I feel like I’m becoming a bearer of bad news. Quite unfortunately, I was in yet another bike accident just over the weekend on a training ride up Johor Bahru towards Kota Tinggi. The entire route was supposed to be a good 130km or so, but we barely made it 30km before the 3 cyclists collision happened.
The team of 10 lead by Osman were pacing well so we could travel the distance with general ease till we came downhill at a narrow stretch with scattered gravel stones. Jeannie C. hit an uneven cracked ground, flew off balance hitting Val’s back tyre and the 2 girls were flying off their bikes! The drafting pack who followed closely behind were Elaine (who douched off the road shoulder towards the road) and myself; coming in at a short distance. I immediately made an emergency brake skidding down past Elaine on the right and Jeannie C. on the left before finally losing control and hitting the ground. I fell on my left, sliding a distance on the gravel stones with the bike thrown right, a little out of the road shoulder. At the moment of the fall I could literally hear my beloved Catlike helmet scrapping onto the ground. I was thinking, damn… that could have been my left brain spilling out!
A quick spilt second later; I was inching myself up, looked down on my left knee and saw this chunk of flesh (about 1.5 cm wide) dangling out. The bleeding was only about to happen. Then I saw my bike almost in danger of a possible ramp over by some huge vehicle and leaned forward thinking I could pull it inwards; but somehow I just couldn’t pounce forward. Elaine came running towards me and helped me to the side and all I was thinking of was “Get my bike in”!!! Obviously no one, including myself realized how serve the damages were because somehow I wasn’t bleeding as much. Noor who came from the back, armed with all her first aid stuff (Thank God for that!) quickly attended to Jeannie C. who was dripping blood from her left elbow and pale in shock. Elaine helped me clean up all the dust, tiny dirt particles and stones off my wounds… which were actually covering my entire left leg and arm. It was then that I got a better view of the cuts and abrasions and I thought… “I’m definitely scared”! Elaine was extremely assuring, being some kind of qualified first-aider and brought me towards Noor to get bandaged up. Noor slapped on some antiseptic cream and antiseptic plaster and wrapped up the knee. When she saw the deep cut she thought I was gonna cry! Surprisingly it looked worse then it felt.
Val on the other hand fell towards the end of the stretch where the gravels were much less. She had some abrasions on the right arm and later her fingers started to swell a little. Dennis who came behind me also fell, not because he skid or collided, but because he couldn’t dislocate from he’s SPDs! Noor wasn’t sure if she was suppose laugh or cry!
I was very much still able to walk and move all my joints… so I figured my injuries were largely on the surface. We all decided to head to a roadside makan place to rest and assess the damages a couple of meters away. I was checking up on my bike, which was obviously much tougher then I am. Weiwen came running with my Cateye Double Wireless Cycling Computer which flew off upon the impact! Apparently it was lying in the middle of the road and nothing rolled over it! That little piece of equipment is rather pricey to lose.
Jeannie C. who was still in shock decided to walk with Noor barefooted towards the makan place. Apparently, her helmet was cracked and the brakes were not in the best of shape. The group decided to call off the ride since we’re 3 persons down. There was this nice Malaysian uncle with a delivery van who offered to send the 3 injured gals to a bus station where we could find a van taxi to send us all the way back to Singapore. Understanding our condition, those taxi dudes wanted to charge us $40 bucks person. We figured that $120 bucks was a rip off and got the nice uncle to drop us at Danga Bay about 20 mins drive from the JB Causeway where Desmond and Elaine can ride out, bring their cars in and send us back.
Danga Bay was a wonderful bayside area to dump us while the cars came about 2-3 hours later. So 3 hurt ladies got lunch, set in the shade by the waters and talked about a whole lot of stuff. The cars took longer then expected to arrive due to the long weekend jam at the Causeway. When we thought nothing worse could happen, Desmond found he’s right passenger door knocked by some car at the Dang Bay parking lot! A hit and run kindda thing! It was awful.
By the time I got home around 4pm, the GP clinics were all closed, so I bought myself some cream, saline solution and plasters to bandage up after a shower. Then at 6pm, I visited the clinic to check on the wounds and get some antibiotics. By this time there was slight swelling on the left wrist and the GP doctor suggested that I return on Monday to check if an x-ray and stitching was required. When my mom was told of the accident in HK she insisted that I visited the A&E to get a tetanus injection and confirm that stitching wasn’t required. Since I was there, I also got the x-ray which was all positive. By doctor’s advice, I am officially off from cycling to allow the cut on the knee to recover fully. That should be at least a week. Val and Jeannie C. are both okay. No broken bones and should also be riding again in a week’s time. The training rides were really helping me and I’m kinda annoyed that I keep on getting hurt! I started to question if cycling was really for me! But I’m quite sure I will not be giving up on the Bike & Blade Event…
Very grateful for the entire pack and Jeannie L. for paying me a visit to check on the condition. What would I have done without each one of you :)
The team of 10 lead by Osman were pacing well so we could travel the distance with general ease till we came downhill at a narrow stretch with scattered gravel stones. Jeannie C. hit an uneven cracked ground, flew off balance hitting Val’s back tyre and the 2 girls were flying off their bikes! The drafting pack who followed closely behind were Elaine (who douched off the road shoulder towards the road) and myself; coming in at a short distance. I immediately made an emergency brake skidding down past Elaine on the right and Jeannie C. on the left before finally losing control and hitting the ground. I fell on my left, sliding a distance on the gravel stones with the bike thrown right, a little out of the road shoulder. At the moment of the fall I could literally hear my beloved Catlike helmet scrapping onto the ground. I was thinking, damn… that could have been my left brain spilling out!
