On the 7th of June, 2023 at about 9 am when cycling south bound along highway 19A in Courtenay BC, I crashed my bike.   (view looking south):



The shoulder went from an aproximate 4 foot shoulder to a 1 foot shoulder in a short Interval.  I was doing at least 40 km/hr and was on the lowest level of my handle bars on which means I was leaning forward.  I also had on a helmet visor which I normally take off when using my touring bike.  Thus I could not see as far ahead as when sitting in a more upright position and with out a visor.  I had also just looked over my left shoulder to see if any car was coming in order to turn to the left to get into the left turn lane.  It was at that point that I hit the curb (see the black arrow in photo) with my front tire and crashed onto the very rough asphalt side walk and slide into the grassy part.  My right knee, right arm, and shoulder took most of the force and I was bleeding quite a bit from these wounds.  I also felt a pain in my back.

I walked my bike (whose handle bar was now twisted at least 45 degrees from a straight tire position) to one of the posts by the U-Haul place and called my wife to come an pick me up with our van.  It was at this point that a stranger in a nice pickup truck stopped and asked if I wanted a ride home.  I believe he saw I was injured.  I was still somewhat in shock and the pain had not yet really set in.  I accepted his kind offer and he put my bike into the back of his pickup and let me climb into his pickup even though my wounds were still oozing blood. I told him he was a Good Samaritan and he told me he was a Realtor from the area.  I asked for his business card so I could thank him later.  His name is Ray Francis.  Since he was so very helpful in my time of need, I would certainly look him up at ROYAL LePage if I ever needed a Realtor in the Comox Valley!

When I got home I washed off the wounds with warm water and figured that I just needed to rest.  My wife and daughter talked me into going into the ER in Courtenay but I was reluctant since I figured it would take about 4 hours to go throught that process.  I finally caved and found out it took about 3 hours.  They did a great job cleaning my wounds and bandaging them.  An orderly asked me if I wanted a Tentanus shot and I told them 'yes' since I believe they actually work, UNLIKE the COVID jabs.  That got a surprised look from him.  They gave me an X-ray and I found out I had one broken rib.  They also prescribed some pain killers for me.  The VERY FIRST two lines of the 3 Page of information on this drug stated: "Tramadol/acetaminnophen has a risk for abuse and addiction, which can lead to overdose and death.   Tramadol/acetaminnophen may also cause severe, possibly fatal, breathing problems.".  That alone made me realize I had to grin and bare it, however this resulted in very little sleep for me.  On a good night I got 4 hours of sleep, on a bad night 2 hours.  Getting a broken rib is not for sisies.  Supposedly this will heal in about 6 weeks, but IMO the painful periods are starting to lessen after about 1 week.  After about 3 weeks my rib appears to have healed although my physical wounds and my right shoulder have still not totally healed.

On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 I took my bike with the 45 degree off center handle bar to Trail Cycles.  I asked someone in the store if they could help me get my bike from my van into the store and possiblity straighten out my handle bar alignment.  One friendly person did that and when I wanted to pay, he said no charge.  I also offered a cash tip but he refused that also.  Unfortunately I forgot to ask fo his name.  So two extremely kind persons helped me out in Courtenay.  I was a visitor to the city staying with my daughter.  I was very blessed to have been helped by these two persons.