I ran into another biker on the bike path just a few minutes after leaving my work. We were both looking off into the field/deserted parking lot. It sounded like a girl was screaming and I was trying to figure out what was going on. The other biker, a middle-aged man with a thick mustache and NO helmet, was looking off to his left and probably wondering the same thing.
I saw him coming right at me (in my lane) and yelled out WHOA!! But it was like he was in slow motion. He basically never reacted and smashed right into me. Now, I suppose I should have tried to avoid him too. But my reaction when someone comes at me is always to veer to the right. Which is what I did. But he was basically coming straight at me, coming around a curve to his right (my left)... I think if I hadn't been there he would have run right off the bike path.
We were both going at a decent speed, but not so fast that either of us flipped. We both just fell backwards after the impact. I ended up with a few scrapes along the backs of my legs, on my ass and on my shoulder blades. He got up right away and apologized, saying he wasn't looking, he was distracted, etc. Can't really blame him for that. Even if he was completely in my lane -- I should have moved more quickly to avoid him instead of just yelling and waiting for him to react.
Anyway. It could have been worse. He asked me if I was ok, and I was surprised to realize how badly I was shaking when I got up. But really, I managed to get my chain back on and my bike is fine other than a few scrapes on the frame and one broken gear shifter. It could have been much worse.
*I guess it's not technically my first accident if you count the time someone came barreling around a (blind) corner and flipped right over my front wheel. I didn't even move that time, didn't even have a scratch. The other guy walked away, but he must have been pretty sore the next day. That was scary too, but not as scary as tonight.
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