"Look at me... c'mon... look at me." Nope.
I was going at a good clip as I approached the intersection on my Cannondale Prophet with Lefty front shock. It was my ultimate fly fishing mountain bike. Matte black bike - the Cannondale "Prophet", with a cool, custom front shock system called the "Lefty". What else could a guy want in a mountain bike to fly fish from? It had a few excellent rides into Fortress Lake.
So as I came to the intersection, hands covering the brakes, waiting for the fella driving the dual trailer gravel truck, the Border Paving truck... as I waited to see his eyes, I knew my fate. I was coming in green, he was turning right on the red. I was in a Bike Route Zone. He was a big ass truck. And as I came in, hands covering the brakes, not seeing him turn to see his eyes, I pulled as hard as I could. No use, but I avoided the front of his truck to get run over. His truck lurched into the intersection. I skidded right into his front fender and tire. As I hit, I was able to bounce off the bike. The unmistakable sound of crunching metal under his tire. It could have been me. Lefty, my Prophet, is dead.
Amelia was right on my tail. I don't know how she avoided slamming into me and the truck. But to think she got to watch me get run over by the trucker running the red. Had things not turned out so well, she'd have had front row seats for the event. This was our first ride on that route, we usually bike the river valley trails. I think I know where we're riding once Border Paving replaces my bike.
The thing is the driver made a mistake. Witnesses confirm we had the full green. I'm stiff tonight, muscles a little ripped from pulling up to avoid the mess and the impact of me on the truck. But do you report this incident? He made an error. To report it is to cause him an incident. It's his career, his livelihood. I'm relatively ok. At worst, a few muscles hurt. Bikes can be replaced. I don't want to see this go on his record. It's something that could happen to anyone, especially the way the city forces cyclists to use a sidewalk on one side of the road along that route, thus putting us in a place where drivers needs multiple double checks for cyclists and pedestrians. No excuses for him not doing that, but it could happen to me or anyone else driving.
But, alas, it won't help my Prophet nor the Lefty shock. Can I find a new one? We'll see. Again, it could have been waaaay worse for the rider than the bike. If I hadn't been able to bounce off the bike as it went under the truck, yeesh. I think I went from my pedals to the step on his passenger door.
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