Hi Airbrake hope you get better quickly, but.
How come you are involved in so many crashes near misses etc, where are you riding??
We all know riding anything on 2 wheels is dangerous , but if i had that many incidents i would park the bike up for good.
Thanks Big boy.
I've given this a lot of thought, and it's partly the mileage that I have done since '96. I've now done around 200,000 miles. Risk increases in proportion to time spent on the roads. I don't have a car - I travel everywhere by bike, and I predominantly ride in urban areas where (particularly over the last few years) there has been additional roundabouts and junctions built to service new build estates.
Prior to this incident, I have been knocked off the bike once at low speed (driver went through a red light talking on his mobile). This happened at around 90,000 miles. But... the number of near misses I would guess must be around a 100 or so. I have skidded, swerved, jumped onto pavements, and all the usual escape tactics. Sometimes, drivers just don't realise that a cycle can actually shift pretty quick, and they have totally misjudged the situation. The ice crash was my own fault of course...
However, what else can I do ?? I love cycling. There is an element of risk to many rewarding things in life, all we can do is try to learn from our experiences and those of others.
The driver running the red light obviously could have caused serious injuries - I was very very lucky with just ripped clothing and a wheel needing truing. So...is 2 bad outcomes in 200,000 miles a good accident / mileage ratio ? Compared to miles traveled by car I suppose it isn't, but I don't want to drive a car
Btw, I ride in South Yorkshire / Derbyshire