NBC’s Stephanie Gosk Recalls Frightening Bike Accident

With some apply, I attained assurance and started out venturing farther. In New York Metropolis, the ideal area to experience is exterior of New York City. Cyclists in the dozens, and even hundreds on the weekend, bike more than the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey. From there the environment opens up. My rides went from 20 to 30 to even 100 miles (just that when).  

I put in the initial COVID summer time in Connecticut and the riding just acquired better and superior. My brother has been cycling for decades and with him as my guide I cruised as a result of attractive country roadways just about every single day. I was hooked. There was a fleeting second when moving out of the metropolis forever felt like a very good concept. Fleeting.  

As an alternative, I went back again to Manhattan and joined the New York Cycle Club. Riding in a group is a whole lot more entertaining than driving by itself. After a cold and snowy winter, I was thrilled to get back again out there this spring. I signed up for my very first trip in March, 65 miles in excess of the bridge with about 50 riders. 

Extremely keen that morning, I took off with the guide team. I had no enterprise driving with them. By the time we strike 8 miles, I was having dropped. It was in that moment, tearing down a hill, on the lookout at the riders up ahead and not spending focus to the street, that I strike it — a pothole grabbed the front wheel and threw the bicycle, with me on it, down challenging.  I slid together the pavement. My head hit and my facial area dragged.  

I crashed in entrance of a house in suburban New Jersey. The proprietors luckily noticed the entire matter and called 911. Tenafly law enforcement officers obtained there quick, adopted by an ambulance. The scene was grim. My encounter was a mess and so have been my arms. My helmet was cracked obvious through in two distinct areas. When I got to the crisis room the medical doctor claimed to me in the kind of relaxed tone you would anticipate from a male who sees dozens of folks like me in excess of the program of the biking year, “Your helmet seems like this so your head does not have to.”  

The accidents looked gruesome but what is most critical is what did not materialize to me. I didn’t split any bones. I didn’t get rid of any teeth. I did not get a concussion. That’s the big one particular. The helmet did its work.  

I did get 9 stitches over my remaining eye and three in my remaining hand. My thumb needed surgical procedure because I tore a ligament. I looked like a prize fighter for a few weeks. On the street people stared with a mix of disgust, curiosity and a contact of admiration. It’s not a excellent glance in my line of function.  

My 8-yr-aged daughter was fairly candid. “Mommy,” she mentioned, “Maybe you need to stick to the Peloton.” I have since picked up the bike from the law enforcement department and it is in remarkably great form. I require a new helmet. The daughter has wisdom past her decades, but the odds of me not having back on that bicycle are about as excellent as me perfecting sourdough.

CORRECTION (April 27, 2022, 8:30 a.m.): An earlier headline on this story improperly mentioned that Gosk experienced been in an incident whilst on a bridge. The incident was not on a bridge.