Do I have a case if I was riding my bicycle last night on a paved city road and due to a large pothole, I wrecked it and am now in a hospital?

Yes, you have a basis for a suit, although the public entity will allege you were at least partially at fault for not noticing such a large pot hole. They may also raise the issue of whether you should have been more over toward the right edge of the roadway so that cars could pass you by. None the less, you do have a fairly good case [at night, even with a light on, you might not at a distance be able to see how large a pothole is]. Get pictures taken of the pothole and other similar defects that would show the city should have know about the defect [look for areas the city actually painted over a defect, such as a yellow dividing line that goes into and comes out of a pothole], the damage to your bike, and your own injuries. ?In California you must file a claim with a governmental entity within 6 months of the incident [usually they will reject it no matter how valid the claim]; be sure the city owns the street as it could be a state highway even though only looking like a normal city street. I do not know what your case is worth, but likely you might want to sue in Small Claims Court, although the judges there tend to be much less generous in awarding pain and suffering damages. The city can simply reject the court judgment and the matter gets re-tried in Superior court, but the judge will give you very little time to present your case. ?There would be no jury so your award would be less, but the decision would be faster than sue initially in superior court. Normally I might recommend that you handle the case on your own since it is a very simple one, but public entities almost always strongly fight these cases and even after a 1/3 of damages legal fee, you still are likely to net more with an attorney than handling the matter yourself.