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While biking
Jun. 2nd, 2009 04:46 pmI went out for a medium bike ride today (goal for the week: 3-4 decently long rides), this time heading north first, rather than west (east just gets me to Boston, which is slower riding than I want, and the ocean, which is even less useful, while south is trickier since the bridges across the Charles are bottlenecks that are not always in such great shape). I meandered, taking roads I was unfamiliar with, figuring I was bounded on all sides by known roads, so I couldn't get too lost. And in the end, I didn't, and mapping it out on Gmap pedometer let me see where I went.
Which is how I know that the scary part of the ride was up in Wakefield (unless it was Stoneham at that point; town boundaries aren't particularly well marked on that map).
I was coming down a street I'd come up minutes before (knowing I was just tired enough that I didn't want to explore the area further, though there were some nice-looking streets), and saw the "Dangerous Intersection" sign just before I noticed there was a car stopped in the middle of the road. There was debris scattered across the road, and what looked like a teenaged boy lying off to the side, no helmet on, in T-shirt and jeans. He was partly curled up, not facing me, and there were no obvious injuries. The motorcycle (a small one) was perhaps thirty feet back towards me, farther in on the verge, a wheel still spinning.
I stopped, but there were already a number of people there, some calling 911, others with the boy, telling him not to move, one obviously in shock.
Cars started backing up, and one driver started coming through, catching the broken-off headlight on his undercarriage and dragging it quite some time.
It was horrible, but there didn't seem to be anything that would be useful for me to do, and being a gawker at the scene wouldn't help anyone. So after a minute or two, I pedaled on, hoping that the boy will be ok, and that the driver of the car would be, too. By the time I got to the next major intersection, I could hear the ambulance siren.
If you ride a motorcycle, please wear a helmet, at least.
Which is how I know that the scary part of the ride was up in Wakefield (unless it was Stoneham at that point; town boundaries aren't particularly well marked on that map).
I was coming down a street I'd come up minutes before (knowing I was just tired enough that I didn't want to explore the area further, though there were some nice-looking streets), and saw the "Dangerous Intersection" sign just before I noticed there was a car stopped in the middle of the road. There was debris scattered across the road, and what looked like a teenaged boy lying off to the side, no helmet on, in T-shirt and jeans. He was partly curled up, not facing me, and there were no obvious injuries. The motorcycle (a small one) was perhaps thirty feet back towards me, farther in on the verge, a wheel still spinning.
I stopped, but there were already a number of people there, some calling 911, others with the boy, telling him not to move, one obviously in shock.
Cars started backing up, and one driver started coming through, catching the broken-off headlight on his undercarriage and dragging it quite some time.
It was horrible, but there didn't seem to be anything that would be useful for me to do, and being a gawker at the scene wouldn't help anyone. So after a minute or two, I pedaled on, hoping that the boy will be ok, and that the driver of the car would be, too. By the time I got to the next major intersection, I could hear the ambulance siren.
If you ride a motorcycle, please wear a helmet, at least.