My helmet comes thru...

[PhatMatt]

...just as it was designed to do.

Almost immediately after I read the "wearing helmets" thread here this morning I went out for a ride in the beautiful spring weather here in Boston. What started as a great Friday ride ended up slightly differently than I had planned.

As it turns out as a result of my ride today I will be out of commission for an undisclosed amount of time. I was zipping towards Lexington Center by the Heritage Museum when I looked back over my shoulder. When I turned back around I slammed into a parked car...no brakes, no recollection of the car having been there...nothing but my thigh denting the lip of the trunk and my elbow and head breaking the rear windshield.

An ambulance ride and 4.5 hours in the trauma ward later I am very sore with a contusion in my thigh and a cut not-quite to ribbons arm. I actually feel very lucky as in that split-second I was flying towards the car I thought my injuries would be much, much worse. As it stands my ego and my bike took the brunt of the impact.

Well in a few days I'll be laughing about this which is a blessing. Tonight I'll just have a beer and a painkiller or two and feel sorry for myself.

Have a good weekend all. Be careful out there.

The final tally as of this evening...one seriously painful and purple thigh, one badly cut elbow and forearm, one bent titanium frame, one thankfully broken helmet.

Ah well...I get to buy some new stuff.

[gasman]

Glad to hear you're relatively OK. Glad to know you were wearing a helmet. Bikes and toys can be replaced, heads can't.
What do you call a cyclist (motor or bicycle) without a helmet- a donorcyclist.

[BumbleBeeDave]

Whew! Glad you are still in shape to type! Gasman is right--everything can be replaced but YOU!

Any chance of a photo of the helmet?

BBdave

[M_A_Martin]

Glad to hear you're ok! At least you have all these recent posts on bent/broken frames and insurance companies here to peruse as you're working on recovering...

We recently lost a long-time cyclist up in Port Huron in a similar manner, Only he rode into the back of a broke down moving truck....no windshield to break the impact. There have been suggestions that he was run off the road, but I think it probably happened just like your accident. We'll never know.

Really glad to see you typing.

Those deep thigh bruises take a long time to heal. I have a dent in the top of my thigh now from a similar impact...

Good luck with the recovery, pay attention to your joints. Take your fish oil. I hope you don't have longer lasting implications than what you've listed.

You are photo happy today aren't you Bee? Slow at work?

[soulspinner]

Could have been so much worse! Sooo glad you will be o.k. Post pics of your new bike and ride safely man!

[shaq-d]

whew. that's a toughy. hang in there and stay cool.

sd

[dohearne]

Glad to hear you escaped your crash without more serious injuries!

[Kevin]

Glad to hear that you are ok.

Kevin

[bulliedawg]

Ditto the above sentiments.

[PhatMatt]

...for the well-wishes. I appreciate them.

The nurses said I'd feel worse today and they were right. Sore and still running the crash over and over again in my mind I'm trying to figure out how the heck I did something so stupid. I am alternating between that thought and the other which is that after all I feel lucky to be in as good shape as I seem to be considering.

Ride safely this weekend gang, and thanks again.

Any tips on recovering from a deep-thigh bruise? We Boston Bruins fans in the forum still cringe when reminded of what Ulf Samulsson did to Cam Neely's thigh. He was never the same hockey player after his bruise calcified.