Rochdale, bounced back up(ish)

[Svendo]

Here's inside the box:

 

[Svendo]

And here's all the goodies; They will never be this lovely and pristine again, it's almost a shame to even unpack the boxes let alone install it!

Even some of the packaging is lovely, the way the boxes slide and open out.

EDIT: This will eventually be hanging off This lovely frame

 

[Svendo]

I am very happy to report that I managed to get out on a bike today for the first time since my crash. Had to ride my old Carrera, which I discovered needs some proper maintenance beyond the occasional squirt of spray grease it'd been getting before sitting in the kitchen gathering dust for 18 months.
I only went for a few miles down the tow path with the dog, but established that everything works OK and is mostly painfree. Front shifts hurt a bit but that's good physio I suppose! Eight weeks off and I can report your bum losses a good bit of it's 'saddle adaptation', and it took a while before the riding position felt natural again.

Tomorrow I'll replace the gear cable and see how I get on doing a 15-20 mile loop round here. Then I'll have an idea how my fitness is.

 

[Crankarm]

I am very happy to report that I managed to get out on a bike today for the first time since my crash. Had to ride my old Carrera, which I discovered needs some proper maintenance beyond the occasional squirt of spray grease it'd been getting before sitting in the kitchen gathering dust for 18 months.
I only went for a few miles down the tow path with the dog, but established that everything works OK and is mostly painfree. Front shifts hurt a bit but that's good physio I suppose! Eight weeks off and I can report your bum losses a good bit of it's 'saddle adaptation', and it took a while before the riding position felt natural again.

Tomorrow I'll replace the gear cable and see how I get on doing a 15-20 mile loop round here. Then I'll have an idea how my fitness is.

You ARE you suing the bstd who knocked you off?

 

[Svendo]

You ARE you suing the bstd who knocked you off?

Oh yes, my union provides free legal services so I don't have to pay the court fee or loose any compensation, which is apparently much more common now following changes to the rules since my last claim when through contingency arrangements, insurance and charging the other side when you won meant it was truly no win no fee to 'walk up' clients. I don't know the ins and outs technically I'm afraid, in 2009 the firm my friend works for could do truly no win no fee and win no fee with 100% of the compensation. Now to use them I'd have to pay a court fee i think, of ~£150 and then 25% of any payout! I think other firms offer better deals but then I'd worry about the quality of my representation.

The driver stopped, rang ambulance, a PCSO heard the crash and looked up, proper plod arrived shortly after and took all the details and said the circumstances were clear and he'd recommend careless driving. Good man. Jim, an off duty fire fighter (with an MTB in the back of his van but I'll forgive him that) pulled up and did some proper first aid initial assesment, checking neck for pain (was none) as I was insisting on sitting with my knees up as that hurt least. He also got me a fleece and blanket and chatted about this an that til the ambulance showed up. Had to lift me onto the blanket under my shoulders as my wrists were clearly fubarred. I am very grateful to him. The PCSO, bless him, was quite young and flapping a bit as it was all at the extreme end of what he's trained for. There were some others around offering help, so I asked someone to get my Garmin and put it in my backpack. I forgot to mention that it twists off so when a few days later I looked through my stuff I found he'd removed the whole mount as well!

Claim should be straight forward, drivers statement at the scene will preclude him arguing that he was already 'established' across my carriageway, looking for a gap on the other side and I just rode into him. I also had a red top on, was within the speed limit (just!) in so far as it applies, and was wearing a helmet, so don't anticipate any attempt to claim contributory negligence on my part. I can also expain why I didn't go round his rear, which as an occasional sailor I'm aware is the preferred option, as I'd have crashed into other vehicles waiting to turn out of the junction.

I'm hoping for enough to pay for the new bike, my incurred costs, and a good meal out. Apparently a broken wrist is ~£3000. The payout for the broken bike is always disappointing, as it's the replacement value and that can be often a lot less that what the original owner thinks it is.

 

[ColinJ]

Yikes! I have arrived here via your post in 'Your Ride Today'. I was wondering how I missed this thread, but then I see it is in 'Cyclist Down' which I filter out because reading reports here make me too angry and depressed!

Anyway, I'm glad that your injuries weren't even worse and that the culprit is being dealt with.

If you fancy a ride with another battered local cyclist, then watch out for my Bowland forum ride which I hope to squeeze in before 'Season of Mists'. (My battering was the internal type!)

I'm sure that you will soon get your fitness back.

 

[Svendo]

Hi Colin, hope you're getting fitter and feeling good. I have been keeping an eye out on your threads. Season of Mists is a going to be a really hard ride, I don't think I'll be zooming off up Heptonstall hill this time! I'll be back to commuting by bike this week so will hopefully improve. I might even start doing some structured training, eeek!

 

[Saluki]

Only just caught up with this. We both really hope that you are on the mend now. Don't take the first offer for your bike, or your wrist. Have you started any physio yet?

 

[Svendo]

Yep, went straight down to the Physio dept the day the cast came off and had a follow up with the option of returning if necessary for 6 weeks. I had nearly full range of motion and I'm strengthening fine. Main pain now is when twisting my arm and wrist or just supporting a lot of weight, and that's similar for both wrists at the moment. I tried a pull up the other day which hurt both wrists for a bit but made my shoulder ache all day! I'm definitely going to make a fuss about my shoulder at my final follow up with the Orthopaedic Consultant, as he said he'll scan it if it's not healed.