to do morning training rides during the week but I do my commutes to and from work at a really hard intensity and I can feel the benefit of the hard work.

Then... while riding home one night in the rain, I was doing about 40kph when a car did a right hand turn straight in front of me! I didn't even have time to touch the brakes as I went straight into the passengers side door, my arm and hand smashing through the window, me and the bike sent flying high into the air.

The last thing I remember thinking was "this is gonna be a bad one" and then I was tipped upside down and a feeling of weightlessness and then THUD CRASH WHACK!

As soon as I stopped tumbling I did the quick check over- Left foot wiggle, right foot, left hand, right hand- yep all working (sort of). But my head was sore as heck, my neck really hurt and my arm and hands were stinging like mad.

Suddenly several people were looking over me asking if I was ok. They were passers by who saw it all and stopped to check on me. The driver also stopped and he said- Sorry mate I didn't see you (SMIDSY). I was furious but also knew me getting angry wasn't going to help so I just set about getting help and assistance ASAP. I first asked- "was anyone a witness?" and then asked for someone to call for a Ambulance, the Police and also mum (I was only 1.5km from home). So I lay on the wet road, in the rain, wet and shivering. One of the witnesses covered me with a blanket and they stayed with me till the ambos turned up.

I knew the routine all to well sadly- checked me over for concussion, neck collar on, carefully onto a stretcher and into the back of the ambo. Mum arrived and I gave her VERY specific instructions to make sure all bits of my bike were found (I didn't want my Garmin left laying on the road for example).



Off to hospital and had lots of glass dug out of my fingers (I ALWAYS wear gloves but this one day I forgot them), hands and arm dug out and a few stitches put in. A few friends came to hospital to be with me (as well as Mum) and after about 6 hours I was close to being released when a change on doctor shift saw the new doctor question if my arm had been x-rayed. It hadn't and given the puncture wound in my bicep, he wanted to see if any glass was left inside. So off to the x-ray room where while standing and getting an x-ray done, I blacked out and smacked my head and nose hard on the concrete floor.

I woke up on the ground and my first thought was "who just hit me- WFT?!" So now I had to wait and get a MRI done to check my brain. Also, the x-ray found glass deep in my arm so that had to be dug out with tweezers (1.5cm deep!). A few more hours and I was OK to go home.



The next day I was sore as heck. I finally got to see my bike and my lovely Edge Composites forks were ripped apart, along with a crack along the top tube of the frame plus a whole assortment of other bits damaged (wheels, bars, shifters, etc). So now I had to contend with the drivers insurance company. But lets leave that for another post shall we?

The big bang theory

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