Fuck!

That’s the one.

I love that ride.

I had my usual Tuesday night smashfest with about 60 others here in Melbs.  Fast, fast riding on the way back from Mordy due to a tailwind (45.7km/h over about 20km) and had a bit of a hairy moment in the final sprint where I was chopped.  No probs though until I was riding back through the CBD and fell victim to a freakin tram track.  It was a very low speed fall as I was turning across them at a 4 way track junction. It caught me completely by surprise.

Cue destroyed knicks, hole in club kit long sleeve jersey and knee warmers; scrapes on my brake lever, fresh bar tape, saddle and rear QR.  Not to mention the sore elbow and decent sized raspberry on my hip.

I suppose I got off lightly, really…

I also found out today that, in addition to my other laundry list of injuries, I have a fractured rib. (I thought the pain in my upper right back was due to the muscles being knotted up from having my arm in a sling). My ortho doc wants to see me back in three weeks, and then we’ll talk about physical therapy. Looks like bike riding is a long, long way off…maybe not until early next year. Major bummer.

@Brian W yeah the surgeon explained it to me by saying that the plates come ‘pre-moulded’ to you general collarbone, he said he could have either put another screw in the end to bring it down more, or could have taken the whole thing back off to re-shape it but both options would have kept me on the table for a fair while longer & he didn’t really want to do that.

When I get back from the doctor on Wednesday I’ll post an update. 

Basically, the only part I feel is the little section that sticks up at the end & even that doesn’t cause any real discomfort.

http://youtu.be/f-GDzhYFZak

Definitely NSFW

The Geto Boys – Houston’s finest.

I’m fine, only a light graze not worthy of a photo, and an opportunity to build myself a new wheel. I guess I’m pretty lucky! I better go check my lotto tickets.

Definitely NSFW

Ha, freakish… I’ve never heard of John Safran but I know exactly the song they’re talking about in the opening sketch. Gangster of Love, sampling The Joker.

Mate of mine put it on a mix tape, many years ago when such things existed. I could never find a digital copy and I guess that explains why.

I feel like a circle of my life has been completed. Thanks, really.

 Busted collarbone that had to be pinned and a fair head ache for the next day or so managed to keep my mind off the road rash.

My orthopedic surgeon called me that evening to see how I was doing. He told me (not in these exact words, naturally) that I fucked up my clavicle good, and that he had to put a lot of hardware in to stabilize it. I asked him if I should change the bandages, and he said I could leave them on until I see him on Wednesday. I’m dreading the “reveal,” probably be a bloody mess of sutures and bumps where the metallic bits are poking up.

@doubleR

As much as I love cycling, the pain I’ve been through in the last six days has given me pause. For the rest of you-were you temped at all to hang up your cleats? When you did get back on the road, were you apprehensive of every car, every piece of debris in the road? How long did it take for your confidence to return?

Had similar, if slightly less severe, consequences as you to my last encounter with the asphalt at Easter. Lost the back end on a damp corner covered with some Autumn debris & managed to high side down on to my shoulder and head. Busted collarbone that had to be pinned and a fair head ache for the next day or so managed to keep my mind off the road rash.

Wasn’t allowed back on the bike (combo of Dr & SWMBO’s orders) for about 2 months and to be honest I’m still getting my confidence back when it comes to really attacking descents. As the others have already said, just build things up slowly and don’t take any risks you don’t need to. None of us are getting paid for this, so make sure you’re enjoying it.

Geez!, never thought I’d see Safran here! Awesome!

@ten B  Wow, I hope he makes a full recovery, that is bad. Re: Lights- with all the great LED lights, weight is not an issue anymore, especially if one is using it for hazard flasher. We often use a red rear flasher because we start so early in the morning. I guess a forward facing flasher would be smarter. Those are the people that are going to kill you.

They’ll all kill you! And by bright, I mean look away, burn holes in retinas, can see from 5km away at noon in an Aussie summer bright. Bright flashers have a funny effect – it’s like they cause a fault code in drvers’ distance estimation system, and they get a bit freaked and ultra cautious. I’ve had drivers about 100m away wait for me to pass before they pull out.

