One Gone Unfortunately

[RLD70]

Well with 7291.6 miles on my Specialized e-bike build its journey came to an abrupt end thanks to an older lady running into me on my way home from work. Im not sure anything can be done about straightening out the frame as you can see in the last 3 pics showing near where she struck and the damage to the rack. Now me myself Im a little banged up with a fractured cervicle and 2nd degree AC separation but Im ok and in a sling. Wont be riding for a few weeks but cant wait to get back on the MAC with the new 60v 20Ah lifepo4 pack

 

[beast775]

Glad youre ok.if youre chain line stays true and it looks like wheels are true id leave it.maybe a portable vise with longer clamps squeezed on that leg might bring it back a bit?

 

[dogman dan]

Ouch! You are looking at about 3 years of that shoulder hurting when you do stuff.

Clearly the lady hit you given the difficulty of hitting a car going backwards. Couldn't hardly be a right cross, but a left cross you could get hit like that.

I'm curious how it happened. Were you going faster than bikes normally go? That is a persistent problem with mopeds too. They never think you are going 25 mph or more on that little thing.

 

[RLD70]

I was going 25 or so and she wasnt backing out of a driveway, she was coming out of an apartment complex. She nearly t-boned the bike and I landed on the hood then rolled onto the ground after she hit me. Atleast she didnt "hit and run" like so many others would do. And as beast said I might be able to get the frame straightened up the more I look at it but Im not really that sure about that either. It is an aluminum bike afterall and whether or not the chain stays true is another concern. It might be better to just scrap it and take the loss of my Specialized and buy another bike and put the rim from the busted hub on the last remaining DD hub from the 3 that Ive had, all being GM PRO 901s and go from there. It just sucks that Ive put over 7200 miles on that bike since I bought it last year just to have someone not pay attention and hit me and ruin my 2nd DD motor. Its a good thing I still had the replacement from the first one as this is the hub wesnewell talked me into buying from yescom/ebay.

 

[The fingers]

Praying for a speedy and complete recovery.

 

[footloose]

RLD70 --

I'm so glad it's only a bicycle gone... not a rider!!!
(Bikes can be replaced.)

Sorry about the damage to both you and the bike.
I had similar AC separation and broken clavicle couple years ago (headfirst over the handlebars, landed on my shoulder).
Like Dogman said, it's likely to hurt for a while.
Good news is, after a couple years my shoulder works fine, with full range of motion and strength... and it doesn't hurt any worse than the rest of me :wink:

 

[RLD70]

I know that Im itching to get back on the other bike now that the bearings are back in it and the new 60v 20Ah Lifepo4 pack but I got to wait and wait and wait and it hasnt even been a week since being hit. Man am I bored out of my mind after just a few days I cant imagine what its going to be like when weeks 6 - 8 get here

 

[mattrb]

Create an ebike video game since you have all this free time

 

[Dauntless]

I grew up straightening frames for BMX. Steel, but look at the beating they had to take after they were straightened compared to your street transportation bike. I'd think straightening this could work out for you, you wouldn't happen to have a big vise with a long crossbar, would you? That was always the most effective tool.

Ouch! You are looking at about 3 years of that shoulder hurting when you do stuff.

So my bout with such a shoulder injury involved it not starting out so bad at all, but over the next 3-4 months it got progressively worse. Turned out I had a dislocated rib irritating it. And a shoulder dislocation/separation can involve far less movement than people imagine when they hear those words. Mine did last 3 years, but it was close to normal after the first year. I'd say I had a Rolfer to thank for that. http://www.rolf.org

Create an ebike video game since you have all this free time

Dang, there's an interesting suggestion. What would be the game? Playing dodgeball around the cars?

 

[heavymetalthunder]

I'm glad to hear you didn't break anything real serious except the bike, your health is what really counts. I get a little nervous too in many situations. I ride with extra headlights, strings of tail lights, stop and turns signals. But there are times when nothing helps. I've also switched to using my motorcycle with a face shield helmet instead of my regular bike helmet.

 

[dogman dan]

? Separating my right shoulder was pretty devastating for me, since I was a construction worker. Using a screw gun was incredibly painful for years.

Sounds like she never really saw you. This proves the importance of seeing them first, then taking what evasive action is possible. I don't mean to say it was your fault, but you may have missed an opportunity to avoid it. Or you may not have ever been able to see her coming out that driveway.

 

[footloose]

Construction / screw gun must have been rough.
Couple months after my accident, I picked up a sawzall to do some work on house.
Was not a good idea.

Actually, recovery did take a long time.
Even a couple years after, shoulder (entire upper right body) hurt like s.o.b. from time to time.
Just riding a normal bike... with some pressure from supporting against handlebars... wasn't happy.
On one long bike ride (maybe 1000 miles over about 3 weeks) 3 years after the accident, lived on Ibuprofen during the ride.
Just could not get it comfortable.

Anyway, it did finally heal up.
I'm getting to be an oldish guy now, so it's just one of many chronic aches :wink:
But it did heal up (mainly) (eventually).

And fwiw, separation in my case was pretty extreme. Orthopedic doc explained it to me kind of like this:
"Picture your shoulder as a bunch of rubber bands. You popped them all. And broke clavicle, And broke a vertebrae."

So anyway, that was the last time I rode a single track down side of a ski-slope mountain.

 

[speedmd]

Sorry to hear about the injury. Bike should be a relatively easy thing to straighten out and be usable for many more miles as long as the tubes are not kinked. Backing out of the driveway should cost her a new frame for you at a minimum IMO. Not a insurance company in the land that will fight you on this knowing they will owe you big time for personal injuries if they piss you off. Don't wait. Speedy recovery.

 

[RLD70]

Im pretty sure the tube thats bent on the Specialized can be straightened out as its only one tube instead of the whole side where she hit me. Plus I still have the Alpental which the MAC hub is waiting to be put back on since its bearings have been replaced and a new 60v 20Ah lifepo4 pack to go with it too. Unfortunately the 2nd DD hub is history unless I want to try and run new wires through the axle and thats not really an option so the rim from the busted hub can go onto the 3rd DD hub motor. Boy the luck Ive had with the first 2 DD hubs, the first got spun out because of no TA and the 2nd got the wires ripped out when the bike skidded across the ground after she hit me. Atleast I got 7200+ miles out of that hub. However, if I can get a new bike from all of this Im sure not going to turn it down. Now the only real things left to do is to wait for the injury to heal and see what my lawyer can do for compensation from her insurance company. And as I said on my FB page people need to (censored) pay attention to the road and whats on it instead of daydreaming, texting, etc because if they did (censored) like this wouldnt happen in the first place. Its going to be atleast December before I can actually ride again, hopefully.

 

[dnmun]

they make a big deal about laws against texting and cell phones while driving here but i see it all the time. at high speed and passing people left and right while texting.

or looking at the GPS, no bike is big enuff to see over the GPS.

 

[RLD70]

Yeah I think people forgot about using something called common sense which is a sad but true fact.