The man with a bike, and a plan to ride for charity, is not giving up—despite being recently run over in Marina.
On Thursday, a day after Thomas Toloy set in motion his 40-mile 40-day bike challenge to raise awareness and funds for homeless resources in Salinas' Chinatown, he was hit by a vehicle and hospitalized.
Toloy had just left Rooster Wheels in Marina, where the owner of the shop had offered to donate a complete tune up to his charity ride, when a driver accelerated and hit him near the parking lot.
“I think she panicked and accelerated, and she just creamed me,” Toloy says in a YouTube video while lying on a hospital bed.
He landed on his head, twisted his neck, and taken to the emergency room at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula for treatment.
“Yeah, this really hurts,” he adds, “it sucks.”
Toloy says his bike’s front wheel was bent, something he will have to fix before venturing on his bike ride again. But his plans to ride 40 miles for 40 days will be resumed on Saturday, he says. Doctors recommended he rests for at least a day, which would mean he should be fine to continue the challenge.
“Wear a helmet, kids,” he says in the video. “I always wear a helmet, but not this time. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.”
To follow Toloy’s journey, here is his blog.