My $.02 in the helmet debate (playing the ‘helmet saved my life’ card here). I’m all for personal freedom, but I just think it’s stupendously selfish not to wear one on the roads. I can’t imagine being in a situation where my VMH would have to wheel me around, feed me, wipe my backside, etc. for the next 40 years just because I refused to take a basic precaution. 

@brett HAve you been watching Dave Chapelle again?

Even better… John Safran.

@ChrisO

Just as I didn’t read your post properly, you didn’t read mine properly either. I didn’t tell you you should wear a helmet. Just my opinion that those who choose not too might not have too much up there to protect. But it’s a personal choice, and we all make some risky ones.

Now, I’m off to have unprotected anal sex with an African monkey… 

Well, as long as you both wear helmets…

@ChrisO

Just as I didn’t read your post properly, you didn’t read mine properly either. I didn’t tell you you should wear a helmet. Just my opinion that those who choose not too might not have too much up there to protect. But it’s a personal choice, and we all make some risky ones.

Now, I’m off to have unprotected anal sex with an African monkey… 

@ChrisO Let’s see… you’re against wearing helmets and against following the rules of the road? Or is it that you’re against other riders who highlight those two issues as important to cycling safety and therefore take exception to those riders that choose not to?

Really? … “mind your own business?”

… As far as others commenting on “what they (others) should do,” or “how moronic they (others) are for doing it,” it seems a bit ironic that you would post that considering the fundamental framework for which this entire website and community is based on. There’s really not a lot of grey area here… lots of diversity of course, but not a lot of flexibility to the core principles. There’s not a lot of highlights on helmets and following the rules of the road, but don’t be a jackass pretty much sums it up nicely for me.  

Mind your own business was being polite. As doubleR might say, it’s not my intention to tell you to fuck off, however…

Y’all may not have noticed but The Rules are supposed to be humorous.

I’m sorry I mentioned it, but it would have had an emoticon next to it if such things existed. 

Just as I didn’t read your post properly, you didn’t read mine properly either. I didn’t tell you you should wear a helmet. Just my opinion that those who choose not to might not have too much up there to protect. But it’s a personal choice, and we all make some risky ones.

Now, I’m off to have unprotected anal sex with an African monkey… 

Sorry Chris for coming off a bit like a prat there… it is your choice, and I did read it as a mountain bike ride…which would be moronic. My bad. 

Really? … “mind your own business?”

… As far as others commenting on “what they (others) should do,” or “how moronic they (others) are for doing it,” it seems a bit ironic that you would post that considering the fundamental framework for which this entire website and community is based on. There’s really not a lot of grey area here… lots of diversity of course, but not a lot of flexibility to the core principles. There’s not a lot of highlights on helmets and following the rules of the road, but don’t be a jackass pretty much sums it up nicely for me.  

Did I start telling anyone else what they should do or how moronic they are for doing it ? No.

Why are people so keen to tell other people how they should ride. It was the same last week with telling off other riders for not following traffic rules.

So thanks but… mind your own business

And BTW Brett they do have roads through the mountains – quite good ones here, as it happens. A mountain ride is not a MTB ride.

@scaler911

Great article @Roadslave. A month or so ago, I was talking to my teammate, telling him that I was surprised that my ticket hadn’t been punched in the 3 years since I had come back to racing.

Thought I’m not generally superstitious, I should have never said anything. That very night, at our Tuesday night worlds local race, I went into the tarmac at 54Kph. Couldn’t be avoided. My teammate that I ran into, ended up in the ER with a broken collar bone and scapula.

Exactly… this thread is like sending a gilt-edged invitation to A Fate c/- Doom House, Superstition Road, Curseville.

I’m doing a mountain ride next Friday with a descent where I would normally be hitting around 80km/h and I’m going to be thinking of all these f*cking photos and horror stories.

It’s still not enough to make me wear a helmet though.

I don’t want to start yet another helmet/no helmet debate. However, take another look at my helmet:

I survived my crash with a nasty bruise on my forehead and a two-day headache (in addition to the other injuries I described earlier).

If I hadn’t been wearing the helmet, there’s a good possibility the Velominatus would be a member less today.

Ouchie

Oi… that’s got to sting a little. Or as Monty Python would say, “just a flesh wound!”.

Hope he heals up fully!

