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Well, I was a total wazzack this morning!
Out cycling with the easy riders up the Vale of Neath, nice clear 'A' road thanks to the new by-pass being built. Excellent cycle route with no traffic but wide and smooth. Well I was leading off taking my turn with the wind but one of the new members was falling back so I agreed to drop down the group and give him a gentle shove to help him catch up. After a couple of hundred meters we've caught up with the rest of the group again but we continued chatting at the back as I asked him how he was liking it.
"Lovely" says he, "fabulous weather ... oh look! I grew up in that house, the canal runs right past the bottom of the garden. There, you can just see down there."
I peer through the garden vegetation and catch the sun glinting off the old canal behind the house.
"Ooh that must have been fab growing up there. I suppose you played on the canal and stuff."
"Yeah, we used to build rafts and stu ..... LOOKOUT!"
"WHA...! SHIT!"
BANG!!!
And straight into a parked Jag I slam at all of about fifteen mph. No time for brakes, no room to swerve, no time even to save myself. Perfect pancake landing onto and over the bonnet of a perfectly innocent, parked Jaguar.
My fault entirely, not looking where I was going!
Scratches to bonnet of Jag, no harm to bike, Honest! The wheel is still running sweet and true! Forks okay but Seat twisted as I was yanked out of the saddle and flew across the bonnet.
Ended up beside the Jag feeling dazed and stupid as I started feeling for broken bones. None thank goodness but three front teeth broken and a perfect imprint of the safety goggles on my forehead. Helmet dented but not cracked. Dignity completely f----d as the other riders haul off to check me out while the jag owner comes rushing out because the thump was audible from inside his house. How I didn't wreck my front wheel and forks I'll never know. Good-ol' German engineering I suppose. Usual exchange of addresses and stuff cos' I belong to CTC and carry insurance, after all I hit his legally parked jag!
Below.
Photo of an idiot with beautiful goggle impression on forehead and broken front teeth. Watch this space for future piccies of expensive bridgework.
2nd photo of one mark on Jag bonnet. (Hood to cross-ponders.)
And I've got Mardi-gras on Sat 31st. Damn, damn, damn!!! Bang goes the smile for a couple of weeks.
Comments
at the moment
I have no idea if you flew or the hood of the car or the roof.
Still three teeth is a minor break compared to legs or arms.
I still suspect that the axle shaft on the front wheel is not quite true after a hit like that.
The bonnet not the hood
Bev went over the bonnet not hood. See "British Car Terms." Either she was riding on the wrong side of the road, or the Jag was parked on the wrong side. Or perhaps the impact was hard enough to catapult her over the boot and the hood, landing her on the bonnet.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
ROFL
Okay that british car terms had me rolling on the floor laughing.
There is no such thing on an engine as a freeze plug, However there is FROST plugs on the engine block.
Lol someone should correct that.
Note: I have checked oem manuals and parts listing on this one. It's listed as frost plugs period.
Frozen plugs
Funny, Autozone sells "Freeze plugs." http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/Freeze-Plug/_/N-93xwo So do a bunch of other stores.
According to the great source of knowledge that Wikipedia is, they are properly called "core plugs" and exist because of the way the engine block is cast.
Comes up
Frost plug when I look at it.
Wrong side parking
The law exists, at least, in Oz, but, as far as I know, there is nothing in the UK's Highway Code that says you MUST NOT park against traffic flow. It says 'don't', but in the HC 'don't' and 'should not' are strong suggestions, rather than 'MUST NOT', which is law.
Nah, he was perfectly legal Steph.
Since the road has become a quiet by way yet still retains it's 'A' road status it has become an excellent and popular 15 mile stretch of bliss for road cycling and it is now extremely popular with all the local clubs. There are three tiny little 'hamlets' at intervals along the road and the road has had 'white-line' parking bays marked on the new smooth tarmac. (The road is really good for bikes.) His jag was parked on the 'bay' inside the white-line marking the bay directly outside the line of cottages.
Entirely my fault cos' I was actually riding in the bay when I hit him. That'll teach me to look where I'm going in future.
Silly me!
Maybe, maybe not
It used to be the law that you had to park on the left side of the road if there were no street lights, since if you parked on the right, anyone travelling at night, seeing your lights or reflectors might think you were on the left (your right!) and try and pass on the wrong side.
Sheesh. It's easier to draw that than try and explain. All those lefts and rights...
The idea is that as you come up behind a parked vehicle, you should see their rear lights reflected (red) by your headlights. That would give you an idea which side you should pass them on. Reflected white lights mean it is parked on the other side of the road.
In the 'olden days' there were these little parking lights we used to hang from the windows to make sure there were no mistakes. I think only German cars have that built in these days.
Of course, now nobody cares two hoots how anyone parks so I'm not surprised there's nothing in the Highway Code any more.
Bev: I did the same, once, many decades ago. Straight over the back of a parked car. In my defence I was reading a library book at the time...
Penny
I did the same thing a long
I did the same thing a long time ago. Except that it was a hatchback and I put a hole in the back window and totaled my bicycle (the frame bent) and I ended up in the hospital with a concussion and stitches in several places. The car I hit was NOT legally parked, as the owner had parked it to unload some things.
I'm another to have done this
I'm another to have done this Bev, you are in good company. In my case no damage to the car or my front wheel, but my frame and forks were completely bananananana'd. Oh and I had a big black eye too.
Get well soon.
Glad you're okay
we had a rider doing a time trial do the same thing at a faster speed and they died - ruptured aorta.
Angharad
Poor baby
I'm so sorry you are hurt. I'm also so glad you will recover and we will have your beautiful smile back soon.
Much love,
Much Love,
Valerie R
Dear Bev,
I'm very sorry about your accident and your damaged teeth. I dislike getting dental work, too much as a kid, and here in the states health insurance seldom covers teeth and dental costs are very high. I suppose you know that you are supposed to replace your dented helmet, even if it didn't crack. Did you get checked for a concussion?
I'm not taking as many risks, or going as fast these last few years so I've had fewer crashes. The kind of thing I've done, like three times last year, is to come to a stop, not be able to click out of my lower pedal then fall over. I felt pretty dumb doing that. Luckily, these happened during group rides, but not in front of many other riders.
I hope you feel better and get your beautiful looks restored!
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
Thanks Renee (and others,)
Well I'm off to the Cycle club for the early Friday evening and I know for certain that I'll not be getting any sympathy. If you want sympathy in Port Talbot Wheelers Cycle Club, go and look for it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary!!!
For a laugh, I'll be taking my sun-glasses, white stick and pimp hat. LOLOL.