Thankfully all that was bruised was my pride
Thanks gad I had a proper toolkit with me, including spoke spanner, otherwise I'd have had a long walk home (~25km) (J was away, IIRC, and I didn't have the keys to the Basel place with me). Managed to straighten it enough on the spot, then properly later at home, and the wheel is still in use.
Better to learn from someone else's mistakes!
Either way, the cyclist should be fined regardless of any possible background there might have been - he was being an annoyance for the driver, everyone on the bus, and whatever other traffic was getting affected. But in the end he wasn't really endangering anyone.
But the bus driver acted disproportionately and the cyclist could even have been hurt beyond the damage to the bicycle. The bus driver acted much worse. He should pay for repairing the bike, be fined for dangerous driving, and also get in trouble with the company employing him/her.
imagine the sound when a tram speeds by
I know a chap who is both tram-driver and bus-driver, who told me, in regard to comparable circumstances, that he would NEVER risk to damage the bicycle even of the worst idiot to be imagined, as it would in the end be HIM who would make to be THE idiot.
What that public transport driver did was simply wrong. And do not forget that trams and buses are not military tanks and even relatively minor damages are obvious.
I at the other hand will never forget what I witnessed years ago in Zürich downtown. A young woman was unable to get aside with her car for technical reasons. The tram-driver got out, sent the woman onto the pavement, re-activated the car, drove it aside to a good place, kept the engine running, instructed the woman, re-entered his tram, drove on and informed a laughing crowd of passengers. Perfectly unforgettable
Yesterday I learnt that Zurich is trialling bike-friendly tram tracks... bit too late for me but hopefully, if successful and implemented, they could save some cuts and bruises and most importantly.... lives.
The point is that your bike should never be in the same direction as the tracks but always different
My problem was than these tracks joined into the bike lane and, for some strange reason, I simply didn't notice them.... Normally I'm extremely careful about crossing them at a good angle!
It was in the place where two tracks join up in Gartnerstrasse, near the intersection with Inselstrasse, going North. With two tram lines joining up, it was impossible to avoid going over one of them, which I would have rather done (I actually thought just that before reaching them). I'm not sure exactly what happened though...
I think my wheels are too thick and didn't get stuck, but those tracks are extremely slippery when wet.
The bike went all wobbly and I found myself in the air, a bit sideways, without a bicycle underneath me. I vaguely remember looking back and seeing the bike in the air as well, but I may have imagined it.
By instinct I folded my right arm along my neck and around my head, placed the left one across my belly with palm facing the ground and landed sideways on my right leg and left wrist. I remember sliding a bit. I have some bruises, and scratches including some tears on my gloves, which are the thick snow-boarding style that I use when cycling in the winter because they are waterproof and warm. They are also slightly padded which I think helped me not hurt my left wrist more.
Head fortunately didn't touch anything, and the bicycle did not fall on top of me either.
The bicycle is a bit damaged but still cycleable... Noticeably so the direction is misaligned. The wheels themselves are not bent which I think indicates the wheel did not get stuck in the track.
The driver behind me was from one of the City services and stopped and got out to check on me, and 2 of the men working on the streetworks there came as well and eventually helped me up (My knee was hurting a bit so I decided to stay sitting down for a minute or so).
I wasn't very upset about this because all things considered it went fairly well for what could have happened.
I was upset later though - in Weil am Rhein going slowly on a roundabout with an aching leg and misaligned direction, a jerk driver goes through my left and cuts right to exit right, squeezing me such that I had to take the same exit (I wanted the next one and had not signaled it yet)... And even then the car was so tight that it passed some mere cm away from me!
Somehow I turned left in a crossing going as fast as a turtle and my front tire slipped when passing over the line and
I just fall down...thank good it was in a very quiet place of Basel (Claraplatz)
The tram has stopped and I raised my self up as quick as possible and just act naturally to the "few" people looking at me.
How embarrassing...
What worried me was that I think I have done everything right after cycling for one year in Basel, cross the lines at an angle,...
Maybe my slow speed as I was starting pedalling can be the answer.
I've had a few bad falls but none from the tram tracks, although walking near them in winter is also bloody treacherous if you're in a hurry.