A moment of silence please...

K2

My loyal Bianchi Reporto Corse died this morning. On my
daily work commute from SE Portland, OR to the IBM campus on
159th & Walker in Beaverton, heading West on Walker in the
intersection of Mayfield and Walker, an older woman driving
Eastbound decided to take a left turn directly in front of
me (I had the green) giving me no option but to use the side
of her car as a launching pad. Making contact at 16+ mph on
her rear quarter panel I could hear the carbon forks snap
like twigs. From there it all happened really quickly but a
witness says I did nice flip in the air before my Celeste
companion and I landed on the opposite side of the car
against the far curb. I think it was a good thing the forks
went so easily. Doing so drove my handle bars into the side
of the car which took a lot of the shock out of the
collision (left a nice dent in her car too!). Oh, I do
remember, and the damage to my helmet proves it, that my
flip was started from the top of my head hitting the rear of
her car after my handlebars dug into her car. My heads fine,
I need a new helmet now too (RIP). Anyway, the frame is a
complete loss. The top tube was crimped, front Spinergy was
mangled, I'll be able to salvage the Dura Ace/Ultegra set
though maybe not the brake levers. Physically I'm more or
less fine (you don't hit a car and simply be "fine") with a
road rash on one knee and elbow, though I'll know better
when I wake up in the morning what else might have been
compromised. Well, thanks for listening. Be careful out
there. Karl
--
If replying directly, please edit out the cleverly decorated
bits from my email address.

Just Zis Guy

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 14:19:40 GMT, K2 <karlkras@comnocastspam.net>
wrote in message <0CfDc.112873$eu.71602@attbi_s02>:

[snip tale of near-lethal cager incompetence]

Shoot them and burn the bodies. It's the only solution.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

R15757

<snip> Karl's tale.

Much better to run into the left-turning car than have the
left-turning car run into you.

Glad you're ok. That incident should cost her insurance
company several thousand, sounds like.

Robert

Luigi De Guzman

On 26 Jun 2004 18:57:37 GMT, r15757@aol.com (R15757) wrote:

>Glad you're ok. That incident should cost her insurance
>company several thousand, sounds like.
>

One would hope.

-Luigi

>Robert

Roger Zoul

K2 wrote:
|| My loyal Bianchi Reporto Corse died this morning. On my
|| daily work commute from SE Portland, OR to the IBM campus
|| on 159th & Walker in Beaverton, heading West on Walker in
|| the intersection of Mayfield and Walker, an older woman
|| driving Eastbound decided to take a left turn directly in
|| front of me (I had the green) giving me no option but to
|| use the side of her car as a launching pad. Making
|| contact at 16+ mph on her rear quarter panel I could hear
|| the carbon forks snap like twigs. From there it all
|| happened really quickly but a witness says I did nice
|| flip in the air before my Celeste companion and I landed
|| on the opposite side of the car against the far curb. I
|| think it was a good thing the forks went so easily. Doing
|| so drove my handle bars into the side of the car which
|| took a lot of the shock out of the collision (left a nice
|| dent in her car too!). Oh, I do remember, and the damage
|| to my helmet proves it, that my flip was started from the
|| top of my head hitting the rear of her car after my
|| handlebars dug into her car. My heads fine, I need a new
|| helmet now too (RIP). Anyway, the frame is a complete
|| loss. The top tube was crimped, front Spinergy was
|| mangled, I'll be able to salvage the Dura Ace/Ultegra set
|| though maybe not the brake levers. Physically I'm more or
|| less fine (you don't hit a car and simply be "fine") with
|| a road rash on one knee and elbow, though I'll know
|| better when I wake up in the morning what else might have
|| been compromised. Well, thanks for listening. Be careful
|| out there. Karl

Glad you're okay and I hope you get a brand new bike (and a
better one than you had).

