THE CRASH.
This was my Salsa Warbird.
I built this bike in early 2023 to replace my Omnium CXC. It was supposed to be a gravel bike, but I also used it as a road bike with different wheels. I considered it near perfect, I thought that I would keep it for the rest of my life. Which was nearly the case, but not quite like I imagined.
BOOM… A car went by.
In early October 2023, as I was returning home from a weekly group ride around Paris, in the blink of an eye, BOOM!
I was like unplugged from life. Like a power cord accidentally pulled out…
I don't remember anything from this, but according to the police, I crossed a junction without checking for oncoming traffic, when I should have stopped to let a car go by. I should have stopped, but I didn’t. I was the one at fault.
I lost consciousness and remained in a coma for over three weeks. The medical staff couldn’t tell if I was going to make it.
POST-CRASH THOUGHTS.
After waking up, I began to understand the situation. I assumed that the accident happened with my Parallax, because I used to ride it brakeless, and I instinctively remembered that. Also, in my head, the Parallax was my only bike.
I was very surprised to learn that it happened with the Salsa… My only “normal bike”, the only one with real brakes… I was even more surprised to learn that I was the one at fault…
Luckily, I wasn’t as badly damaged as the bike was. I’m still in one piece, and although I’ve partially lost the use of an eye and have a few problems here and there, I can still walk, think and talk (a bit). It could have been worse.
2024 UPDATES
JANUARY 2024 - NEW BIKE DAY.
After staying in hospital 24/7 between October and January, I was finally allowed to return to my parents' home for nights and weekends. My first bike ride of 2024 had to be at hospital on a rehab bike. I never thought I would say or have to do such a thing at any point in my life... But here we are.
JANUARY 2024 - I CAN FINALLY SEE BETTER.
Since this crash, I’m seeing double… My right eye/nerve got damaged, and in order to avoid that, I now have to mask it, and probably forever…
FEBRUARY 2024 - BACK ON REAL BIKES.
After waking up, I couldn’t walk anymore, or even stand up. I had to learn that again. It took me several months to do it without help.
Once I finally could walk alone again, wondered if I could still ride bikes. The answer is yes. It actually went better than expected. Once the bike is moving, its balance is maintained, which is not the case when I walk (yet).
APRIL 2024 - “UPGRADES”.
After finally getting back home about 6 months after the accident to live on my own again, I had to adjust a few things on my track bikes, as they were the only bikes I had left. As I was still quite weak, I had to switch to a much smaller ratio, and equip them with brakes.
MAY 2024 - SELF DELIVERY.
I went to pick up the remains of my destroyed bike… At least, it wasn’t too difficult to bring home…
JUNE 2024 - SHOOTING AGAIN.
Back to photography, to cover two events: Charclocross & Stolen Crit.
JUNE - ATRACKTION III
Back at the Mont Ventoux with my Parallax for the third year in a row, for Atracktion, third edition. The whole loop just over 100km, which was my longest ride since the crash (with a huge mountain in the middle).
JUNE 2024 - LEAVE ME ALONE!
I somehow managed to get hit by a car again… I had the right of way, the green light, I was riding in broad daylight, on the bike lane… But people obviously don’t care about cyclists…
JUNE - HERE WE GO AGAIN…
Less than week after the previous incident, someone cut me off again... Exactly as before. I was on the bike lane, I had the green light and the right of way, but people don’t care about cyclists. It’s almost like they do it on purpose…
OCTOBER 2024 - YEAR 1 UPDATE - NEW BIKE DAY.
A full year has passed since the accident.
It happened on October 10, 2023, and a year later to the day, on October 10, 2024, I finally started building the new bike that will replace the destroyed one. Salsa kindly sent me a new frame at no cost after hearing what happened to the first ︎
It's a strange feeling to wait all this time, list so many things, and put so much work into building a new bike, only for it to be exactly the same as before, as if nothing happened…
OCTOBER 2024 - YEAR 1 UPDATE - PART 2.
Here it is! I finally finished building my new Salsa Warbird. Click here to see more pictures of it.
But of course… someone managed to hit me on my very first trip with it… I was simply waiting at a red light, standing still for over a minute, when I heard a car coming to stop behind me, except it didn't stop...
This is the third time I've been hit by a car in less than 6 months, and I’m not even talking about the initial crash from 2023...
I really don’t get it.
I don’t want to ride my bikes anymore, they won.
NOVEMBER 2024
Me, at the rehab hospital, checking the wikipedia page for “cycling”. I feel like my experience is slightly different.
2025 UPDATES
APRIL 2025 - Back to work.
After more than a year off work, I’m back at work as a bike mechanic, in the same place I was working at before the accident. I never thought I would say something like this one day, but it's good to be back at work and resume a “normal life”, even if not all the damage has been repaired, and probably never will be (like my eye and the speech difficulties).
I will probably continue to update this page later, hopefully less and less regularly as I recover.
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