Ice and a very near miss.

[gbru2505]

Came off the bike on Tuesday on my way to work. Slowing to a junction - not braking - and the back wheel disappeared from under me, dropping me in the middle of the road on my side as the bike headed to the kerb. Thinking "what the?" then "not hurt" when a car hit me in the back. She says she also skidded. I never heard her and hadn't seen her in the mirror - she may have pulled out of a side road. I'm bruised but fine. Plastics along the right edge of the footplate are deeply scraped, lighter scraping on the side and edge of the tall Givi screen. Declined an ambulance from the driver. Police said they wouldn't be stopping by. Got back on. Drove the last mile to work. Had the once over from a First Aider. Took a few hours to sort my head out. Then headed to the walk-in medical centre and after a three hour wait (it's free here) got a provisional all clear. Very happy to see my wife and 5 year old son when I got home. Very grateful for good quality armour, but acknowledging that no amount of armour is going to protect you if you go under a vehicle.

I'd emailed County the week before asking why they weren't salt-gritting the local A-roads - expletive!!!!

[Oldie]

Really glad that you came through it relatively unscathed. Bet that the bike looks a bit untidy though. We've had a lot of cold weather this winter and I guess that it was just bad luck that you hit that ice. Nothing you could do about it, of course, but yes, you'd be glad to get back to your family in one piece. How did they react?

[WhiteNoise]

Wow, that was a lot of "unsightly" bad luck. Black ice, no sand, no salt...slip 'n slide! Off you go!

Thank the powers that be that you're okay. Not broken or marred. Achy and bruised, and a headache perhaps? (If you can take it, Ibuprofen is your friend) You're good overall
An inconvenience but the Bike can get fixed or replaced, which ever the wind blows.

Advice:
from my own experience...You should have gone straight away in the ambulance. Pain comes harder as time passes. You want to nip that in the bud if possible, and fix what may need fixing. Accidents put us in shock. We barely recognize what just happened. Do you think we know our bodies pain, injuries or from whence they stem? Yes, blood would be a good indication but other than that, we're dumb,... I mean numb. Oddly the One thing we Do know is We're embarrassed. We want to get up and Go!
Seeeee, Priorities get scrambled.

To all I'm not a doctor, but if there's ever a time you take a fall seriously consider, No I mean...Get onboard that screamin' ambulance (ha! believe me it sounds much louder inside! But the attention you get is amazing ) Every minute may count towards life as you lived it before the "bump." Help make that happen. Our responsibility to ourselves and our families. Speaking of families....

gbru- I can imagine how your interaction went with yours afterwards! (heart emoticon)
Tears, hands clasped grateful with eyes looking up, everyone hugging. Overwhelming Emotion, and lotsa Love.
After all, You're ok. Their ok.
And now we're Ok

Parenting over

If you're able, Place another call or go to the county (transportation dept.?) tell them what happened You may save a life

[Spaguar]

Hey gbru2505,
Thanks for sharing your experience and thanks to your good luck that you came out mostly unhurt.
Last few days driving home from work in a sunshine and nice 9-10 degrees Celsius I get tempted to take out my scoot and enjoy the ride.
But the mornings bring back the reality with the frost on my windscreen. The extended weather forecast predicts icy mornings the next fortnight so I'll keep my scoot in the garage a bit longer.
With the high-tech clothing the cold is not an issue any more but there's still no medicine for icy roads.
So be smart, think of your family and wait for the # temperatures.

[springer1]

Hard to describe how quickly your butt is on the ground isn’t it? If the bike gets shimmies or a tank slapper or on a dirt bike sliding around there’s time .... but on the road if it’s due to ice, oil, water on painted stripes, gravel, etc .... one second you’re riding and a millisecond later you’re down. When that happens , hope you have an armored riding suit on.

[gbru2505]

How did they react?

My son doesn't know. He would worry. Wife was upset when I called her but relieved too.

Hard to describe how quickly your butt is on the ground isn’t it?

Absolutely damn right. Last time, on the Vision, I cracked a few ribs landing on the end of the handle bar. Now THAT really hurt. This time it's just my spine from the impact. I'm 52 now, so I feel a jolt.

So be smart, think of your family and wait for the # temperatures.

That's a tricky one. It's a thirty minute ride, or an hour and a quarter on public transport. Two and a half hours commuting would impact my family. A second car? We couldn't afford to run it. Funnily enough, last year's winter was far worse - and I think the roads were more of an imperative and really well gritted (lots of bike washing to keep the salt off). This year the weather was marginal, and the frost has passed already, which meant that County could wing-it and let the traffic do their work for them. Cars are the default around here. Cyclists and Motorcyclists barely register to those who are in charge of the crumbling infrastructure.

[gbru2505]

Accidents put us in shock. We barely recognize what just happened.

It was a good 20-30 minutes before I got back on the bike. Took my time before getting up of the ground. Then had a conversation with the first responders on the phone and also logged the impact from the car with the Police as a collision. Traded insurance and contact details with the car driver. Dealt with a handful of people who wanted to offer help. My summary might have given the wrong impression.

[Old Grinner]

The important things are OK. You and your family!

As we all know bike parts are replaceable.

That said be on the look out for anything that may appear like blueberry pie under the skin. . .could indicate a severe hematoma from the impact when you hit the ground. If you do get that checked out. It may not have appeared right away or just seemed like a bruise.

It wouldn't surprise me if you got "the shakes" for a few minutes right after the incident.

And the horror of a car coming from behind while you are still in the midst of figuring out WTF is happening has got to be right up near the top of "ride go wrong" nightmares.

It's weird but today I was actually thinking about how slippery those wide painted lines by cross walks are as I ran a couple of errands. . .it had been raining all morning and the sun had just come out. I always approach those and any metal items like sewer covers or railroad track crossings with caution. The pic below was taken a few months ago but gives you an idea of what they look like on this side of the pond.

100_5338a.jpg

[RikudoPCX]

Worst feeling in the world, I had a similar experience recently so I'm glad you're okay. I had just come off an A-road and was heading for a placement at a medical centre. Got to the road it was on and turned in, didn't notice the black ice on the ground and the next second I was on the ground sliding. Hit a speed bump which started me rolling and think saved me from the worst of it. Bike went sliding pretty far and scraped the whole right side. Surprisingly, no-one seemed to care I had fallen. A decent guy pulled up eventually to check I was okay but tbh I felt a rush of adrenaline getting off so easy. Got the once over by the doctor in the medical centre and drove my bike home via a longer safer route. Was pretty annoyed when I got home and realised I had ruined my brand new winter jacket.

[GeorgeSK]

OTOH, the other option was ruining your nice old skin. Glad the event was only ugly from a cosmetic point of view.

[fish]

Glad you're OK.
Had my slide-but-no-fall on ice, commuting to work on my Honda motorcycle one winter morning in 1969 in Massachusetts.
Dry roads - except where the d__n street sweeper had sprayed water in my intersection.
50 years ago, but I still remember it!

Fish

[easyrider]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7pl2y6jaj81w9 ... k.mp4?dl=1