Grandmother broke her wrist, the kid just had a scratch on her chin. Thankfully her husband wasn’t far behind, and we got 911 called to assist her.

Back onto my ride, way out in the middle nowhere I had some fucking yapper dog run out of a yard right in front of me, so I had to slow way down so I wouldn’t hit it at speed (and crash myself). It then started to attack my ankle as soon as I slowed. Fucking dog. Got away from that with just a scratch, thankfully.

I also missed my turn a bit further on and wound up climbing an extra 300m I didn’t need to do. Oh well. Weird day!

F-150 coming in the other direction turned left In front of him. According to Strava he was doing 33kph, and he figures the truck was doing 50ish. Caught the headlight at the knee. The driver had to be admitted to hospital for shock. He had a couple of surguries, but is hoping to get back into triathlons.

As horrific as his injury looks, any time you have an accident like that, and you’re still breathing and can feel all of your limbs, you have to be grateful. It’s funny (in a macabre sort of way), but I could easily not have survived my crash, and the only external signs would have been some road rash on my knee and hands.

I can’t stress this any more strongly: get a blindingly bright flasher for solo rides, and use it day and night (and augment with a steady for illumination if required). Yeah, they’re ugly and the battery pack is heavy, but I think we owe it to the people who indulge our passion.

@Buck Rogers It has been one issue after another lately.   man period stopped.  Doc said it was likely from some blunt impact to testicles.  Saving grace is Autumn weather.  I absolutely love wearing warmers and gilets.  I saw you mention a NY cogal, weekend of the 20th I am busy, but would love to make it any of the other dates!

Man!  That’s crazy!  Those grate bridges are deadly.  Very happily amazed that you were not hurt worse.  Hope you heal quickly!  

By the way, are you still pissing blood or did you get that looked at and taken care of???

@brett

@ten B

+1 x 2…

What is the Tarantino scene from?

It’s from Google. Seriously though, apparently It’s from a movie called “Sleep with Me”, which I haven’t seen.

Oh, and for the masochists out there (and perhaps the sadists too – you perverted w****er c***s) a photo of my bro’s knee injury (I decided to link it instead of posting for the squeamish little girls out there):

Ouchie

Yes!  That is an awesome injury!  An ortho’s wet dream right there, baby.  It will be a while before he is powering any cranks, though.  Hope he makes a full recovery.  That is a beast of an injury!

Lucky, there was no traffic behind me, seemingly a first for every time I’ve had to cross it, there is a line of cars zooming by.  I feel the rear slip and immediately thinking “here it comes”, and bam, down I go, hard on my left side.  Just as fast as I went down, I bounced back up, grabbing my bike and walking as fast as I can in carbon fiber soles across what seemed to be icy pond of metal, offering zero traction.  

Once back on the concrete end of things, I give myself a once over and notice the grater took a toll on me: knees, hands, shoulder, helmet.  A good amount of blood leaking from here and there, but I was pretty loaded on adrenaline that none of the pain was evident with the damage.  I reached my food stop with ideas of grandeur, that I’d grab the food, and be on with the ride.  After hopping off the bike and collecting the items, the chemical rush wore off, and was hit with nausea and dry heaves.  So much for that ride.  Scrap bin for the time being.

20 hours later and I can only think of a few things:1) I just got that helmet 2) none of my kit was torn 3) it’s very difficult to shift the front mech 4) I’m a day behind on the Strava challenge 5) my sunnies never fell off the back of my neck.  I’m a bit mental for sure, but aren’t we all one way or another?

Everyone’s stories in here are very encouraging.  That just might be what makes our glass half full.

jesus christ! How do I get that image out my brain? Did he crash into the DPW wood chipper detail on the side of the road? 

Thanks for at least linking that. Cyclops would have just posted up. He is an animal.

Fucking awesome read!  Totally laughing out loud and your line about “That guy rides like someone who has not fallen off yet” is perfect! Totally lexicon worthy in my opinion but perhaps too long.  Thanks for sharing.

Ah man!  You psyched me out!  Followed your link and expected to see them!  Cruel man, cruel!

