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Category Archives: commuting

Seattle Bike Month

11 Thursday May 2017

Posted by Stonehog in commuting, Cycling, Northwest

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Tags

bike commuting, bike everywhere, bike month, Seattle bike


https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2017/05/11/seattles-top-bike-commuting-workplaces-are-all-within-5-blocks-of-a-protected-bike-lane-or-trail/

My company, Comcast Technology Solutions, made the local Seattle bike blog news! Good stuff – it’s heartening to encourage folks to get out on a bike even after Seattle’s record breaking rain this year (45 inches since October).  I’m proud to work for a company that encourages folks to ride, and not worry too much about coming in wet, late, messy.  We have happy folks who ride!

Image

Crashing

12 Saturday Nov 2016

Tags

bicycle crash, bike commuting, cycling, Whidbey Island


I had my first real accident of any consequence last night on my commute home. I was heading to our cabin for the weekend.  It started with a short ride to the Sounder Train heading north to Mukilteo.  From there, a quick ferry crossing to the island set me on my way.  The climb up the hill from the landing was great, and when the land leveled out, I found myself speeding along the fast route home – Hwy 525.  I was going to take the route all the way to Freeland, but decided to take the more hilly passage over Lancaster Rd, as I was trying to get away from the sporadic traffic, and it offers a nearly car-free alternative. It also offers a nice climb with a great descent to Mutiny Bay Rd very near my destination.  The last part is a nice ride along the coastline.

The climb was good, but the descent was better!  I love that hill – there is a second climb up to a false summit on the west side, so I tucked and hit max speed.  On the other side of the second summit, there is another nice drop, and I recalled it turning right near the bottom.  It had started a light sprinkle, but the roads weren’t wet yet.  The bigger problem was that I was outpacing the throw of my light.  As I neared the bend, I started to brake, but the wheels slid, so I let off and started pumping the levers.  I quickly realized I was going too fast to make the corner, so I started picking my line while trying more brakes.  As I went off the road still going about 20mph per my cyclemeter app, my bike and I pitched into a dense blackberry thicket, with me going in head first over the bike.

Crash site

That hole is where I crawled out

I remember a fast deceleration and my head tucking under my body.  I heard and felt a loud spine crunching sound as I came to rest in a panic.  I immediately thought I had damaged my neck or spine somehow – no head trauma, but my limbs were still there, and I could move.  I fished the phone out of my pocket as well as I could – I was quite entangled in the vines.  I called my wife and told her the bad news and asked for a pickup, giving her the rough directions to where I was.  After hanging up, I started trying to get up, but it took several minutes of untangling myself from the bike and the vines.  I remember looking out of what seemed like a briar tunnel.  I was able to get up, but my neck was very sore, and I was worried about spine damage, so I just stood there.  After a minute or two, Jan called me, and I saw her car lights.  She got me in the car, and tried to hide my bike in the ditch, and we made our way to the ER for 4 hrs of waiting, x-rays, and worry.

If you crash at 30mph, brambles are a good airbag.

Neck brace gone, and blood cleaned up – will have some killer scars…

Long story short, I was just fine.  No broken bones, and a couple tylenol for the road.  Unfortunately, when we returned for the bike, it was gone.  Lessons (re)learned:

  1. Slow down when you know a bend is coming – don’t wait until you can see it.
  2. Don’t rely on your lights to help – especially when they are not projecting far enough based on your speed.
  3. Don’t bomb a hill at night even when you have been down it several times before with no incident – if the conditions are not perfect – no sense in the extra danger – could have been a car or a deer in the way.
  4. Don’t leave a perfectly good bike in the ditch for more than a few minutes…
  5. Don’t let it stop you from what you enjoy – went out for a short ride today.  Still feels great to be on a bike!

P.S. if you see a white Velo Routier (Cycles Toussaint) on Whidbey Island, please drop me a line…  Link to Bike Index

Posted by Stonehog | Filed under commuting, Cycling

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