(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Back on the Bicycle [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-15 Settlement and repair Last October, Busta and I were on the bicycle and trailer making our way to a week long outing when we were hit by a vehicle. It took a while for insurance to settle. I didn’t consult any lawyers. There were no calls to the 666 6666 injury firm plastered all over billboards and commercials. I took the driver’s insurance 90% liability offer, and paid 10% out of pocket, because I was on the left shoulder, the safe place to ride on that stretch. They paid for 90% of my emergency room visit, trailer replacement, and bicycle repair, along with $1000 for trauma therapy. Those processes finished by around March. Then, I focused on repairs and rebuilding the rig. The trailer is easy to build, though care must be taken to balance the weight distribution. The whole set up is basically a Surly flatbed trailer with plastic shelving and a dog cage attached with zip ties. I can take it apart and put it back together in a few hours. The trailer can tip backwards on inclines, especially with Busta on board. To prevent that, we put the dog cage forward, and heavy things, like the solar battery, are placed in front of the wheels. I’ve also increased the height a few inches since starting, so we are riding high, which came into play almost right away, as you’ll see. I knew it would be hard to start, and took my time to make sure everything was ready. Fear had to be dealt with too, as I kept finding little things to check, recheck, pack and repack. Get out of town The worst parts of this ride are the first and last miles. Soon, the Great Rivers Greenway will connect St Louis to the Katy Trail through several suburbs. Then, I’ll just have to deal with Olive Boulevard for short incursions. On this trip, we rode Olive again. We did not ride 5 mph in a traffic lane on this busy 40 mph stroad. We weren’t going to take the whole lane, and the outer edge is filled with cracks, grates, gravel, glass and other garbage. We mostly rode on the sidewalk. Sidewalks on Olive, like may stroads, are difficult to navigate. There are all sorts of obstructions, inclines, curves, curbs, cars, and cracks to deal with. The few who venture onto these suburban sidewalks do what we can to travel safely and accommodate others who are walking or rolling outside of vehicles. On this day, it was five miles of constant challenges with vehicles, intersections, curbs, poles, and now long stretches of much needed sidewalk construction. Two miles in, I didn’t pay enough attention to a curve on the sidewalk. The trailer tipped over on a sidewalk with no buffer to the stroad. On a car-free trail, tipping over is a pain, but readily dealt with, while on a busy stroad, vehicles can make it deadly. I tipped over with the trailer and went over the curb as Busta fell onto the sidewalk. I ended up about 3 feet into the road, just over the white line marking the gutter. Fortunately, the nearest cars saw us, slowed and crept by, as I jumped up and hurried to get away from the curb. Tipping broke one of the rings holding the trailer to the rear bicycle axle. I fixed it with a spare ring I had on hand, and thanked the bicycle for not breaking more. We were two miles from home and could have called for a ride to the trail or home to quit this crazy journey. My caring spouse had been offering rides to the trail that I declined based on the principle that we, and everybody else in wheelchairs, walking, bicycling, or scootering deserve to be as safe on travel routes as anybody else. My preparation paid off in being able to make this repair on the road. Yet, as much as I had planned and prepared, I still hadn’t put enough weight on the bottom of the trailer to prevent tipping. After the repair, I moved a few things like tools from my bag to the trailer. With more bottom weight and wariness, we made that our last tip over on this trip. We continued down Olive. It was just as challenging and scary as expected for this section of ride on a busy stroad. With constant, diligent attention, we made it without further incident to ourselves. Others were not as fortunate on this date. As commonly happens on this stroad, not all made it through unscathed. About a half mile from turning off Olive, we came upon a vehicle accident. We were not responsible or involved in any way. It was all car drivers, like usual. I stopped briefly for a picture, and we continued on down the right sidewalk and shoulder. We didn’t do it. It was like that when we got here. Minutes later, we turned off of Olive and were close to vehicle free trails. We survived the stroad on this trip, and made it to the Katy Trail. Yes! Coming next, riding the trail was not without trevails, as will be posted in an upcoming report on how the first days were the hardest days. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/15/2244116/-Back-on-the-Bicycle?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/