2Wheeltips

I'd been on holiday with the family and hadn't ridden my bike for two weeks.  Withdrawal symptoms were setting in and it was a beautiful sunny Sunday so I decided to go for a ride.

I'd been out for most of the morning and into the afternoon when I came into a local town (Basingstoke for those of you who know the area) and saw a bike parked on a roundabout exit.  I thought he might be a guide so I took that exit.  Sure enough, on the next roundabout another bike was parked on an exit.  I took that exit and, in this way, followed the bikes out of town.  Eventually I discovered wher they were all going, a Blue festival in a pub just off the A339 in Hampshire.  I wanted to stay for some music but had to get back so I took the next right and thought I'd get back to town along the back roads.  I'd gone a couple of miles along the road and slowed down to take a blind corner.  It was a 30mph road and when I hit the corner I was doing about 20 - 25mph.  I got round the corner and saw a car on my side of the road comming towards me.  I swerved to avoid the car and braked to slow down even more but my front wheel hit a patch of gravel on the side of the road.  As soon as that happened the front end just slid out from under me.  The bike ended up in a ditch and I slid down the road on my face.  The moron in the car didn't even have the decency to stop and see if he'd killed me.  Result: bike written off and I strained my neck and back.  I'm now looking for a new bike and refovering from my injuries so I'll be out on the road again soon(ish).  If I'd been wearing an open face helmet at the time I would now be in hospital while the surgeons tried to rebuild my face.  I'll never wear an open face helmet, ever.