Today I had a 80mph bicycle accident. No people were involved.
Our Co-Motion Periscope tandem flew off the trunk-rack as I was going slightly over the speed limit on rt 90. So did my rattly old Trek that was also on the rack, behind (rearwards of) the tandem. I think this is what happens if you drive fast with bike wheels sticking out on both sides into the main airflow beyond the turbulent wake of the car.
I was driving in the left hand lane, westbound on the Mass Pike, just before exit 12 (Rt 9, Framingham). As it happened, I immediately saw the bikes break free in my rear-view mirror. Amazingly there was nobody behind me to receive a face-full of bike. The road was clear enough for me to pull to the right and stop in the shoulder, while the bikes bounced to the left of the left hand lane.
All I could think to do was to call 911 to get someone to clear the road and, with luck, to return the bikes to me. The dispatcher said a state trooper would be out soon, but as I terminated the call I saw a Mass Highways truck pull over near the bikes and two men jumped out and threw them in the back and drove over to me.
Unusually, very few cars had been by in this time, and none of them had hit the bikes.
The Mass Highway guys commiserated, recognizing the beauty of the yellow tandem and its sad condition: the front wheel was pancaked, but no other obvious damage. They left, and I awaited the State Trooper – he showed up in 5 minutes and took my details. He was reasonably friendly and helpful too – he offered me the option of picking the bikes up at a Police depot, but I thought it would be easier to load them back on the car.
I got them loaded up – as I said, a pancaked front wheel on the tandem, and no obvious damage on my Trek (which is about as beaten up as a bike can get already).
Then off to work, and later to Wheelworks to have them lavish some affection on the yellow tandem.
Unloading the bike at wheelworks, I leant it on the car and scratched the door a little. I was more annoyed about this than about the fact that I’d dropped the bike on the highway at 80 mph. What’s wrong with me?
What lessons to learn from this:
- Be more careful putting bikes on the trunk rack
- Strap the bikes to the rack, not just to each other
- If it’s the tandem, don’t let the wheels overhang (remove them, maybe)
- Drive slower
- Maybe I should not be allowed to have nice things
- Figure out what’s important:
- The bike?
- The car?
- The people that weren’t riding the bike when it crashed at 80 mph