Re: Show of hands, How many have been struck by a vehicle, not inside of a car?

In early 1993 when I still rode upright bikes in addition to  
recumbents, I was riding my 1984 Miyata 1000 touring bike down  
Market. St. in San Francisco. I was in the right lane preparing to  
move to the left lane. This was before I was a rear view mirror user.  
I apparently didn't see a 9-series Volvo in the left lane and the  
right front corner of the car hit the rear wheel of the bike and  
threw me down to the right. This happened at fairly low speed,  
probably under 25 km/h. I immediately got back up and pulled the bike  
out of traffic. The driver stopped and was very apologetic. Before I  
could figure out fully what the cause of the crash was, she offered  
to pay for all the damage which is what she did. The damage repair  
consisted of getting a new rear wheel, new rear rack, new handlebar  
tape and new brake levers at a nearby LBS. Not long after that I sold  
the bike, my first internet bike sale.

On an evening in March 1999, while riding up northbound CA-1 on the  
way to Muir Beach after doing the SF Randonneurs 400 km brevet, I was  
climbing slowly at 5 km/h on my Lightning Stealth with F-40 fairing.  
The bike was highly visible with its large, bright yellow fairing, 3M  
reflective vertical stripe on the back of the fairing, Nightsun 12  
volt steady taillight and NiteRider 16-LED flashing taillight. I was  
also wearing a yellow helmet. I was further out into the lane than I  
usually took that climb because I was going slower than usual  
(normally took it at about 7 km/h) and wanted to allow for more  
potential wobble room. In my rear view mirror I saw car headlights  
coming up the hill fast and they didn't seem to be moving to the  
left. I wondered to myself if the car would brake on time or pull to  
the left on time to avoid hitting me. A moment later I got my answer  
in the form of being rapidly accelerated and flying through the air,  
coming down in a small ditch between the edge of the road and the