Garmonboezia

K2 <karlkras@comnocastspam.net> wrote in
news:0CfDc.112873$eu.71602@attbi_s02:

> My loyal Bianchi Reporto Corse died this morning. On my
> daily work commute from SE Portland, OR to the IBM campus
> on 159th & Walker in Beaverton, heading West on Walker in
> the intersection of Mayfield and Walker, an older woman
> driving Eastbound decided to take a left turn directly in
> front of me (I had the green) giving me no option but to
> use the side of her car as a launching pad. Making contact
> at 16+ mph on her rear quarter panel I could hear the
> carbon forks snap like twigs. From there it all happened
> really quickly but a witness says I did nice flip in the
> air before my Celeste companion and I landed on the
> opposite side of the car against the far curb. I think it
> was a good thing the forks went so easily. Doing so drove
> my handle bars into the side of the car which took a lot
> of the shock out of the collision (left a nice dent in her
> car too!). Oh, I do remember, and the damage to my helmet
> proves it, that my flip was started from the top of my
> head hitting the rear of her car after my handlebars dug
> into her car. My heads fine, I need a new helmet now too
> (RIP). Anyway, the frame is a complete loss. The top tube
> was crimped, front Spinergy was mangled, I'll be able to
> salvage the Dura Ace/Ultegra set though maybe not the
> brake levers. Physically I'm more or less fine (you don't
> hit a car and simply be "fine") with a road rash on one
> knee and elbow, though I'll know better when I wake up in
> the morning what else might have been compromised. Well,
> thanks for listening. Be careful out there. Karl

Sorry to hear. Sounds like it's time to look at the new
Bianchis, or Serrotta, depending on what her insurance says.

Mike

Steve Knight

though it is not your fault you need to watch all the cars
in a intersection. expect them to turn and not see you. slow
down a bit too. I have had several cars start or turn in
front of me. but I am always slowing down when they do it
because I expected them to do it, never trust a driver.

" Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into
jet engines"

Steve-O

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 14:19:40 GMT, K2 <karlkras@comnocastspam.net>
wrote:

>My loyal Bianchi Reporto Corse died this morning.

[silence]

Sorry about your bike, glad about your intact head. I hope
you have another way to get around, since, alas, you're
still able to get around.

I appreciate you posting your story. It's instructive on
many levels to people like me who have yet to deal with such
an event. If you're so inclined, keep us posted on how the
legal/financial/physical aftermath plays out.

Cheers, Steve

Michael J . Kle

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 14:19:40 GMT, K2 <karlkras@comnocastspam.net>
wrote:

>My loyal Bianchi Reporto Corse died this morning.

<snip>

Man, what a story Karl. I'm glad you are "fine" relatively
speaking. Did the motorist stop? Did she even know she did
something wrong? Was there an apology?

Michael J. Klein mklein@mousepotato.com Dasi Jen, Taoyuan
Hsien, Taiwan, ROC Please replace mousepotato with
asiancastings
---------------------------------------------

Michael J . Kle

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 19:19:16 +0100, "Just zis Guy, you know?"
<outlook.bugs@microsoft.com> wrote:

>On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 14:19:40 GMT, K2
><karlkras@comnocastspam.net> wrote in message
><0CfDc.112873$eu.71602@attbi_s02>:
>
>[snip tale of near-lethal cager incompetence]
>
>Shoot them and burn the bodies. It's the only solution.

Guy, I wouldn't expect you to know this, but in the USA you
must shoot and burn the entire family so there is no one
left who can sue you.

Michael J. Klein mklein@mousepotato.com Dasi Jen, Taoyuan
Hsien, Taiwan, ROC Please replace mousepotato with
asiancastings
---------------------------------------------

Just Zis Guy

On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 19:57:10 +0800, Michael J. Klein
<mklein@mousepotato.com> wrote in message
<5r10e0hhjlrrba0iplm4o10rg87su60h7j@4ax.com>:

>>[snip tale of near-lethal cager incompetence] Shoot them
>>and burn the bodies. It's the only solution.

>Guy, I wouldn't expect you to know this, but in the USA you
>must shoot and burn the entire family so there is no one
>left who can sue you.

Over in uk.rec.cycling that would be expressed as: "for
values of 'them' including the entire family" :-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

K2

Michael J. Klein wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 14:19:40 GMT, K2
> <karlkras@comnocastspam.net> wrote:
>
>
>>My loyal Bianchi Reporto Corse died this morning.
>
>
> <snip>
>
> Man, what a story Karl. I'm glad you are "fine" relatively
> speaking. Did the motorist stop? Did she even know she did
> something wrong? Was there an apology?

