Fixie accident
carl...@comcast.net
enthusiast, much less breaking his bones at the age of 53 when his
fixie got away from him on a California descent during the height of
the bike boom.
But I read his background long before I became obsessed with bicycles.
The article says nothing about liquor, but I do remember that Bierce
drank too much.
In a letter, Bierce wrote "I must exculpate the bicycle--the accident
was, as usual, the fault of the rider."
Cheers,
Carl Fogel
***
AMBROSE BIERCE INJURED
A Fall From a Bicycle Fractures His Ankle and Collar Bone.
HE WILL NEVER BIDE AGAIN.
Slowly Recovering His Health at St. Helena� How, the Accident
Happened.
Ambrose Bierce will never again be seen astride a bicycle, and the
probabilities are that he will in future be restricted in the use of
one of his lower limbs, if, indeed, the case is no more serious.
Mr. Bierce has been for a couple of years past an expert and
enthusiastic cyclist, and his tall form, clad in conventional
bicycle costume, has been a familiar sight on Oakland streets as he
wheeled to and from his residence and the Atheneum Club, or among the
more secluded and better paved thoroughfares of the city.
It was also his custom to make long trips in the country awheel, the
litterateur declaring that more inspiration could be gained from a
spin through a pleasant country lane with resplendent nature all
about than by hours of patient thinking in the crowded precincts of a
city.
Usually these journeys were accomplished alone, and the author always
returned refreshed and invigorated from his outings.
Recently Mr. Bierce returned from a protracted visit to Los Gatos,
where he had been recuperating, and took apartments at The Washington
in Oakland, where it had been his custom to reside when in the Athens
of the Pacific.
After getting settled he made plans for a long trip awheel and a run
to St. Helena, with several days of rest and quiet at that pretty
town, varied by short spins about the adjacent country was on the
programme.
The journey was about accomplished, when, in passing over a dangerous
portion of the road where a deep canyon flanked one side of the
highway, he lost control of his wheel and started down the grade at a
rapid rate.
After making several ineffectual efforts to regain the use of his
pedals and thus check the speed of his wheel, Mr. Bierce devoted his
attention to keeping his bike in the middle of the road and free of
the rocks and ruts that were encountered at intervals.
He succeeded admirably for some time, but a slight miscalculation of
the extent of a curve around which he was compelled to pass made him
lose his balance and in an instant the wheel toppled over throwing
the rider down the bank with terrific force.
Mr. Bierce was rendered unconscious by the shock and lay in the gully
for some time. Finally coming to himself he hailed a passing team, the
occupants of which, after considerable trouble, succeeded in getting
him into their vehicle and conveyed him to St. Helena.
The best medical skill of the town was summoned to his bedside and it
was found that he had sustained a serious fracture of the kneecap and
that his collar-bone was likewise broken.
The physicians in attendance after setting the broken bones and making
him as comfortable as the circumstances would permit told him that in
all probability the injury to the ankle would preclude his ever
pushing the pedals of a bicycle again and the sufferer promptly gave
his wheel, a fine machine, to a friend.
At last accounts Mr. Bierce was resting easily and a recent letter to
Oakland friends said that he was gaining strength slowly but surely
and would soon return to Oakland.
He deplored the loss of his favorite pastime, but took comfort from
the reflection that the accident might have been much worse.
Mr. Bierce is getting along in years, but by the aid of his systematic
use of the wheel, which he adopted to assist in getting rid of chronic
asthma, he has vindicated a robust constitution, and beyond a
stiffness of the ankle will probably not suffer any permanent injury
from his accident.
"San Francisco Call," September 10 1895, p. 14
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