The black Cannondale bike might as well be named the Deathtrap.  When you add alcohol into the mix, you know it can't be good.  To be fair this accident was of my own doing.  We all know you're not supposed to drink alcohol and ride a bicycle while wasted, but I'm blaming the lockdown for this because it fucked us all up in April and May.

Honestly, this will take years to recover from.  In the immediate moment, there is constant threat of a repeat lockdown so we're all on edge and have no idea how to handle ourselves.

Thankfully the bike I normally ride, the Montague, hasn't had any accidents.  Like ever.   That bike has been stranded in China for over two years now and functioning as a sort of hybrid tour and commuting bike.  But the Cannondale Deathtrap is almost exclusively used for commuting within Shanghai.  The bike originated in the Philippines actually some 5 years ago when I was there on a tour and that began its ill-fated series of accidents.  As a quick recap:

Feb 2017:  Slipped and fell on a hidden speedbump near Angeles Phillipines then smashed the side of my head on the ground.  A bit of blood but fortunately no serious injuries.  

May 2018:  Bike was stopped by the traffic police in Shanghai and I got fined.  First and only time that ever happened to me.

July 2018:  Someone at an establishment cut the lock of the bike while I parked it and then I reported it to the police.  The owners of the establishment then said they took the bike in a back room for safekeeping.  That went to the police station, and it was a major ordeal to get it out and straighten things over with all parties.

March 2019:   A scooter turned the wrong way in front of me and smashed the front wheel.  Needed to get it fixed.

January 2020:   I slipped and fell at a ramp near my apartment then severely damaged my tongue but saved my teeth

June 2020:   A truck made a right turn, caught the bike in the rear wheel and flipped it over with me on it, I then smashed the back of my head onto the ground and got stiches at the hospital.  Then later, the hospital wouldn't remove the stiches and I had to find another place to get it done.  The bike was then impounded into a police parking lot and it took a hell of lot of effort to get it out.  Worse yet, my visa was in a state of flux due to job changes, and the traffic police at the accident center were more interested in reporting me to immigration and trying to get me deported.  Heartless bastards.

October 2020:  Fell off the bike in front of a 7-11 while dismounting and fractured my wrist.

So as for last night, my colleagues had arranged an end of semester party.  Normally the end of June is the best time of the year.  You've just finished a hard semester worth of work and are ready to enjoy the vacation.  In my case, it would be cycle tours in Thailand.  But for the last three years, that hasn't happened.  This year, with the lockdown, it's even more messed up.  So the body and brain have no idea what to make of this season.  

For that reason we all just got absolutely wasted.  Like we're talking drunk to oblivion.  Then I had dumbest idea ever to go biking to the next party.  While on the phone to check the address, some delivery scooter cut me off and I braked hard.  But the bike was on the white painted lines and it was raining.   I slipped over the handlebars, smashed my front teeth on the metal, and then fell onto the ground.  Blood was everywhere.  I managed to get home first then take a taxi to the emergency room where they cleaned the wounds and scheduled an emergency dentist appointment the next day.  

At first, they said there was a good chance I'll need a root canal.  However, amazingly it turned out that later the teeth started to heal on their own.   Thanks to the second opinion of a much better dentist who did some more follow-up work, she said a root canal wasn't necessary at this point and did many tests to confirm it. 

As for why that black bike is so dangerous it's hard to say.  It might possibly be that the wheels are larger (29'') and the seat is raised quite high so that it feels you're really high up and harder to stay in control of the bike.  With the absolutely insanely dangerous traffic conditions in Shanghai to begin with, you have these scooters darting in and out of traffic and breaking all the rules so you need quick reactions.  That is more difficult to do on a bike with large wheels.  That's my theory at least. 

Any way you look at it, this sucks.  What's even crazier is that I decided to get back on the bike and not let all these setbacks stop me from riding.  Certainly though, I would wise up and cut back the drinking.