A quick spilt second later; I was inching myself up, looked down on my left knee and saw this chunk of flesh (about 1.5 cm wide) dangling out. The bleeding was only about to happen. Then I saw my bike almost in danger of a possible ramp over by some huge vehicle and leaned forward thinking I could pull it inwards; but somehow I just couldn’t pounce forward. Elaine came running towards me and helped me to the side and all I was thinking of was “Get my bike in”!!! Obviously no one, including myself realized how serve the damages were because somehow I wasn’t bleeding as much. Noor who came from the back, armed with all her first aid stuff (Thank God for that!) quickly attended to Jeannie C. who was dripping blood from her left elbow and pale in shock. Elaine helped me clean up all the dust, tiny dirt particles and stones off my wounds… which were actually covering my entire left leg and arm. It was then that I got a better view of the cuts and abrasions and I thought… “I’m definitely scared”! Elaine was extremely assuring, being some kind of qualified first-aider and brought me towards Noor to get bandaged up. Noor slapped on some antiseptic cream and antiseptic plaster and wrapped up the knee. When she saw the deep cut she thought I was gonna cry! Surprisingly it looked worse then it felt.
Val on the other hand fell towards the end of the stretch where the gravels were much less. She had some abrasions on the right arm and later her fingers started to swell a little. Dennis who came behind me also fell, not because he skid or collided, but because he couldn’t dislocate from he’s SPDs! Noor wasn’t sure if she was suppose laugh or cry!
I was very much still able to walk and move all my joints… so I figured my injuries were largely on the surface. We all decided to head to a roadside makan place to rest and assess the damages a couple of meters away. I was checking up on my bike, which was obviously much tougher then I am. Weiwen came running with my Cateye Double Wireless Cycling Computer which flew off upon the impact! Apparently it was lying in the middle of the road and nothing rolled over it! That little piece of equipment is rather pricey to lose.
Jeannie C. who was still in shock decided to walk with Noor barefooted towards the makan place. Apparently, her helmet was cracked and the brakes were not in the best of shape. The group decided to call off the ride since we’re 3 persons down. There was this nice Malaysian uncle with a delivery van who offered to send the 3 injured gals to a bus station where we could find a van taxi to send us all the way back to Singapore. Understanding our condition, those taxi dudes wanted to charge us $40 bucks person. We figured that $120 bucks was a rip off and got the nice uncle to drop us at Danga Bay about 20 mins drive from the JB Causeway where Desmond and Elaine can ride out, bring their cars in and send us back.
Danga Bay was a wonderful bayside area to dump us while the cars came about 2-3 hours later. So 3 hurt ladies got lunch, set in the shade by the waters and talked about a whole lot of stuff. The cars took longer then expected to arrive due to the long weekend jam at the Causeway. When we thought nothing worse could happen, Desmond found he’s right passenger door knocked by some car at the Dang Bay parking lot! A hit and run kindda thing! It was awful.
By the time I got home around 4pm, the GP clinics were all closed, so I bought myself some cream, saline solution and plasters to bandage up after a shower. Then at 6pm, I visited the clinic to check on the wounds and get some antibiotics. By this time there was slight swelling on the left wrist and the GP doctor suggested that I return on Monday to check if an x-ray and stitching was required. When my mom was told of the accident in HK she insisted that I visited the A&E to get a tetanus injection and confirm that stitching wasn’t required. Since I was there, I also got the x-ray which was all positive. By doctor’s advice, I am officially off from cycling to allow the cut on the knee to recover fully. That should be at least a week. Val and Jeannie C. are both okay. No broken bones and should also be riding again in a week’s time. The training rides were really helping me and I’m kinda annoyed that I keep on getting hurt! I started to question if cycling was really for me! But I’m quite sure I will not be giving up on the Bike & Blade Event…
Very grateful for the entire pack and Jeannie L. for paying me a visit to check on the condition. What would I have done without each one of you :)
sigh... so accident prone :p...
ReplyDeletedon't forget about the May 15 meeting at FSP