mickle
innit
- Location
- 53.933606, -1.076131
I lived in America once you know.
My then GF was from Joisy, we'd grown tired of living in London and toyed with the idea of going to live in the US but never got our sh!t together. And then Major's Tory government got back in and that was all the impetus we needed.
We took our bikes with us, my Trek 930 mountain bike with XC Pro, on slicks and her ex Paddington CC track bike which I'd restored and repainted for her. We lived in a small apartment in Manhattan and rode everywhere. I tried to find a job - in a bike shop, it being all I knew how to do - but they weren't hiring. The city was coming down hard on 'aliens'. So I spent my days preparing dinner for us and riding around New York. One day I arrived at the world Trade Centre to find Hans Rey doing a Trials Show which involved riding around on a yellow NY taxi. We were there for three months and my half-arsed job hunting was cut short about eight weeks in.
I used to ride with her a lot - she wasn't super confident and it got me out of the house. I'd ride out with her, ride home and go to 'collect' her later when she went her acting class once a week. New York traffic is wonderfully predictable. Roads are all one way - alternately North/South - up/down - and traffic mainly travels at a uniform speed and all the lights are all co-ordinated. Everthing is very predictable.
So there I was, about half a mile from home (just north of the UN building), I'd dropped her off and was heading home. I was in traffic, sprinting to catch the end of a green light when a car pulled out from the kerb and completely closed my gap. With a car beside me I had no-where to go and in that split second I instinctively slammed on my brakes. The inevitable result was that I was catapulted into the air and did a superman into the junction. Witnesses said I landed flat on my face. I am a big bloke and I was fit then. So I was going at some speed. From about two car lengths back I landed on the other side of the junction.
The only damage to my bike was the seat rails had bent, it was taken away to some Police lock-up in Queens which took me weeks to find. It had gone A over T and bounced off the saddle. No biggy. I on the other hand did not fare so well. I didn't bounce. I had graze damage to my forehead, nose, inside my bottom lip, chin, colar bone, ribs - my sunglasses had been clipped to the neck of my T-shirt so I had the imprint of them on my chest - my hips, knees and the toes of my shoes. And my knuckles. A pancake flat landing from 30 mph.
When I came to - I couldn't turn my head for the neck brace, there was a paramedic just outside my field of vision talking to me: What is your name? I dunno I said. What's your phone number. What's your address. I dunno, I dunno. And i'm thinkin: FFS, if I can't remember my own name I'm hardly going to remember where I fricking live am I? And he said: 'Well, you're English - that narrows it down'
I had a headache for two weeks, and I used to be able to remember telephone numbers and peoples names. Not since that day.
Helmet? Well it was only a short journey so I had it looped around my handlebars...
Next instalment: - driving to LA.
My then GF was from Joisy, we'd grown tired of living in London and toyed with the idea of going to live in the US but never got our sh!t together. And then Major's Tory government got back in and that was all the impetus we needed.
We took our bikes with us, my Trek 930 mountain bike with XC Pro, on slicks and her ex Paddington CC track bike which I'd restored and repainted for her. We lived in a small apartment in Manhattan and rode everywhere. I tried to find a job - in a bike shop, it being all I knew how to do - but they weren't hiring. The city was coming down hard on 'aliens'. So I spent my days preparing dinner for us and riding around New York. One day I arrived at the world Trade Centre to find Hans Rey doing a Trials Show which involved riding around on a yellow NY taxi. We were there for three months and my half-arsed job hunting was cut short about eight weeks in.
I used to ride with her a lot - she wasn't super confident and it got me out of the house. I'd ride out with her, ride home and go to 'collect' her later when she went her acting class once a week. New York traffic is wonderfully predictable. Roads are all one way - alternately North/South - up/down - and traffic mainly travels at a uniform speed and all the lights are all co-ordinated. Everthing is very predictable.
So there I was, about half a mile from home (just north of the UN building), I'd dropped her off and was heading home. I was in traffic, sprinting to catch the end of a green light when a car pulled out from the kerb and completely closed my gap. With a car beside me I had no-where to go and in that split second I instinctively slammed on my brakes. The inevitable result was that I was catapulted into the air and did a superman into the junction. Witnesses said I landed flat on my face. I am a big bloke and I was fit then. So I was going at some speed. From about two car lengths back I landed on the other side of the junction.
The only damage to my bike was the seat rails had bent, it was taken away to some Police lock-up in Queens which took me weeks to find. It had gone A over T and bounced off the saddle. No biggy. I on the other hand did not fare so well. I didn't bounce. I had graze damage to my forehead, nose, inside my bottom lip, chin, colar bone, ribs - my sunglasses had been clipped to the neck of my T-shirt so I had the imprint of them on my chest - my hips, knees and the toes of my shoes. And my knuckles. A pancake flat landing from 30 mph.
When I came to - I couldn't turn my head for the neck brace, there was a paramedic just outside my field of vision talking to me: What is your name? I dunno I said. What's your phone number. What's your address. I dunno, I dunno. And i'm thinkin: FFS, if I can't remember my own name I'm hardly going to remember where I fricking live am I? And he said: 'Well, you're English - that narrows it down'
I had a headache for two weeks, and I used to be able to remember telephone numbers and peoples names. Not since that day.
Helmet? Well it was only a short journey so I had it looped around my handlebars...
Next instalment: - driving to LA.