Planning: Itinerary (Update)
I will depart for my 4000-mile solo bike trip on Tuesday, May 28th, exactly eight weeks from today. I've chosen this date in order to arrive in Washington, DC, in time to visit friends before they leave town. I like the fact that my departure will be three years to the day since the start of the three-day trip I took in 2016 which was my first multi-day trip in more than 40 years. I wrote about that trip, to and from West Point, in How I decided to ride 4000 miles next summer.
I will begin my 4000-mile trip by taking the ferry across the Hudson and then riding to Newark, rather than taking a PATH train to Newark. When I wrote The start of my 4000-mile trip: Getting to Newark (Update II), I wasn't sure how I would begin my journey, but the beauty of the ferry ride across the Hudson outweighs the unpleasantness of riding some sections of the sidewalks crossing the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers. You can find my route from home to Newark here.
Last week, Monday the 25th, I again rode from Chelsea to Newark to refine the beginning of the route I will take. The picture below, from Google street view, shows what I saw as I was riding westbound on Raymond Boulevard in Newark, except that the left-turn lane was empty. After looking back and seeing that there were no vehicles approaching at a close distance, I moved from the right lane into the left-turn lane so that I could bear left onto Market Street.
Unfortunately I did not see that the white stripe to the right of the left-turn lane consists of one portion that is painted on the pavement and another portion that is painted on a concrete barrier that is raised a few inches. I crashed as I hit the barrier.
Fortunately I broke no bones and had only a slight bump to my head (I was wearing my helmet), but I bruised my left arm from my wrist to my elbow pretty badly. I also bruised my left shoulder, as well as my left grand trochanter, my left thigh just below the grand trochanter, and my left ankle. A driver who had seen me crash pulled into the turn lane to check on me and to protect me from traffic. A cop pulled up and said that an ambulance was on the way. I never felt dizzy or nauseous and was never unconscious or experienced visual abnormalities, so I spoke with the EMTs but declined to be taken to a hospital. After resting for some time I walked the short distance to the PATH train and took it back to Christopher Street from where I rode home. I was unable to use my left hand to fully apply the front brake and was unable to bear much weight through my left arm, so I rode slowly.
The handlebar was bent on its left side and will be replaced by one I found on eBay. There was a small amount of scraping on the left pedal and the right brake lever which was slightly rotated on the handlebar, and the buckle on my left shoe was destroyed. My Bluetooth earpiece felt out of my ear but was not damaged. My phone stayed in its Quad Lock case attached to my handlebar with the Quad Lock Out Front mount.
The picture below, taken from the RideWithGPS record of my ride, shows a bird's-eye view of my path. I would have avoided the crash if I had entered the turn lane about 13 feet sooner.
I have reported my crash to three agencies in the Newark government and urged the removal of that hazardous barrier or the installation of bollards on it.
I have felt better and better each day and have slept fairly well since the crash. I have not done any icing of my injuries but have instead followed the BE CALM protocol. I didn't ride at all in the three days following the crash but resumed riding on the fourth day. I'm still bruised and am guessing that it will be another week or so until I have fully recovered.
My crash is obviously bad news, but it's also good news. Can you guess what the good news is? The good news is that I now know where the hazardous barrier is and so I will not crash into it on the first day of my 4000-mile solo bike trip this summer.
I will begin my 4000-mile trip by taking the ferry across the Hudson and then riding to Newark, rather than taking a PATH train to Newark. When I wrote The start of my 4000-mile trip: Getting to Newark (Update II), I wasn't sure how I would begin my journey, but the beauty of the ferry ride across the Hudson outweighs the unpleasantness of riding some sections of the sidewalks crossing the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers. You can find my route from home to Newark here.
Last week, Monday the 25th, I again rode from Chelsea to Newark to refine the beginning of the route I will take. The picture below, from Google street view, shows what I saw as I was riding westbound on Raymond Boulevard in Newark, except that the left-turn lane was empty. After looking back and seeing that there were no vehicles approaching at a close distance, I moved from the right lane into the left-turn lane so that I could bear left onto Market Street.
Unfortunately I did not see that the white stripe to the right of the left-turn lane consists of one portion that is painted on the pavement and another portion that is painted on a concrete barrier that is raised a few inches. I crashed as I hit the barrier.
Fortunately I broke no bones and had only a slight bump to my head (I was wearing my helmet), but I bruised my left arm from my wrist to my elbow pretty badly. I also bruised my left shoulder, as well as my left grand trochanter, my left thigh just below the grand trochanter, and my left ankle. A driver who had seen me crash pulled into the turn lane to check on me and to protect me from traffic. A cop pulled up and said that an ambulance was on the way. I never felt dizzy or nauseous and was never unconscious or experienced visual abnormalities, so I spoke with the EMTs but declined to be taken to a hospital. After resting for some time I walked the short distance to the PATH train and took it back to Christopher Street from where I rode home. I was unable to use my left hand to fully apply the front brake and was unable to bear much weight through my left arm, so I rode slowly.
The handlebar was bent on its left side and will be replaced by one I found on eBay. There was a small amount of scraping on the left pedal and the right brake lever which was slightly rotated on the handlebar, and the buckle on my left shoe was destroyed. My Bluetooth earpiece felt out of my ear but was not damaged. My phone stayed in its Quad Lock case attached to my handlebar with the Quad Lock Out Front mount.
The picture below, taken from the RideWithGPS record of my ride, shows a bird's-eye view of my path. I would have avoided the crash if I had entered the turn lane about 13 feet sooner.
I have reported my crash to three agencies in the Newark government and urged the removal of that hazardous barrier or the installation of bollards on it.
I have felt better and better each day and have slept fairly well since the crash. I have not done any icing of my injuries but have instead followed the BE CALM protocol. I didn't ride at all in the three days following the crash but resumed riding on the fourth day. I'm still bruised and am guessing that it will be another week or so until I have fully recovered.
My crash is obviously bad news, but it's also good news. Can you guess what the good news is? The good news is that I now know where the hazardous barrier is and so I will not crash into it on the first day of my 4000-mile solo bike trip this summer.
Comments
Post a Comment