CRASH!!!

Back in 1991, I became a member of the unfortunate group of people who can say that they've been hit by a car. They always say that accidents usually occur close to home. The first time I get hit by a car reinforced this notion. I was heading east on Rt 5 through Sherrill, NY for a short ride. I was almost to the P&C when I sensed a car approaching behind me. I could tell that the car was dangerously too close and I tried to swerve out of the way. The car was turning into the P&C parking lot and turned right in front of me. I wasn't able to swerve out of the way and hit the front passenger fender with my front wheel. Well it's pretty obvious who won this battle. I lost control of my bike and was thrown to the ground.

Fortunately, the car stopped. I immediately bounced back on my feet and tried to locate my bike. It was under the car, and the car was starting to move forward again. I quickly grabed my bike and pulled it out from under the car so it wouldn't be run over. I felt the driver of the car didn't realize that she hit me so I opened the passenger door and screamed, "YOU FUCKIN' HIT ME!!! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?! STOP THE FUCKIN' CAR!!! Needless to say, I was very upset. The driver was an 80+ year old woman and the words coming out of her mouth were just as vulger. And she proceeded to drive into the parking lot to do her grocery shopping. I screamed that I was going to call the cops. I limped into the store, dragging my bike behind me, and loudly announced, "I've been hit by car! Call the police!" It was only then that I realized that I was pretty scrapped up and bleeding from my right elbow and right knee. I could feel my body start to stiffen up.

I went outside to wait for the police to arrive. A man in the parking lot told me he witnessed what happened and asked if I was OK. He then proceeded to chastize me for using such language with an old lady. The old lady was now waiting outside too now that it had finally sunk in what had happened. A Sherrill cop showed up in his car and took our statements. The old lady basically said that she didn't see me. The cop gave me a ride to the police station to write up the report. The old lady got a ticket for "failure to exercise due caution". I also got her insurnace information. I called my mom from the police station and she came to pick me up.

We went to the emergency room (and waited for over an hour) to get all cleaned up. They took some x-rays to make sure I didn't break any bones and to check my kidneys (since I landed heavily on my back). Everything checked out fine. So they just cleaned my wounds up really good. It hurt like a MOFO to scrub all the gravel out that was imbedded in my elbow and knee. No stitches were required.

I checked out my bike when I got home. My brake/shift levers were badly scraped up. Upon closer inspection, I notice a big dent in the top tube of my frame. That would pretty much total my bike. To make a long story short, I got reimbursed by the old lady's insurance company for a new bike. My old bike, Regalia, was now dead but I gained a new bike, Mars.