Ack, I'm gonna die!

I took my bike into the shop yesterday for her post-accident check-up. They kept her over the weekend for observation. Prognosis: rear disc is bent, rear derailleur guard is bent, and rear chain ring is out of alignment [may need to be replaced]. They won't even let me hold her handlebar during surgery. I've attached a stock photo so that you can keep her in your mind while she's in our prayers. Her name is Amy.

Not long after this accident occurred, I received the following in my email from a biker newsletter. Check out the stats, not only was I statistically headed toward an accident, I'm in the state most likely to kill me from it. Fortunately, I'm not 38.7 years old so that works to my advantage and I don't drink while I'm biking, only at work.

On the Downside [copied from distro]

In 1896 in New York City, a motor vehicle collided with a bicycle rider -- the first reported automobile crash of any type in the U.S. Since 1932 when statistics began being kept, more than 49,000 U.S. cyclists have died in traffic accidents.

Normally RBR tries to keep the cycling experience positive. But it's also important to understand our sport's risks and ride in ways that minimize them.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has just released its bicycle safety statistics for 2004. It reports 725 cycling-related deaths in traffic accidents and 41,000 injuries. Among the fatalities, 87% were male.

Cyclist fatalities occurred more frequently in urban areas (66%), at non-intersection locations (67%), between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. (30%), and during June, July and August (36%).

The average age of bike riders killed was 38.7 (10 years older then the average in 1994, the height of the mountain bike boom). About 20% of those killed were between 5 and 15.

Florida is the most dangerous place to ride, followed by Nevada, Hawaii, Washington, DC, and South Carolina. No cyclists died in traffic accidents in Rhode Island and Wyoming in 2004. Alcohol -- either inside the driver or rider -- was involved in more than one third of the accidents that killed cyclists.

The full government report is at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/ncsa/TSF2004/809912.pdf