On Tuesday 3rd. April, I was rear ended by a motorist coming out of a slip road. No quibble blame; it was entirely his fault. I ended up with a broken right femur 
( hence the title - ! ) and spent eight days in hospital ( the staff were absolutely amazing 
) after having an intramedullary hip screw inserted to fix the break.
I'm now off work for at least six weeks and apparently, am not allowed on a bike for at least three months
. Even at 65 years old, potentially I'm expected to make a good recovery and I've started the ball rolling about a personal injury claim through the Cycling UK legal dept.. Obviously I'll be contacting the driver's insurance coy. regarding material claims; bike, clothing, bash hat etc., but is there any sage advice from your goodselves regarding what to avoid / go for, possible pitfalls, etc.. - ?
My bike is due to be assessed by Evan's Cycles - when I can get it down there, but having had a pretty violent rear ender, I'm concerned about the less obvious possible micro cracks along weld lines etc. which are notoriously difficult to spot.
The bike in question is a GT Bravado, which I paid £850 for in 1999. It has a Reynolds 631 frame and is my favorite bike
, being my daily commuter - !
Also, if the bike is written off, how do I go about sourcing a modern equivalent and how do I assess the modern price value - ? I won't ride aluminium frames, as from experience, they're far too harsh. I've been a confirmed quality chromoly rider for many a year and I have NO plans to change to suit some half baked car insurance coy. - !
On the bright side however, I was told by the surgeon after the operation that they were expecting to be able to deal with the softer thigh muscles of a typical 65 year old, not the muscle mass equivalent of a healthy 45 year old which made the operation take longer than they expected.
Result - ! I knew all that commuting would pay off one day - !
Any advice & guidance would be greatly appreciated lads & lasses.
( hence the title - ! ) and spent eight days in hospital ( the staff were absolutely amazing ) after having an intramedullary hip screw inserted to fix the break.I'm now off work for at least six weeks and apparently, am not allowed on a bike for at least three months
. Even at 65 years old, potentially I'm expected to make a good recovery and I've started the ball rolling about a personal injury claim through the Cycling UK legal dept.. Obviously I'll be contacting the driver's insurance coy. regarding material claims; bike, clothing, bash hat etc., but is there any sage advice from your goodselves regarding what to avoid / go for, possible pitfalls, etc.. - ?My bike is due to be assessed by Evan's Cycles - when I can get it down there, but having had a pretty violent rear ender, I'm concerned about the less obvious possible micro cracks along weld lines etc. which are notoriously difficult to spot.
The bike in question is a GT Bravado, which I paid £850 for in 1999. It has a Reynolds 631 frame and is my favorite bike
, being my daily commuter - !Also, if the bike is written off, how do I go about sourcing a modern equivalent and how do I assess the modern price value - ? I won't ride aluminium frames, as from experience, they're far too harsh. I've been a confirmed quality chromoly rider for many a year and I have NO plans to change to suit some half baked car insurance coy. - !
On the bright side however, I was told by the surgeon after the operation that they were expecting to be able to deal with the softer thigh muscles of a typical 65 year old, not the muscle mass equivalent of a healthy 45 year old which made the operation take longer than they expected.
Result - ! I knew all that commuting would pay off one day - !
Any advice & guidance would be greatly appreciated lads & lasses.
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