So when paragliding you don't even think of taking off before doing a full pre-flight check. It's always done, and always done in the same order. And if somehow you get interrupted you start again from step 1.
Something I should have carried over into riding.
I got to Rome last sunday, and hit the streets on a borrowed unpowered mountain bike. It's a fairly flat city so you can pretty much cross the main points in a couple of hours. Anyway I did a leisurely 40km's that day. The next day I took the bike to the office and back for another 15 odd km's and planned to meet some people by the Colosseum at 8 that evening. Anyway due to too much chatting with some guests I only leave the house at 10 to 8, and it's a 20km ride. No problem though, I'll just up the pace. And up the pace I do, on the flats I'm hitting 30-40km/h at parts (loving the thick oxygen rich air, in jhb I'm at 1500m above sea level), and the downhills are all over 40. I pass a couple of cars then switch lanes and hit a pothole sideways. The frontwheel turns by about 45 degrees without the handlebar moving an I go flying. Reflexes kick in and I try to catch myself with my hands. It's impossible and the left side of my unprotected head slams into the tar.
I lay there for a few seconds feeling the blood dripping off my face when I decide I should get out of the road. It's dark and I have no lights on. Give my face a dab with some tissues and fortunately the bones still feel intact but there's a lot of blood. Pick up the bike and the pain hits the left elbow, there's a problem there. I'm only 1km from the colosseum so I walk there and observe the shocked looks on my friends faces. At around the same time my arm starts spasming and is in incredible pain. I finally decide to call the guy I'm staying with and get to the hospital.
Figured out something useful here. If you have a face full of blood you get treated fairly quickly. This is good, however the xray machine was busy, so all I get is a nurse cleaning up my face. She's cunningly using sandpaper disguised as a cloth to clean the road out of my face. Fortunately she speaks no english and can't understand what I'm calling her. Later I get xrayed and treated for the fractured elbow.
The pictures are from that night, the next day half my face was black and blue and I looked much worse, but that all went away a week later, now I just have to live with the cast for the next 2 or 3 weeks. I've used this bike before,and last time the handlebars were also loose, moving in the forward and backward direction, I tightened that but didn't bother checking left and right, the more important movement.
I think I got lucky, to hit the road with my head at 40km/h could have been fatal. To come away with no permanent head injuries, not even a broken nose was lucky. Other than wearing my padded motorcycle jacket I don't think I could have avoided the elbow injury, but a pre-ride check would have avoided the whole accident. I never leave home in South Africa without a helmet, but thought a quick trip on an unpowered bike would be fine. Don't do it!
I've been paragliding for 8 years, and motorcycling for 3, all injury free, but I've never once not taken all the reasonable safety precautions and I need to learn to have the same respect for cycling, especially if I'm on my 40mph bike.
Anyway, I did recover enough to meet an extremely beautiful woman in Venice the following week, but unfortunately the broken arm hampered my salsa dancing, damn you lousy mountain bike!
So the moral of the story is: Wear a helmet and check your bike and you might just end up with a beautiful woman at your side.
Something I should have carried over into riding.
I got to Rome last sunday, and hit the streets on a borrowed unpowered mountain bike. It's a fairly flat city so you can pretty much cross the main points in a couple of hours. Anyway I did a leisurely 40km's that day. The next day I took the bike to the office and back for another 15 odd km's and planned to meet some people by the Colosseum at 8 that evening. Anyway due to too much chatting with some guests I only leave the house at 10 to 8, and it's a 20km ride. No problem though, I'll just up the pace. And up the pace I do, on the flats I'm hitting 30-40km/h at parts (loving the thick oxygen rich air, in jhb I'm at 1500m above sea level), and the downhills are all over 40. I pass a couple of cars then switch lanes and hit a pothole sideways. The frontwheel turns by about 45 degrees without the handlebar moving an I go flying. Reflexes kick in and I try to catch myself with my hands. It's impossible and the left side of my unprotected head slams into the tar.
I lay there for a few seconds feeling the blood dripping off my face when I decide I should get out of the road. It's dark and I have no lights on. Give my face a dab with some tissues and fortunately the bones still feel intact but there's a lot of blood. Pick up the bike and the pain hits the left elbow, there's a problem there. I'm only 1km from the colosseum so I walk there and observe the shocked looks on my friends faces. At around the same time my arm starts spasming and is in incredible pain. I finally decide to call the guy I'm staying with and get to the hospital.
Figured out something useful here. If you have a face full of blood you get treated fairly quickly. This is good, however the xray machine was busy, so all I get is a nurse cleaning up my face. She's cunningly using sandpaper disguised as a cloth to clean the road out of my face. Fortunately she speaks no english and can't understand what I'm calling her. Later I get xrayed and treated for the fractured elbow.
The pictures are from that night, the next day half my face was black and blue and I looked much worse, but that all went away a week later, now I just have to live with the cast for the next 2 or 3 weeks. I've used this bike before,and last time the handlebars were also loose, moving in the forward and backward direction, I tightened that but didn't bother checking left and right, the more important movement.
I think I got lucky, to hit the road with my head at 40km/h could have been fatal. To come away with no permanent head injuries, not even a broken nose was lucky. Other than wearing my padded motorcycle jacket I don't think I could have avoided the elbow injury, but a pre-ride check would have avoided the whole accident. I never leave home in South Africa without a helmet, but thought a quick trip on an unpowered bike would be fine. Don't do it!
I've been paragliding for 8 years, and motorcycling for 3, all injury free, but I've never once not taken all the reasonable safety precautions and I need to learn to have the same respect for cycling, especially if I'm on my 40mph bike.
Anyway, I did recover enough to meet an extremely beautiful woman in Venice the following week, but unfortunately the broken arm hampered my salsa dancing, damn you lousy mountain bike!
So the moral of the story is: Wear a helmet and check your bike and you might just end up with a beautiful woman at your side.
(Precludes falling in love with her).
