HeyHealy
Member
It happened in a fraction of a second...
CRASH!
This morning's bike ride did not go as planned. It was my 3rd ride on my new Cruzbike V20c, which my brother and I just assembled this last week.
I rode it for the first time Friday morning, then again yesterday evening to adjust the headrest and see if it was positioned correctly.
I went out this morning with the intent of seeing how the V20c performs on climbs, so that's what I did. On the way back, I was having so much fun that I decided to add a handful of miles by looping to the north and then riding south to arrive back at my house.
I was cruising south on Keystone in the bike lane at 20+ mph when I saw a woman and dog off to the right in the grass. The dog was not leashed. I could see the leash bunched up in the woman's hand. In that moment I got a strange feeling...
Then the dog turned toward me, bared its teeth, ears pinned back in a full run at my bike. It was a muscular medium-sized dog. I recall it being brown and white.
Anyway, with the dog's speed and my speed, there was no way I could avoid it. My front wheel struck the dog in its ribs at about 20 mph, if I had to guess. I weigh 190 lbs, so it was a significant impact.
I went down fast and hard. One second I was up, the next I was on the street. My cycling shorts have a huge hole in them and my right cheek is bruised and covered in road rash. I have a deep gash in my right forearm, near my elbow. I have a scrape on my knee. Luckily, my cycling gloves protected my hands from further carnage.
The dog yelped on impact and immediately turned and begin limping toward home. The woman said something like, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, are you OK? I had no idea he would think a bicycle was a threat." She picked up my bike. I said nothing other than try to get my bearings and assess the damage.
The woman then left me with my bike to go after her dog, which I found out later was returning home.
So here I am, bleeding with my cherry red ass hanging out of my cycling shorts, trying to get my chain back on the large ring of my once-new-but-now-damaged bike. Hands shaking, I got it done. Then I got back on my bike to try to find the woman. She had turned a corner and was out of sight.
When I caught up to her, I told her I needed her information. She said OK, but said she needed to get her dog first. (The dog is always the priority, smh.) So I followed her to her house, where she entered her information into my phone after she'd checked on her dog.
"Let me know how much it costs," she said. "I know it's not cheap."
Not much else was said, although as I was about to ride away she offered to drive me home. I declined since I was just a half mile away.
Long story longer, I filed a police report this morning because the woman was violating leash laws. If her dog had been leashed, this could all have been avoided.
Furthermore, my bike is very expensive, and it sucks that it's now damaged and I will have to spend time and money repairing it. I'm also in quite a bit of pain, mainly my right butt cheek because it's so badly bruised and scraped up. I'm now also feeling some pain in my lower spine.
Every dog owner thinks, "Well, my dog is different. He/she doesn't need to be on a leash."
Well, let me tell you something. I've now been attacked TWICE by off-leash dogs just this year. The first time the dog attacked me from behind. Luckily, I was on my recumbent so the seat pan protected me from the dog's teeth.
Today, I was also luckily on a recumbent. The dog attacked from the front and side, which caused me to crash. But I only fell a short distance because my seat is low to the ground. And I didn't go over my handlebars, which 100% would have happened on a traditional diamond frame bike.
Had I gone over my handlebars, I would probably be dealing with a significant head/neck injury right now.
I'm convinced that had I not hit the dog, it would have continued to attack me and try to bite me.
Point is, everybody thinks their dog is different UNTIL the dog does something unexpected. That's why you always follow leash laws and keep your dog on a leash, especially in areas where there are cyclists, pedestrians, and kids.
P.S. At my wife's request, I'm sparing you the sight of the largest injury to my backside.
In its place you can see the size of the hole in my shorts.
CRASH!
This morning's bike ride did not go as planned. It was my 3rd ride on my new Cruzbike V20c, which my brother and I just assembled this last week.
I rode it for the first time Friday morning, then again yesterday evening to adjust the headrest and see if it was positioned correctly.
I went out this morning with the intent of seeing how the V20c performs on climbs, so that's what I did. On the way back, I was having so much fun that I decided to add a handful of miles by looping to the north and then riding south to arrive back at my house.
I was cruising south on Keystone in the bike lane at 20+ mph when I saw a woman and dog off to the right in the grass. The dog was not leashed. I could see the leash bunched up in the woman's hand. In that moment I got a strange feeling...
Then the dog turned toward me, bared its teeth, ears pinned back in a full run at my bike. It was a muscular medium-sized dog. I recall it being brown and white.
Anyway, with the dog's speed and my speed, there was no way I could avoid it. My front wheel struck the dog in its ribs at about 20 mph, if I had to guess. I weigh 190 lbs, so it was a significant impact.
I went down fast and hard. One second I was up, the next I was on the street. My cycling shorts have a huge hole in them and my right cheek is bruised and covered in road rash. I have a deep gash in my right forearm, near my elbow. I have a scrape on my knee. Luckily, my cycling gloves protected my hands from further carnage.
The dog yelped on impact and immediately turned and begin limping toward home. The woman said something like, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, are you OK? I had no idea he would think a bicycle was a threat." She picked up my bike. I said nothing other than try to get my bearings and assess the damage.
The woman then left me with my bike to go after her dog, which I found out later was returning home.
So here I am, bleeding with my cherry red ass hanging out of my cycling shorts, trying to get my chain back on the large ring of my once-new-but-now-damaged bike. Hands shaking, I got it done. Then I got back on my bike to try to find the woman. She had turned a corner and was out of sight.
When I caught up to her, I told her I needed her information. She said OK, but said she needed to get her dog first. (The dog is always the priority, smh.) So I followed her to her house, where she entered her information into my phone after she'd checked on her dog.
"Let me know how much it costs," she said. "I know it's not cheap."
Not much else was said, although as I was about to ride away she offered to drive me home. I declined since I was just a half mile away.
Long story longer, I filed a police report this morning because the woman was violating leash laws. If her dog had been leashed, this could all have been avoided.
Furthermore, my bike is very expensive, and it sucks that it's now damaged and I will have to spend time and money repairing it. I'm also in quite a bit of pain, mainly my right butt cheek because it's so badly bruised and scraped up. I'm now also feeling some pain in my lower spine.
Every dog owner thinks, "Well, my dog is different. He/she doesn't need to be on a leash."
Well, let me tell you something. I've now been attacked TWICE by off-leash dogs just this year. The first time the dog attacked me from behind. Luckily, I was on my recumbent so the seat pan protected me from the dog's teeth.
Today, I was also luckily on a recumbent. The dog attacked from the front and side, which caused me to crash. But I only fell a short distance because my seat is low to the ground. And I didn't go over my handlebars, which 100% would have happened on a traditional diamond frame bike.
Had I gone over my handlebars, I would probably be dealing with a significant head/neck injury right now.
I'm convinced that had I not hit the dog, it would have continued to attack me and try to bite me.
Point is, everybody thinks their dog is different UNTIL the dog does something unexpected. That's why you always follow leash laws and keep your dog on a leash, especially in areas where there are cyclists, pedestrians, and kids.
P.S. At my wife's request, I'm sparing you the sight of the largest injury to my backside.
