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Comment by ax0n | Hacker News Reader

I can't see the whole text, but I've been in a few pretty good crashes. Once (http://is.gd/hZVO2 ) shattering a few teeth and my maxilla after being edged off the road by a motorist. More recently (http://is.gd/hZWdH ) I ran over a moving deer while traveling pretty quickly for a bicycle (~35 MPH before I saw the deer, no clue how slow I got by the time of impact). Both times, the bike helmet spared me quite a bit of damage.

Without submitting to The Paywall Of Doom, I have no idea what happened to this guy, but a good bike crash can be pretty scary.

View on HN

People on HN are always complaining about the NYT paywall but I never see it, are you talking about the "sign up for an account"-wall? The site is still free right, the paywall is going up next year? As I recall, clearing your NYT cookies sometimes lets you through the account signup.

But, I agree, a good crash is definitely one of the scarier things I've experienced, and it sounds like you've had more than your share of "good" ones.

I have to use some kind of euphemism to describe them to convince myself I still like bike commuting. I'm still picking scaly pseudo-scar material from my elbow.

Of particular note: the first big crash was due in part to me being inexperienced, only back on the bike for a few months. I wasn't riding the way I should have been, and I was not prepared for the situation. The second crash happened because I spent too much time scanning the road for cars and road hazards, and not enough time noting my surroundings. A co-worker saw me hit the deer (he was a few cars back) and says he saw it in the field from the top of the hill, before it wandered into the deeper brush that it'd eventually jump out of right in front of me.

Taking some of the blame and acknowledging that both crashes were ultimately avoidable has helped keep me on the bike, and it's sharpened me up a bit while riding.

Paywall of Doom? Registering is free.

Note: if something is being given to you for "free", but you still need to sign up, the product is YOU.

I suppose I could go trawl BugMeNot.com or something, but eeh.

> Note: if something is being given to you for "free", but you still need to sign up, the product is YOU.

Is that inherently bad?

No, I just don't feel like paying that particular price. I lurked on HN for years before I signed up. All the content here is free for the consumption of the world. I really just don't want to have yet another company with my email address and yet another password I have to remember for the two times per year NYT has exclusive content I absolutely have to read.

Scary indeed. Here's an image of my helmet after I crashed in a race a couple years ago. Not fun!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davemabe/5220685015/

Yikes! Mine wasn't nearly that destroyed. How badly was the rest of you hurt? The bike?

I had a concussion but other than that I was pretty much fine. The bike handled it pretty well too - new front wheel, new saddle, and new bar type was pretty much all that was required to replace.

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