What motivates you?
For me the answer to that question has changed as I’ve gotten older and had more responsibilities added to my life. The two biggest motivators for me are my wife & son. When I got into cycling, neither was in my life and would not be for another 3 and 5 years done the road. At the beginning cycling was about fun, it was a stress relief and a way to escape the shithole that was my life at that time.
Later and to this day, cycling became a way to manage my cholesterol. To date I’ve never been put on any sort of medication, my doctor trusted that cycling would with changes to my diet, take care of things and it has. How the determination of my high cholesterol came about is a tale for another time. I will provide a tantalizing hint and that hint? Hydraulics.
Since 9 July of this year, I’ve had another motivator constantly rattling around inside my head. On that day we (as in the wife, son & I) were headed to a cookout. I on my bike and they coming along a little while later in the car. Whenever I get the chance, I always ride to family gatherings or events, so long as there is a place I can change and wifey can meet me there.
The day was beautiful and because the house we were visiting had a pool, I was looking forward to a refreshing swim after the ride. I’d passed many small ponds on my way, which only served to make my potential swim that much more enticing. However, the swim and cookout weren’t to be part of my agenda that afternoon.
I came upon an intersection in East Concord, NH, one that I’d ridden through on at least a half dozen occasions with a local cycling club. That day I was alone, descending a hill at speed (30mph) and took to the center of the travel lane to make myself more visible to the cars entering and exiting the intersection.
NOTE: Because I was traveling at the posted speed limit, I was/ am able to take the lane by law.
As a cyclist you develop an almost uncanny ability to know which vehicles will try and sneak out in front of you and which will wait for you to pass by. The car that pulled out in front of me was a case of the former. Except for one small detail, the driver did not look or if she did it was such a fleeting glimpse that did not allow her to see the guy bedecked in red, white & blue with flashes of yellow on his helmet. How pray tell do I know this and state this so matter of factly? She never made eye contact with me. Even wearing sunglasses I can stare down motorists and give them a shake of the head to indicate, nope bad idea, I am going much faster than you think I am.
Like many I am prone to profanity at times and as you’d imagine this was one of those times. Except I only unleashed a brief torrent in the seconds I had available to brake. You see, the motorist in question pulled out in front of me with less than a foot between us. How exactly she did not see me is something only she could attest to, and possibly only under cross examination; but I digress.
Now physics was never one of my strong suits. Coasting to pass does not begin to describe my high school physics experience. But I do know that nothing nor no one but the Flash or Superman could have stopped so short, so suddenly.
The sprinter Mark Cavendish says he can remember every minute detail of his victories as though time slows for him. That was the case with me, I remember yelling at her. I remember her reaction and face when she saw me (all too late of course). I remember thinking what would become of my wife & son. I remember hitting the car. I remember the sound of my bike impacting the rear of her car. I remember thinking this is going to hurt. I remember being thrown up and over the trunk. I remember hitting the pavement. I remember my head bouncing off the pavement. I remember rolling and coming to rest on my hands and knees. I remember seeing my bike, lying in the middle of the road, the front wheel not where it should be and knowing it was gone.
The only thing I can’t recall? How my left knee was gashed open. Most likely my knee struck the end of my drop bar, but at this point who knows.
The next 10 minutes or so were a blur, between people coming to check on me, EMTs, the police and having to call wifey. I soon found myself packed into the back of an ambulance. All the time I sat on the ground assessing my body for damage, the driver a young girl stood off to the side visibly upset – as she ought to have been.
I was lucky that I walked out of the ER that day. I was lucky that the driver was cited for failing to yield. I was lucky that the officers who responded understood what had happened and that cyclists have rights too. I was lucky that she has motor vehicle insurance as it is not mandatory in NH. I was lucky that her insurance company came to its senses when they saw my wrecked bike and realized they got lucky that I was not still in hospital so they paid me the full value of my bike. Later they would value my life at less than what my bike was worth. Could I have fought them for more money? Sure, but I wasn’t after a payday and just wanted it all behind me. However it does amaze me that they’d value property more than life.
A few days after the accident we went & got the police report. The officer at the scene had come to the ER to check on me and followed up with a call the day after. From those conversations I knew that they were citing the driver and I was the victim. She had failed to yield to an oncoming vehicle – me. However the statements given by the driver and her boyfriend got me riled up. As one would expect they lied, blatantly outright lied and tried to put the blame squarely on my shoulders.
In fact the boyfriend had the gall to be upset that I did not talk to them while I sat there bleeding, my finger swelling and utterly dejected at the thought of losing my bike. You see often in situations like this, just as with cars insurance companies won’t pay out the full value of bicycles. And anyone that knows me well knows my bike had been built up overtime and was an expensive piece of gear. In fact I'd hazard a guess that the wheelset on that bike i.e. the front & rear wheel cost more than her car was worth. That this ignoramus wondered why I did not speak to him or his gal pal is fuckin’ unbelievable.
Their attitude is what motivates me now along with my walking out of that hospital that afternoon. I was lucky and feel an obligation to do something to educate the masses regarding the value of life. A bicycle is not just a child’s toy. A bicycle can be a high performance mode of transport from a to b. A bicycle can be a form of therapy, a form of medication, a thrill ride. A bicycle is about absolute joy and sheer pleasure. And above all else a bicycle is a celebration of life.
