J was out biking in Jamaica Plain, MA (part of Boston) on September 11:
I joined The Club. I took a header on South Street, the tire of my bicycle caught in the groove of the unused trolley track.
I tried to keep control of the bike, and managed to hang on to the handlebars until I had planted the bike sideways, skidding another good ten feet or so. I landed on my right side, bruising my right knee, right hip, and right elbow. I also have some hard to describe muscular pain under my right wing, so my shoulder is somehow involved as well. In addition, I have massive bruising in the knuckles of my left hand - I think that the handlebar came smashing down across my hand. I managed to ice it down pretty quickly, but it swelled a nasty amount nevertheless. There's a bruise in my left instep - I think the pedal poked me there pretty hard.
Conditions were not good at the time: it was dusk, and it had rained earlier, so the pavement was slick. The rails were slicker than the pavement, of course, and I think it was my rear tire that got caught in the groove....
I knew I had to at least get between the right rail and the left rail in order to be in place to make the turn. There were no cars behind me or in front of me for about a block, so I decided I had the time to make an attempt. I recall seeing my front wheel skidding sideways left and right before I went into my slide - this is how I've deduced that it was my rear wheel that got caught.
I lost all traction, veeered from side to side, went over to my right and ended up sliding into the oncoming traffic lane, which would have been a very hazardous issue if there had been oncoming traffic. As it was, there was a car approaching about a block away when I went in to my slide, and the woman driving it stopped well before me and asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital. I got up off the pavement and quickly dragged my bike to the sidewalk, mentally checking my limbs and trying to determine if anything was broken. Two other passers-by were asking me if I was alright, and I asked for a moment to keep checking myself out. My left hand was beginning to swell, and felt pretty useless....
I'm thankful I'm alive.
Me, too, J. I'm thankful you are, too. I ride to work most days and can totally imagine it. And yeah, I'm with you. Say no to bringing back the trolley.
The tracks need to be paved over. End of story. They're a danger to cyclists, they're contributing to the deterioration of the pavement on South and Centre Streets, and the city has been promising to do something about it but sitting on their duffs for too long....
I was lucky. I hope nobody else gets seriously hurt.
This public service announcement was brought to you by Cyclists for Non-Lethal Roads.
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