you thought you had a bad day

i would like to start by apologizing for my long absence, (as if anyone reads this nonsense). i was placed on injured reserve for a while but now I'm back and "better" than ever. (really i had no where to go but up) here's the latest madness in my life. i was riding my bicycle around the rose bowl. (for those of you who don't know, there is a three mile loop around the stadium. it has relatively little traffic and many people go there to walk run and bike. it is supposed to be pretty safe.) on the downhill side of the loop i was passed by two kids on motor scooters. i checked my speedometer and decided my pride was still intact since they were traveling at a little over 25 Mph. i tucked in about ten feet behind one of them and figured I'd let them pace me home. about 3/4 of a mile later some idiot, irresponsible, retarded, stupid, no good, waste of space teenage girl looked back over her shoulder at us, took two more steps, looked back again and stepped out into the road deliberately to scare the dude on the scooter in front of me. he should have run her worthless ass over! instead he swerved to avoid her, and chaos ensued. when he swerved to the left, i did likewise hoping to avoid the carnage, but to no avail. when he crashed he was thrown right into my path, at 25 Mph i could not avoid him. i went over the bars and down to the pavement. i have included in this post some road rash photos, a couple bruise photos, and a picture of my broken forks. yes that's right, the impact of my bike hitting that poor scooter dude's back broke my carbon fiber forks. i did not include the pictures of my helmet. it is hard to see the cracks in the helmet in photos. not that the cracks are bad, it worked exactly like it was designed to, and i am convinced it saved my life. ( much love to GIRO for making a fine product.) here's where the ridiculousness really starts. that night there was a "ride of silence" (for all the cyclists killed or injured by cars while riding) apparently channel nine was there doing a segment about it for their eleven o'clock broadcast. the ride of silence rode silently by me to go get on the news, instead of stopping to help carry my bleeding carcass out of the road. nice! then when i said i wanted a police report some random a-hole started accusing me of trying to take advantage of the situation. take advantage? some stupid bitch deliberately crashes me and I'm taking advantage? lets take a tally shall we?


emergency room visit with seven x-rays --------- haven't received the bill yet.
broken forks on bike ------------------------------ approx. $300-450
broken seat --------------------------------------- approx $170
complete disassemble and safety check bike ------- approx $???
universal cycling bibs and jersey ------------------ approx $160
new bicycle helmet (I'm buying the same one) ----- approx $190


those are just the things i know are ruined. i still may need more visits to doctors, and they might find more broken parts on my bike, and some random fu#$er who didn't even see the crash has the unmitigated gall to accuse me of taking advantage? it's a good thing I've grown up a little, because if this had gone down a few years ago, i would have had to add bail money to the list cause I'd have hurt that ignorant bastard. the worst part is, this little bitch who caused the whole thing (on purpose i might add) is going to get away scott free. i can't press criminal charges, and it would cost more to get a lawyer and sue her than it would be worth. oh and here's the kicker. this accident and my subsequent period of immobilization caused me to miss the camping trip with all of my friends that i had been planning for months. DAMMIT!!! so there it is, Dave's bad day, i hope yours goes a little better.