Giving it the finger

There are times when cars and bikes don't mix. Last night was one of them and, unfortunately, I was on the bike :-(

Such is life and, when you spend a lot of time cycling, these things happen I guess. That's not to say it wasn't the driver's fault! :-)

Still... it's nice to have a ride in an ambulance with the sirens on every so often!

I won't say more other than to note that Sara (my other half) was behind me at the time and watched me do a rather spectacular stunt-man style roll across the bonnet of the car and end up in the road. I don't remember much, having been knocked unconscious by the impact, until coming round with an uncomfortable feeling in my finger, head, back and ankle.

The finger was dislocated - popping it back into place was pretty unpleasant, even with gas and air. The ankle just a bad bruise. My head has a few scrapes on it - when I got home and looked at my helmet it was broken in several places so I'm glad I was wearing it.

Today... I'm mainly aches and pains, very tired and I have to wear a finger splint for the next couple of weeks.

The bike looks to be a write-off. Turns out that I'm not insured (I thought I was but I was wrong) though my membership of the Cycle Touring Club (which I only joined to get the route for the Land's End to John O'Groats) gives me free access to legal help. Phew.

Bummer...

The most annoying thing, of course, is that I won't be cycling for a few days and I'm very unlikely to recover anything like the cost of replacing the bike :-(

[PS. I know none of them will read this but I'm very grateful to the people at the scene, about 4 of whom were doctors or nurses on their way home from the nearby hospital, and the paramedics and hospital staff.]