[Archaea]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

Newbie to biking in general and totally new to commuting. She was coming down the steep section of our local bike path. I don't know the grade, but it's decently steep. Anyway, I was climbing up and just missed her crash but I found her dazed, sitting up with a weird smile on her face. Her left eye was swelling rapidly and she had major road rash over the side of her face, both arms and legs. She was not wearing a helmet. I gathered all of her belongings for her and by the time I was done with that another person had arrived to help. The crash victim was alert and oriented and she walked up the hill with us to the second responer's vehicle for a ride home. On the way up the hill I said, " I don't want to sound preachy, but you're lucky you're doing as well as you are. You really need to get a helmet." She said, "oh, if I'd have been wearing a helmet it would have strangled me." This poor girl just didn't get it.

She also mentioned that she wasn't in any pain. I told her it was because of the adrenaline and that very soon she'd be hurting. I told her she needed to see a doctor but she said she didn't have the money. I made her promise that she'd tell her roommates to watch her tonight and make sure that if she's vomiting or has changes in behavior to get her to the ER. She said "it's a good thing my friend just gave me some Vicky." I didn't realize that she meant Vicodin until I was halfway home.

Yes folks, the roads will soon be packed with cyclists like the girl in this story. Forced to ride by skyrocketing prices but riding around with no sense of safety and zero bike handling skills. I asked her what happened and she said the bike just got going too fast. I'm guessing she slammed on the front brake.

Turned over on the tri bike. Was riding over the dirt to get to a road. Bad idea on a dirt on a tri bike.