Bike Accident with a Toddler

I just looked at my blog history and find it interesting that the majority of my blogs are written months before I leave my job (i.e. most of them are written in 2009 Q2 & 2013 Q2). By inferring from historical data, I probably shouldn't be blogging now because I enjoy my time at work. However, I'm awake at 5am -- I keep having replay images of the bike accident.

 

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, but this is an unforgettable mistakes that I made because it involves my 3 year old son Calvin. Calvin and I had a bike accident this weekend. His right side of the helmet cracked and he has some road rash on his right parts of the body (road rash pictures not show). I also have road rash on my lower legs and arms, and banged my right knee pretty badly.

As we approached an intersection there were several cars in front of us. I decided to go around by swerving to the pedestrian lane (dumb!) and somehow, the front mountain bike tire got caught (on mere 1/2 inch height clearance) and *BAM* both of our heads went down first -- I can only remember hearing the sound of our helmets hitting concrete first -- and my son screaming and crying afterwards. It was the most awful thing I had experienced to date, and I caused it. What amazed me was that after a few minutes of crying, he he said he wanted to go play in the park.

A few thoughts: Always wear your helmet! There's a saying that falling from the bike is not a question of if, but when. Always wear your helmet! If you must use systems similar to the WeeRide, iBert, rear seat, or anything that raises the center of gravity for the kid, DO NOT FALL because the head distance to ground is increased drastically. I can no longer vouch for WeeRide. In fact I can't imagine using any system that raises a child's height, including the frontal iBert-style seats. BIG DISLIKE. I am switching to a trailer. Don't underestimate a 1/2 inch height clearance even on a mountain bike. Always ride towards uneven surface by going perpendicular to it (see the Better green arrow above). I just got a Burley Bee Bike Trailer. This is one of the best on Amazon (based on ratings and weight and quality). I highly recommend it. If you click on this picture and buy it, I'll get a few bucks from it too :)