Saturday evening slow speed crash - it DID sting in the morning.

[Dexter-morgan]

OK here's some pics . . .

 

1) Scene of the crime - van came from left.

2) Offending vehicle

3) Selfie to try and asitane damage

4) 48 Hrs later . . . .

EINA!!!

[PhilipV]

Jeez, the Hub had a rough weekend.

Bonus rides into a van. The savages rode into a tree.

Glad I stayed off the bike.

Bonus, nice shiner. Hope you feel better soon.

[lechatnoir]

Heal up Bonus.

[Bonus]

Sounds like you need a new garmin, sounds like you were going faster the 12km/h! 

 

Having now had two similar accidents, just at different speeds I dont think speed is the variable. Last year crashed onto the tar over the bars at 45km/h no broken bones. This weekend crashed at 35km/h on a dirt road, broken collar bone. Think its more of what you hit and how soon after leaving the saddle. 

 

Heal up fast!

 

 

Agreed - It's like when you fly somewhere - it's all in the landing.

[Bateleur1]

Heel up soon.  Hit the back of a car in SA couple of weeks before we left for Germany.  Horrible surprise when you think you are just rolling at a slow speed through a traffic circle and that moment when you check something behind you the idiot driving in front of you stops dead in the traffic circle for no reason.  Slow speed or not 20 kmh - 0 in 0.5 seconds is not fun.

 

Bonus who was at fault? From you pics I get the idea the car approached from your left which (depending on traffic signs) will make the motorist guilty?

Edited June 13, 2017 by Bateleur1

[Bonus]

B1 - the crossing has no signs in either direction - it's a small quiet grid-layout village.

 

However, the feeling is (from the Police) that I was on the "Primary" road and she was on the "Secondary" road. We were both planning to go straight through the junction on our respective roads and as I rode towards the crossing she entered it on my left. She should actually have "given way to the right".

 

We went and had another look at the crossing last night in the car and I can see that if you come from her side, it can feel as if you are also on "the primary road". My guess is that because she lives there and drives across it all the time, she's used to just driving through.

 

She said at the time that she saw me "looking down, not forward". Which I can agree with - otherwise I'd have seen her car. I'm a bit confused as to why she just carried on driving in front of me if she saw that I was looking down - regardless of anything else it seems like a recipe for disaster.

 

Unless we try to take things further, things will be left as is and the accident will be considered 50/50. Me not looking where I was going and her misjudging my speed (or whatever her reasoning is). I have my face and my front wheel to deal with - I saw yesterday that it is now out of line, and she has some dents on the side of her company van.

 

I'll take the wheel to Angel and see what it will take to straighten it. Hopefully just spoke adjustment but if it's more than that then maybe I have to pursue the issue and try and get the costs covered?

[Bateleur1]

B1 - the crossing has no signs in either direction - it's a small quiet grid-layout village.

 

However, the feeling is (from the Police) that I was on the "Primary" road and she was on the "Secondary" road. We were both planning to go straight through the junction on our respective roads and as I rode towards the crossing she entered it on my left. She should actually have "given way to the right".

 

We went and had another look at the crossing last night in the car and I can see that if you come from her side, it can feel as if you are also on "the primary road". My guess is that because she lives there and drives across it all the time, she's used to just driving through.

 

She said at the time that she saw me "looking down, not forward". Which I can agree with - otherwise I'd have seen her car. I'm a bit confused as to why she just carried on driving in front of me if she saw that I was looking down - regardless of anything else it seems like a recipe for disaster.

 

Unless we try to take things further, things will be left as is and the accident will be considered 50/50. Me not looking where I was going and her misjudging my speed (or whatever her reasoning is). I have my face and my front wheel to deal with - I saw yesterday that it is now out of line, and she has some dents on the side of her company van.

 

I'll take the wheel to Angel and see what it will take to straighten it. Hopefully just spoke adjustment but if it's more than that then maybe I have to pursue the issue and try and get the costs covered?

 

Germany applies that rule very strictly.  In the absence of traffic signs (which does not normally happen in Germany, heck they can really overdo in traffic signs) the give way to the right always applies.  She would be 100% responsible had it been in Germany.

[Bonus]

Well if Spain also applies the rule strictly then maybe I should pursue the costs. I had to pay for the clinic visit and stitches so far.

 

Regardless of whether I had glanced down at my Garmin or not, she should have given way to the right.

 

I think I will ask the police to confirm the law first and take it from there.

 

Cheers for that.

Edited June 13, 2017 by Bonus

[Bonus]

Quick update:

 

Face is healing and stitches can come out anytime from Saturday onwards. Probably on Monday :-)

 

Nothing broken on me - and Wendy says they did offer to X-ray me but I said I was sure nothing was broken so they felt me to check and let it go at that.

 

One spoke broken on front wheel - Angel says that's what has thrown the wheel out slightly. He'll replace the spoke and true the wheel for me and give the bike a look over - and its all for free. He's a good mate.

