A guy from
Munich pulls out of a private driveway at Wartaweil, crossing the infamous bi-directional
cyclepath next to the road. I saw him, pulled the brakes, could see he was not
even looking at me but it was too late and I crashed into his right front
mudguard.
 |
I approached from right
|
As I managed to pull the bike on right and skidded sidewards, I hit
the ridge between bonnet and mudguard with my left femur, knee, and thigh. The
driver was caring, accepted he was at fault called an ambulance and police. After
a while on the ground, full of pain, I was able to get up, femur hurting but I
was able to stand. After 20mins wait for either ambulance and police, we decided
to call them off and he would give me a lift home. Later on, I went to the hospital
for an x-ray and the result was a suspected hairline fracture in my left femur.
 |
huge hematoma behind the knee
|
Only an additional MRI scan the next day revealed it was a false alarm. I also went
to the local police, branch to register the accident and got the bike damage
assessed by the local specialized dealer who basically announced it to be a
write-off.
Front Carbon Wheel broke in three places, the Bottom bracket was totally
shredded and the frame likely to be internally fractured. I was able to fix the
bike with spares I had in stock and one my first ride 2 weeks later, I realized
the frame was damaged indeed, it had lost bottom bracket stiffness and behaved
like jelly, when getting out of the saddle for sprinting or climbing and when descending
at more than 45km/h. My good S-Works Tarmac
SL5 gone, it hadn’t even been in service for 5 years, was still as good as new
and with a lifetime warranty, but now it was worth nothing, as accident damages
are excluded from the warranty. I have taken a solicitor to file my damages claim
with the insurance company of the driver, but for 3 months nothing has
happened.
https://www.strava.com/activities/3635101676
