Am I a proper cyclist now?

Ollieda

Yesterday I was going round a roundabout and some prick in a black vw polo pulled out about 2 meters infront of me. I slammed on the brakes but it was too late, front wheel went into his wheel arch, i shot over the handle bars slid across the bonnet and hit the road on the otherside, (rugby instincts kicked in and whilst shooting through the air I curled up into a ball without even thinking and hit the ground on the back of my shoulder)

How the arse couldn't see me I haven't a clue! Only 1830 so it was still bright and I had a frickin white top on!!! I don't know what his excuse was as when I was able to stand up....I lay on the ground for a bit to get my bearings...he had F******* off!

Luckily I was on my MTB which I use as a short commuter so my road bike is safe at home! MTB had front wheel ripped off and dragged along road slightly but amazingly the wheel is still true! (the hub is making a bit of a noise though!)

As for me I limped the rest of the way to work thinking I was only bruised. We had an event on at work which St. Johns were attending so I had a chat with them and they took me down to A&E where I eventually got seen to at 0030.

What amazes me is not that the tw*t f********* off but that I lay on the road on a fairly busy roundabout for a good 10 seconds before I could properly get to my feet and recover the bike and not one person came to help or even just asked if I was ok!

Result:
Torn ligaments + muscle damage in shoulder, can't even lift my arm without pain! Muscle damage in thigh.....estimated return to bike: 2 weeks

Going to police station to report it today, hopefully one of the other cars saw a numberplate.

Frank the tank

Sorry to here about your accident my owd, and glad your injuries aren't too bad. I wouldn't hold your breath on the coppers being too interested,unless you can give them some type of info. When I was knocked off they tried to make out it didn't constitute a RTA 'cos I was on a bike. :shock:

You really NEED a witness to come forward.

Eeerrrrrrrrmm, go on then we'll call you a proper cyclist now.

Tempestas

Nah, a proper cyclists can note down the number plate and get a glimpse of the driver before hitting the deck

But seriously though, I would get to the location of the accident at the same time and keep an eye out for the car.

joec1

3 Things to say....

1. Glad your ok... at least its not going to be months... and you will be back on the road again.

2. Did you get a plate? or witnesses? fingers crossed you did... or at least there was CCTV in a shop or something that cought it.

3. (Off Topic i know) Please forward this to the St John Division / County Office that helped you. Im a County Youth Officer and First Aid Trainer within Wilts St John. and as everyone is a volounteer recieving letters of thanks etc goes a long way to making people see they are doing a good deed.


All the best with the repairs to the bike... (at least you have a valid excuse to upgrade bits now )

deptfordmarmoset

Sounds really nasty, Ollieda, particularly the total lack of citizenship from the other drivers. Hope the shoulder heals quickly. And good luck with the police report - there's always a chance that a witness took the same exit and got a good look at his numberplate.

Polos and Golfs have been a recent bugbear for me recently - with others it's Audis or BMWs - they're perfectly good cars but some drivers seem to think they're smaller and nippier than they really are.

deptfordmarmoset

Sounds really nasty, Ollieda, particularly the total lack of citizenship from the other drivers. Hope the shoulder heals quickly. And good luck with the police report - there's always a chance that a witness took the same exit and got a good look at his numberplate.

Polos and Golfs have been a recent bugbear for me recently - with others it's Audis or BMWs - they're perfectly good cars but some drivers seem to think they're smaller and nippier than they really are.

hoolio

I got hit and run on a roundabout last month. A witness stopped, but no one got the number plate. Police didn't do a lot - no cctv, no number plate, so they had nothing to go on. Luckily I wasn't badly injured and the bike wasn't significantly damaged.
Your ride sounds worse off. Have a look into claiming via the Motor Insurance Bureau. It's set up to recompense injured parties hit by uninsured drivers or cases where the driver cannot be identified (hit and run).
Hopefully the police will get the bstrd, and hopefully you'll recover quickly.

White Line

Sorry to hear about your off. Hopefully somebody has reported it to the police.

Two weeks is a long time to be off the bike. Best of luck with the recovery.

Ollieda

Thanks for the support guys.

Police said they will look into it for me and report back if they find anything......sounds to me like "yer I filed it but i dont really care" Having chatted to a local PCSO he said that there is CCTV on part of the roundabout but not where I went down so if someone sat through the footage they might be able to see the car moving off but its unlikely they will allocate resources to sit there and look through. I'm having a good look at every black car i see now, its going to have a fair old dent in the side where i hit it, the old steel handle bars on the bike have bent from the impact so i suspect the car body wasnt much stronger!

Only time will tell! :roll:

jc4lab

They say you are not a proper cyclist until you are one of those who shave their legs

downfader

Sounds like that could have gone rather nasty and the driver was a total p**** for driving off. Thats why I carry my own "cctv", not that it would have been a garantee in this case though.

I'd be tempted to stick a fake ghost bike up at the spot and make the selfish bugger feel guilty. Same for those other drivers who didnt offer help :x

desweller

That's what you get for living in Cheltenham ;-).

We're much classier over here in Glozzer. When I got knocked off last year (18mph left hook), the couple who hit me were absolutely mortified, gave me a lift home and all their details without me even having to ask!