Had my first bike related accident at 16
First bike. 3rd trip.
Summer, dead of night, local country lane, hairpin. Lots of alcohol.
No helmet (legal in those days), sweatshirt, jeans, trainers.
No licence, tax, MOT, insurance
2 stitches to head, 3 to forearm
No third party damage - except a small fence.
Learned a lot from that…lots of accidents since, all bar one, non-fault.
Usually wear textile jacket, trousers, gloves, boots. The same when commuting around the M25. In the summer around town a leather jacket and jeans (& boots & gloves)
Got punted off last year in August by uninsured driver - he didn’t hang around. Roundabout, slip road to M25 - so quite fast.
Wearing textile jacket, trousers, gloves, boots.
Ended up in the debris field between slip road and roundabout median, lots of gravel, broken glass, bits of plastic, carbon fibre etc.
Looked like a porcupine when I got up with all the embedded bits in jacket and trousers. Cut to knee caused by a sliver of glass piercing the textile trouser knee padding. Has worked it way out of knee but was irritating for a week or two. Cut to base of right thumb (and I suspect a chipped bone) caused by right hand switch cluster. Helmet and visor cracked and ground down near left temple on impact and subsequent slide.
Got away with a touch of Dettol and Germolene…
Saw a girl on a scooter in a chiffon dress and stilettoes in town the other day. Looked gorgeous. Like a photo shoot on wheels.
Consoled myself with the fact that not everyone gets punted / falls off.
She cut into my lane from the inside left without looking and I had to brake hard to miss her. Wouldn’t necessarily have been my fault but I’m glad I didn’t run her down.
She had no idea of course and wafted away into the sunset in a zephyr of Chanel No 5…hope she survives.