Crashing on a bicycle in Seattle is not a matter of if, but when

He’s ridden thousands of miles around the country on the seat of a bicycle. Little did KIRO Radio’s Don O’Neill know he would take a nasty spill right here in Seattle.

Or maybe he did.

It all started when Don got into competition with another rider. The cyclist made a comment to Don as he passed him on a recent evening in the city. Following his own rule of refusing to be passed by other cyclists, Don made it his mission to show the other cyclist up the next day.

“I will not be passed by another cyclist,” Don declared. “Nobody is going to pass me. If they do, I have to pass them back.”

The next day, Don found his target near the south end of South Lake Union. After passing the cyclist he sped away.

Things were going great until he was thrown into a tricky situation.

A woman stopped her car in front of him as he crossed over train tracks.

“I’m either going into the back of her or swerving to the right,” he said. He took the latter choice.

Don’s wheel caught and he and his bike flipped forward. He rolled three times and came to a rest. At first, he thought he broke his neck. He realized it was just his helmet, heart, and ego that cracked.

The man Don was competing against rode right on by, he told KIRO Radio’s Ron Upshaw.

Luckily, it was just his equipment and ego that were damaged in the crash. He decided to tighten his helmet that morning because he remembered Secretary of State John Kerry recently broke his leg in a bike crash.

“When you ride a bike in an urban setting, it’s not a question of if you’re going to go down, it’s when you’re going to go down; and how hard it’s going to hurt and how many bones you’re going to break and how many people you’re going to take down with you,” Don said.