 

Explained the details of the crash to the head of the local Traffic Police today (Guardia Civil Trafico) with the aid of my photos and google earth and there is no doubt the woman is in the wrong. Firstly because in any case the rule when signs are absent is "give way to the right" (as mentioned above) and secondly because I was on the Primary road and she was on a Secondary road she should have stopped anyway.

 

I have to speak to her tomorrow and ask her for her insurance details and a copy of her driving license. The traffic chief said if she argues the point "Don't get into anything. Come and tell me and I'll visit her for you and get them" I thought that was a nice gesture. They are strict here on people driving badly and I guess they appreciate the importance of cyclists to the town.  Top man.

 

That's it for now - let's see what happens next . . .

[Allrounder]

How is the English in those parts? 

[Bonus]

How is the English in those parts? 

 

 

In the villages there is pretty much no English.

In the towns, some English. Usually from the youngsters.

 

Different along the coast where all the Brits go - lots on English there.

 

We speak enough Spanish to manage and phone translators do the rest.

[lechatnoir]

Different along the coast where all the Brits go - lots on English there.

We found similar in the Algarve... was harder to find people speaking Portuguese than speaking English!

[Wendy]

I had to laugh. When we were at the Police Station, Bonus asked (as he always does) if the policeman speaks English. He said no and promptly went off to find another policeman. They both came back and the 2nd one greeted us in English and said he could speak English. Then!! Bonus starts explaining what happened in very bad Spanish. The first guy squinted his eyes at Bonus and said in a frustrated voice English!!! Lol

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[nathrix]

Lekker story, sounds a bit eina, but very entertaining and would make a cool cycling related short movie of that beautiful village with it's surroundings in Spanish with English subtitles  

[slewk]

Saturday night I set off on a 65 minute MTB "loop" from home. Involves a bit of everything - road, jeep track, singletrack, through Ainsa town, down a flight of steps, and includes some quite technical stoney descents - but I managed those ok. I generally know where my limits are and when to push them.

 

25 mins into the ride I get to a stoney track that runs along beside the river Ara. It's quite a rough surface in places, climbs about 50m in 4km and is generally into a slight headwind. So no big deal, but if you try to push a decent speed along there it can be a nice workout.

 

The track comes out in a small village called Margudged, which I now need to ride through. The village consists of half a dozen roads in crisis cross grid formation. No pavements, houses right up to the sides of the roads and people sitting outside their houses chatting. They always wave hello, dogs and children in the roads playing and a few parked cars. For this reason I pass through the village very slowly. There's almost never any moving traffic . . . .

 

According to my Garmin is was doing 12km/h when the accident happened. At a crossroads in the village, which has no road markings, I chose to glance down at my Garmin at the exact moment a lady in a small white van chose to cross in front of me. It would appear that I hit the side of the van face first. It took me a second to realise exactly what was happening - I remember there was a lot of noise, and then there was just pain.

 

I let the bike fall as I climbed off it, hands to my face and I remember saying ouch ouch ouch and thinking this is not going to be pretty.

 

I've never been smacked in the face with a cricket bat but I suspect this is how it feels. Blood everywhere. My first two (*** induced) thoughts were Broken Nose and/or Smashed Teeth. Thankfully they both felt ok but there was a lot of blood. People came to check if I was ok. One old lady bought me a plastic chair to sit on and another fetched a big bottle of water. The lady got out of the van to see if I was ok. I phone Wendy to fetch me, trying not to sound too serious. I cleaned myself up with the water while I sat and waited. Thankfully nothing was broken - Bike, Garmin, Shades all ok. Took some pics of the position of the car and 30mins later Wendy arrived.

 

The van driver had phoned the police and asked me to wait for them to arrive but by now I was very cold, very bloody and I suspect heading for shock so I told them where we live, swapped numbers and went home. Had a cup of sugary tea and a shower to clean and warm myself up and then looked in the mirror to inspect the damage. You know that feeling you get when you see an injury and think " hmmm that's not good . . ." I didn't even consider whether it would just "get better" on its own - too big and too open. Four stitches needed at the local medi-clinic for a horizontal cut under my nose.

 

Other than that it seemed like just a few cuts and scrapes when I finally went to bed - today it's a different story! Seems that the peak of my helmet was pushed up against the side of the van and the strap has tightened and bruised my throat. My shades cut my face above the eyebrow. My whole upper body has a degree of whiplash - I can barely support my own head! My upper arm is bruised, my right knee is skinned and my left thigh is strained. My nose is swollen so much that Wendy says I look like the main Ape in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (he was the clever one mind you!)

 

And all of this at 12km/h!

 

Let's see what tomorrow brings . . . .

 

I have some pics but no one needs to see THAT over breakfast!

Face injuries are not fun!

[Pah Bear]

HI Bonus. Sorry to hear of your accident. See your face took quite a klap. Time heals. Hope you have some success with claiming for compensation. All things considered, it could have been worse. Let every incident be a learning experience. All the best.