The last thing Brandon Floyd can remember about his bike accident Monday night is seeing a truck jerk. Then everything comes in flashes.

He can remember waking up on the road. He was surrounded by people and someone was holding his head. He said he saw his leg was bent backwards “like a grasshopper’s leg.”

His world went black again as he went into shock. He woke up as his stretcher bumped in an ambulance, then he blacked out from the pain. Next, he was in an operating room as his family walked in. Then he was put to sleep for surgery.

When Floyd was hit, he was trying to cross U.S. 2 near the intersection with Main Street. From the median, it looked as if he had enough time to make the turn.

“But then the truck coming my way jerked, like they were surprised, maybe just looking up from a phone or just seeing me for the first time, for whatever reason,” he said. “I wasn’t using the crosswalk, and I don’t know if I made a mistake or the car did, but it was too late by then.”

He was hit once and flew off his bike. Witnesses said he was hit again by a smaller car. Floyd estimated the first vehicle was going 30 miles per hour.

“I wasn’t wearing a helmet, so it’s amazing I lived, even though I’m looking at 15 weeks for recovery at minimum,” he said.

More realistically, the recovery will take roughly six months, he said.

Floyd arrived at the hospital with a concussion, a fractured femur, a broken tibia and a lot of road rash.

According to Kalispell Police call logs, officers stopped the first vehicle at the intersection of Main and Idaho streets as it allegedly attempted to leave the scene after striking Floyd.

The report read the cyclist was “conscious but confused” and was bleeding from his head.

“This time of year, I commute by biking,” said Floyd, who works in the packaging department at the Daily Inter Lake. “That means to work, errands, all of it. I’ve always felt comfortable on a bike. I’m still trying to figure out what happened.”

Patrol Capt. Tim Falkner said in the summer, Kalispell Police usually see one to two bike-and-car collisions a month. He said Kalispell streets can create unsafe conditions as cars park on the side of the road, leaving less space for bicyclists.

“Cars need to be on the lookout for bikers, and bikers need to make sure they follow traffic laws and work to be seen,” Falkner said.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at [email protected].