Let's face the facts cyclists: We are not invincible! I often see bikers taking unneccessary risks doing things a motor vehiclaist would never do; mainly because the things these dangerous bikers are doing is illegal. I guess I'll be more careful from now on; for the first time in my life I had what could have potientally been a bad bike accident. The accident I had did not involve a car, but it could have. I have been ignoring the fact for about a week that I need to do some basic mantanence on my bike; specifically, my front breaks keep coming loose and instead of buying the bolt I need to hold them in place, instead I just kept shoving them back in place at each stoplight or stopsign. I knew sooner or later that is could be a problem; however I continued to ride around town. Last night I had a few beers with a friend and then started biking home a little tipsy, not really thinking about my faulty breaks. Needless to say, I slammed my breaks on without thinking and ended up diving headfirst into the pavement. I'm really glad I was wearing my Pryme helmet, or I probably would have been scalped and would have most likely suffered a worse concussion then I did. As it was, I ended up breaking a tooth, busting my lip all up, scrapping lots of skin off of both hands and getting a mild concussion. I ended up in the emergency room, waiting two hours for a cat-scan (I wasn't the only cycilist brought in that night, by the way, the woman right behind me had just been hit by a car, an all-too common occurance here in Portland.) So I guess what I'm trying to say is; better to be safe then be sorry! Keep your bike maintained, wear a helmet, follow the rules, when biking at night please use lights and reflectors...people get killed all the time here in Portland because of wreakless behavior; I know that biking makes you feel like an innocent kid again, and you get that same sort of invincible high you had as a kid riding down the steepest hill in your neiborhood, but please, please remember that cycalists can and do get killed on a regular basis! It is our shared responsibility, no matter how you choose to travel, to be AWARE of those on the road around you; especially of people backing out of driveways or coming out of parking garages...
Be safe out there fellow cycalists,
Sycamore Fitch
