London Fixed-gear and Single-speed SJS Cycles

twooo you should go out and buy a lottery ticket, you're one lucky bastard!

cheers guys. giot a bikefor sale, dubious frame structure, and slightly ou of line deep Vs, but the new york 3000 is in perfect nick....

Holy shit man, that sounds very, very scary.

Let me know if you need anything!

Hope you heal up soon.

thats pretty much exectly hoe it happened,yeah.

just glad to hear you're more or less okay - heal up soon mate.

Bad luck - good luck - get well soon.

This "colliding with trucks" behaviour is not working out is it?

Jeez, I wondered what the cops were doing there the other day, get well soon.

thank god you are OK!

spoke to one of the coppers at the scene. i said 'Is he OK'? and he said 'No, but he'll be alright ... Ride safe, sir"

Wow! Sorry to hear about the accident, glad you seem to be coming through it alright! Hope to see you at an event soon so you can get the obligatory free-beer-fest.

Get well soon mate. After seeing the size of that truck I can't believe it only broke your toe!

Wow!! it's great that you are relatively unscathed twoo...
HOpe you are well again soon.

Get well man. You're still with us that's the main thing.
This truck situation has to be seriously looked at.
Are the LCC looking into these serious issues?
Anyone know?

Fortunately, we are all members of this forum and bring the issues to light.
There's a lot to be learnt here.
What I worry about is new/young cyclists who are not aware.
A friend of my girlfriend had the same thing happen at Old St 5 years ago and had the muscles torn away on her leg! She's fine now but won't ride a bike.

Discussions on forums and at bicycle meetings aren't enough.
Boris rides...shall we send a signed petition?
They should put signs up at dangerous corners or do an ad campaign on bus shelters etc.
I hate street furniture but am worried this continues to happen...

Buffalo Bill is off on courier holiday in Canada or somewhere but he does a lot of advocacy about this issue.

Check out some of the stuff he's written on movingtargetzine.com

There is stuff happening on the policy side but what you have to remember is that the important thing is to have a policy that works, not just to have one for the sake of having one.

If you fancy doing something about it, perhaps starting up a thread to canvass ideas about what should be done and how to go about doing it would be a good start?

holy crap twoo! glad you're okay mate - can't believe i didn't recognise the bike. get well soon, if there's anything you need let us know.

He has been working very hard over the last few years to raise the profile of this problem.

The courier holiday he is on is the 16th annual Cycle Messenger World Championship in Toronto.

Yeah, I know MT. Seen all the good work. Thing is, this is a courier based site dedicated at mainly experienced riders.
Problem is raising awareness for those who don't frequent forums so much.
Less experienced riders.
Bill and LCC have done so much for London Cyclists and I'm sure they have this covered.

Direction has to happen on the frontline. I think the signs they have on the back of bus's and some HGV's are effective but not always seen.

Best wishes twooo.

I do hope you get well soon!

Let us know the outcome with the driver of the truck, I hope he gets whats coming to him!

I was being flippant about the courier holiday thing.

But yeah, Bill has done some sterling work raising the profile of this issue.

They have both done a lot of good work in that area. Bill has lobbied numerous politicians and haulage organisations.

I think it is difficult to raise awareness on the street without a large promotional budget.

As for the signs, they are effective to a point, but drivers can use them as an excuse for poor driving. The main priority is to educate cyclists how to deal with LGV's and drivers how to deal with the massively increased number of cyclists on the road.

Damn mate.
Very lucky! Get well soon dude.

Best wishes twooo! Heal up!

All the best mate, sounds like a very lucky escape.

Fuck me that sounds horrific. So glad you are ok, twooo. Heal up mate and get back on your bike asap.

yeah get well soon.

the lcc have a 10 point manifesto on their website - it is very good in my opinion.

top of the list is 20 mph for all london (and thereafter all towns, cities and villages).

write to your mp and local councillors folks. make them aware of the issue and refer them to the lcc solution.

Glad you're okay! Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

thanks god you've still got all your legs, Twoo!

+1 to all the get well soon replies :0)

woah.
Clearly blessed!

Hope you mend quick.

that's scary - hit from behind too - great to see your up and posting man...

Have to say, that is the thing that I am most worried about, been taken out from behind, esspecially these big wagons, saw a chap killed a couple of years back walking in front of one that was in a traffic queue, didn't see the guy walk in front of him and just went over the top, I was having a drink at the Ten Bells - Spitalfield at the time, with my new bird, she was well shaken up!

Glad you are ok fella, here's to a speedy recovery and safe journeys to you all.

I thought that Twooo might be in the Royal London Hospital which is very close to where I live. I PM'd him to see if there was anything I could do to help and he asked me to transcribe a note he has written. I met him for the first time two weeks ago at the Easties drinks. His family was at his bed side so I didn't stop to chat.

Transcription follows:

Hello,

First of all I'd like to give a huge thanks to everyone who has sent and posted their condolencies to me over the last week. I would be on the forum more but I find the whole internet from my hospital bed a bit too cumbersome so I will wait until i come out before becoming an active member again.

For all that don't know me I had only recently become a member of the lfgss having 'graduated' up to a fixed from my MTB that I had been commuting to & fro to work on, accident free for about four years. I had been to a couple of drinks, in central & east & found everyone I met really friendly and accepting of a 'newbie'.

Anyway to cut a long story short, at about 0745 last Wednesday morning, I was heading West over Old St roundabout when a lorry travelling South hit me from behind, drove over my lower legs and stopped on top of my bike. I know this from being in the unenviable position of watching it happen.

I must be the luckiest man alive as U an sitting here in Hospital with no broken bones apart from my big toe! I do however have crush injuries to my lower leg muscles and both legs resemble a big jigsaw puzzle after extensive plastic surgery yesterday.

Flashbacks are becoming less but that is possibly because I haven't seen any roads since. I really do plan to get back into the saddle as soon as I can, but I would imagine my bike isn't going to work very well, so I'll be looking for something cheap if anyone can help........anyway, few weeks off yet.

I haven't spoken to the police yet, it should be happening in the next couple of days. By all accounts it sounds quite positive they have pretty comprehensive CCTV and two eyewitnesses, one of them a biker. I know this is quite controversial at the moment from recent threads but the driver isn't English, he is Eastern European. Does this make a difference? Who knows?

Thats all really, just thanks for all your support especially a huge drink bike of his choosing, to Casper Caspar who very kindly offered to come in to Hospital and tanscribe my shit handwriting onto the net for you. I hope to catch up with you all in a few weeks on my new steed along with a few interesting scars to show off!

Ride safe everyone

Twooo
(Rich)

Good work, Casp.

Good to see you're on the mend twoo. re : the eastern european driver thing, i think they pose a huge threat in London, more so than UK hauliers. A friend of the family's sister got killed by one doing a left turn in Bloomsbury a few years back. You are really lucky to be alive, all the best.

If you need parts for a new build let us know.
I for one will hand over some kit to get you riding again.

and me..

I 2nd Hippy if i can help to get you on the road with bits. I've been taken away in an ambulance from getting hit from behind on old st roundabout, lucky for me the driver stopped before running over me.

Just wanna say get well soon.

mush

Any parts that have been under hippy are probably more trashed than the ones the lorry ran over :p

Yeah, true.. but bmmf has loads of spares now that he's quit cycling after his terrible defeat at the hands of the forum fatty :P

...you're gonna regret saying that. nobody beats BMMF up a hill. he must have been high or something. its just impossible.

Glad you survived the lorry twoo !!!!

Your legs must be made of iron !!!!! Get well soon.

did any witnesses see if the driver was on the phone?