A lesson for us all...

Beautiful sunshine & blue sky today (the first day of Summer Time), however I needed to get out on the push bike to build up my miles in preparation for my upcoming C2C ride.

So I'm coasting the last 10 yards home when one of the neighbours pulls out of the back street opposite on his Blackbird.

The events immediately following went something like this:

Good hand-full of throttle

New rear tyre meets iron manhole cover

Bike "highsides", throwing the rider to the floor

All of this happened at walking pace.

The rider is wearing good quality riding kit, but was riding with his Shoei Multitec flip up open (contrary to all instructions) and the impact with the road introduced his nose and teeth to the tarmac.

The rider was very stunned and covered in blood... the first aid training kicked in and the scene was managed. The rider ended up needing to be hospitalised for head and neck checks - all from a 10 mph minor spill.

So the morals of this story:

New tyres need to be treated with respect.

A flip-up won't protect you if it's flipped - keep it closed when you're moving.

and, don't underestimate the benefit of some first aid training.