I awoke bloody and in sharp pain at 2:25 a.m. on Sept. 4. I couldn't tell you what city I lived in, what my name was or what happened.
What I do remember is shoving my jaw back into place, spitting blood into the street and watching all the sparkling headlights flying past me without hesitating to see if I was OK. My concussion made the truth blurry, but from my bruises and broken bones, it seemed I was clipped by a vehicle on my bicycle.
My face planted into the asphalt, resulting in five mandible and cheek fractures, a handful of broken ribs and a broken toe. Luckily, friends saw my zombie-like self pushing my bike on University Avenue and rushed me to the North Florida Regional Medical Center to be told the obvious: "Sir, your body is quite mangled."
The result: Six weeks of a wired jaw and enough road rash to make "28 Days Later" look like a B-list movie.
I moved to Gainesville last fall from Indianapolis and was quite excited to be submerged in such a vibrant outdoor community. What I found was a very knowlegable bike scene with a completely ignorant motorized community. We have the Gainesville Cycling Club, more bike shops than one can count, bike messengers, races and a plethora of bicycle listings on Craigslist. But there is no awareness about cyclists when it comes to motorists.
I've been hit a total of three times. Vehicles have run me into the sidewalk five or six times and have run me off the road more than I can count in the past year. In all the close calls and accidents, only one person stopped-a drunken driver on St. Patrick's Day who tried to pay me off so I wouldn't get her arrested.
Most cyclists have been hit: bones broken, skin raw with road rash and frames destroyed. Any cyclist will tell you it's a rare week to not escape death in a town that prides itself on being open-minded and environmentally friendly.
Yes, we have bicycle lanes on lots of roads. But we still need to raise awareness for cyclists. There is no excuse to have cyclists hit, harassed and yelled at, pushed off their bikes or have beer bottles thrown at them while cycling; all have happened to me more than once.
It seems we have forgotten what happened in 2006. According to police reports, Welch McNair Bostick III, a UF grad student, was struck by a vehicle and killed on Aug. 28. The driver dozed off and ended Bostick's life. There was an increase in cycling awareness after Bostick passed, but it seems we forget too easily. I don't want to see another death or to have Bostick's death be in vain.
I want my accident to have some benefit to the cyclists in Gainesville and across the state. If I have to drink all my meals for six weeks, the community should be learning from this.
Simple actions from motorists like using turn signals, looking before turning and not texting while driving will save cyclists' lives. We aren't like motorcyclists who boast loud horns that 'save lives.' We can't yell over your stereo system. We can't just use our bumpers to keep us safe or our seatbelts to keep us from flying over your windshield. Most of us are doing this for health, for the environment, for logical transport. Motorists, watch out for cyclists. You never know-that cyclist could be the guy bringing you your sub "freaky fast," or the environmentalist who's saving our planet, or your economics professor. Be grateful for us.
John Thaddeus Phoebus is a Gainesville resident.