Michael, Yes she did stop, but apology? Not 10 seconds after
getting out of her car (which seemed to take a long time, I
think she was discussing her angle with the passenger in the
car) she was barfing up some bs about how she thought I was
going to something else (I'm still not sure what it was)
since I was in the "inside lane" (the inside lane was the
bike lane). This story morphed into "I was turning with a
green arrow" which the 3rd party witnessed flatly refuted
since she was coming up behind me about to enter the same
intersection. Follow up to damages. I got myself checked out
and confirmed that there appears to be nothing broken and
while my shoulder is very sore it seems to be getting better
already so I don't foresee and long term effects from this,
though I will be able to make a better determination later
this week as the swelling from the bruising diminishes. I
had my bike and associated items damaged in the accident
assessed. $5100 for the bike and another $150 for the
helmet. And you know? I'm not going to hesitate one minute
to charge her insurance company for this, added pain and
suffering and medical charges that has and might still
incur. This woman should not be on the road. Oh and BTW, I
took my recumbent out yesterday and did a grueling century
just to piss her off!

thanks for your concern, Karl

--
If replying directly, please edit out the cleverly decorated
bits from my email address.

Frank Krygowski

K2 wrote:

>
> I had my bike and associated items damaged in the accident
> assessed. $5100 for the bike and another $150 for the
> helmet. And you know? I'm not going to hesitate one minute
> to charge her insurance company for this, added pain and
> suffering and medical charges that has and might still
> incur. This woman should not be on the road.

Just to strengthen your resolve:

I know a person who was hit by a car while walking across a
Pittsburgh street, in a crosswalk, obeying a walk signal.
She was knocked to the ground.

Unfortunately, she didn't do the routine about calling cops,
accident report, insurance company, etc. She felt she was
fine. She let the perpetrator go.

Now, about three months later, she's wearing a knee bandage
because of some apparently hidden damage that surfaces only
when she exercises vigorously.

Don't let the woman off the hook.

--
--------------------+ Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove
rodent and vegetable dot com, replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

Michael J . Kle

On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 15:43:55 GMT, K2 <karlkras@comnocastspam.net>
wrote:

>Michael J. Klein wrote:
>> On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 14:19:40 GMT, K2
>> <karlkras@comnocastspam.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>My loyal Bianchi Reporto Corse died this morning.
>>
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> Man, what a story Karl. I'm glad you are "fine"
>> relatively speaking. Did the motorist stop? Did she even
>> know she did something wrong? Was there an apology?
>
>Michael, Yes she did stop, but apology? Not 10 seconds
>after getting out of her car (which seemed to take a long
>time, I think she was discussing her angle with the
>passenger in the car) she was barfing up some bs about how
>she thought I was going to something else (I'm still not
>sure what it was) since I was in the "inside lane" (the
>inside lane was the bike lane). This story morphed into "I
>was turning with a green arrow" which the 3rd party
>witnessed flatly refuted since she was coming up behind me
>about to enter the same intersection.

Door not even open, and considering the permutations of
litigation. She's an American, correct?

>Follow up to damages. I got myself checked out and
>confirmed that there appears to be nothing broken and while
>my shoulder is very sore it seems to be getting better
>already so I don't foresee and long term effects from this,
>though I will be able to make a better determination later
>this week as the swelling from the bruising diminishes. I
>had my bike and associated items damaged in the accident
>assessed. $5100 for the bike and another $150 for the
>helmet. And you know? I'm not going to hesitate one minute
>to charge her insurance company for this, added pain and
>suffering and medical charges that has and might still
>incur. This woman should not be on the road.

As well you should Karl. No matter what her passenger
thinks, she did wrong.

>Oh and BTW, I took my recumbent out yesterday and did a
>grueling century just to piss her off!

Excellent! Don't let her hear that; it will only serve to
minimize her guilt!

>thanks for your concern, Karl

Thanks for the update!

Michael J. Klein mklein@mousepotato.com Dasi Jen, Taoyuan
Hsien, Taiwan, ROC Please replace mousepotato with
asiancastings
---------------------------------------------