Hit by car but stayed on the bike

I was heading up Walworth road the other night, in the dark but not the rain, hell bent on beating my other half to Farringdon - she was on the train and I make it a personal mission to never be beaten by public transport.

In front of me a silver golf indicates left and then pulls into a parking space. No problem, I think and pull round it on the right hand side. But, the idiot wasn't actually parking, he was doing a U turn in the road and using the parking space to give himself some more room. Without indicating right. Nice.

So, as I am drawing alongside him he pulls out to the right. I swerve hard and decide not to brake as I want to get past him. I don't quite make it and am hit on the pedal by the front right corner of his bonnet / bumper. The bike jumps all over the place, I shit a brick but somehow manage to stay upright and pedalling. I suppose my bike handling skills must be getting better...

He doesn't stop or get out of his car until I cycle back to him and start looking ominously at his bumper, which is now covered in scratches and dents. Whilst I am checking that my bike is OK (in front of his car so he can't drive off), which it is, he gets out and gives me the usual "I didn't see you." line. I cheerfully informed him that his bumper needs replacing and cycle off, feeling pretty smug and fucking lucky.

It fair shook me up, but I still beat Tori to Farringdon :-)

(By the way, "I didn't see you." is such a stupid thing to say. If he had seen me then I hope he wouldn't have driven his car into me!)

Glad you're OK man. Good skills

just read on multiplegearedcarsforum.com...

there was a car down.... mashton... start feeling bad.

OMG, what have I done? I should have called the RAC and waited to see if the little bumper was OK.

lucky matt, well done.

OMG, what have I done? I should have called the RAC and waited to see if the little bumper was OK.

AA more like it..... hic........ hic....rrra rah rah i lavvvv youo!...hic!?&@!

Walworth Road != safe riding. :-)

Glad to hear you're okay Matt. Loving the mad skillz.

"I didn't see you" = I didn't look.

Toodle pip

watch out kids...glad to hear a story with a happy ending :)

I didn't see you = I'm too pathetic to even admit that I lack the basic concentration skills to control a motor vehicle but am worried what everyone will think of me if I do the decent thing and stop driving.

i want to see you down trickyDix tuesday showing the newbs how to pull this one off.. i hear they practice at a car park.. you'll be spoiled for choice.

on a side note. if that was on of those pathetic 4x4s it would have been a completely different story. Golfs have very soft bumpers

That was the same move that got me in '07.. though I handled it with much less grace.. can you say "Superman"? :)

Mind you, the number of emergency stops and turns and shit I've completed successfully more than makes up for a bingle or two per year.

well done for not grabbing a handful of F/B, glad your ok matt.

He learned his lesson from the Ped of Doom incident last time :)

"I didn't see you" = "It wasn't a deliberate/malicious maneouvre"

It's not such a weird thing to say when you're in shock, have made a mistake, but don't want be seen as some vindictive anti-cycling maniac.

It was the first thing that popped into my head last week when I accelerated to get across Roseberry Ave (away from a cab that had been intimidating me from behind), and failed to notice (until the last minute) a bike coming the other way with a dim LED.

Glad you were unscathed, Matt.

Nice work man!

Yeah SMIDSY - then burst into tears

"I didn't see you" = I didn't look.

Toodle pip

that pretty much sum it up!

I managed to avoid getting knocked fully over today as i was JRA and some penis in a car turned into the road alongside me and proceeded to pull towards the kurb until it was running on the double yellows. I mounted pavement and shouted expletives.

Man i wish i had damaged that guy's bumper. No smug feeling of satisfaction for me (grumbles)

this happened to me a while ago - jump off, get the wheels against the kerb and push the bars out towards the car. If you're lucky the outside pedal will be on the upstroke and he'll put a nice groove in his door by riding in to you.

this happened to me a while ago - jump off, get the wheels against the kerb and push the bars out towards the car. If you're lucky the outside pedal will be on the upstroke and he'll put a nice groove in his door by riding in to you.

good shout. if he's driving close enough to get hit by any part of my bike with the tyres against the pavement he's too bloody close

I was heading up Walworth road the other night . . . . .

Good that you didn't get killed, some good fast thinking and fine car evading skills in action.

Personally I would have dropped my kit and sprayed his bonnet.

Wac

Walworth Road != safe riding. :-)

Glad to hear you're okay Matt. Loving the mad skillz.

I have to ride it everyday. If it's not the fumes at rush hour, crazy pedestrians, or blind and deaf motorists that get you. The Ridiculous bumps, craters and pot holes probably will!