@doubleR – you have my sympathies, chest drains are a bitch.  When I had mine put in it was fine until the morphine wore off…

Exactly… this thread is like sending a gilt-edged invitation to A Fate c/- Doom House, Superstition Road, Curseville.

I’m doing a mountain ride next Friday with a descent where I would normally be hitting around 80km/h and I’m going to be thinking of all these f*cking photos and horror stories.

It’s still not enough to make me wear a helmet though.

You’re riding a mountain bike without a helmet? Because? 

You’re a moron. 

@doubleR

* Fractured right clavicle
* Bruised ribs
* Pneumothorax (partially collapsed right lung)
* Road rash all over my right side
* Crushing headache for two days (CT scan was negative).

So, here I sit on the sofa, loopy on Norco with a machine circulating cold water around my shoulder. My wife is already telling me that cycling is too dangerous, and that I should give it up.

As much as I love cycling, the pain I’ve been through in the last six days has given me pause. For the rest of you-were you temped at all to hang up your cleats? When you did get back on the road, were you apprehensive of every car, every piece of debris in the road? How long did it take for your confidence to return?

Ouch, ouch… and ouch. That must have been a really bad one you’ve had there. Yikes.

As for being tempted to give up cycling altogether: yes, I’ve certainly had that thought cross my mind from time to time during recovery from painful crashes. And with regard to feeling completely comfortable about getting back on the road, I’d say you’ll be looking at months rather than weeks, like @Nate says. Trying to force things will probably do you no good, as you might be at risk of getting a bit too tense out there – and that is never a good thing when riding. The ‘trick’, if there is one, could be to take it slow, and start out by avoiding, as much as you can, situations where you know things can get hectic. Re-gain your confidence, as it were.

And for what it’s worth: we can (also) get badly hurt doing something far less enjoyable than cycling. I once came out of a supermarket carrying an armful of groceries and tripped over a stupid piece of plastic band, of the type that is wrapped around cardboard boxes. Tried (and failed miserably) to save my quart of milk and jar of orange juice from exploding all over the pavement, fell hard and broke my fucking elbow. If I’d be allowed a choice as to where and how I’ll get bone fractures in the future, I’d pick cycling any time of the day.

Good luck, man – get well soon, and ride prudently

The timing of my crash was such that the road season was over anyway. I had hung up the bike just before my VMH and I got together, then when I started riding/ racing again, I’ve had good luck. Though I could have done another race or 2 post crash/ healing, she wasn’t too excited about that. Time heals all wounds like they say, and come this spring, I’ll be back at it I’m sure. I get cranky if I can’t get out and ride or do something physical (it’s the time of year to rock climb here). 

* Fractured right clavicle
* Bruised ribs
* Pneumothorax (partially collapsed right lung)
* Road rash all over my right side
* Crushing headache for two days (CT scan was negative).

So, here I sit on the sofa, loopy on Norco with a machine circulating cold water around my shoulder. My wife is already telling me that cycling is too dangerous, and that I should give it up.

As much as I love cycling, the pain I’ve been through in the last six days has given me pause. For the rest of you-were you temped at all to hang up your cleats? When you did get back on the road, were you apprehensive of every car, every piece of debris in the road? How long did it take for your confidence to return?

Ouch, ouch… and ouch. That must have been a really bad one you’ve had there. Yikes.

As for being tempted to give up cycling altogether: yes, I’ve certainly had that thought cross my mind from time to time during recovery from painful crashes. And with regard to feeling completely comfortable about getting back on the road, I’d say you’ll be looking at months rather than weeks, like @Nate says. Trying to force things will probably do you no good, as you might be at risk of getting a bit too tense out there – and that is never a good thing when riding. The ‘trick’, if there is one, could be to take it slow, and start out by avoiding, as much as you can, situations where you know things can get hectic. Re-gain your confidence, as it were.

And for what it’s worth: we can (also) get badly hurt doing something far less enjoyable than cycling. I once came out of a supermarket carrying an armful of groceries and tripped over a stupid piece of plastic band, of the type that is wrapped around cardboard boxes. Tried (and failed miserably) to save my quart of milk and jar of orange juice from exploding all over the pavement, fell hard and broke my fucking elbow. If I’d be allowed a choice as to where and how I’ll get bone fractures in the future, I’d pick cycling any time of the day.

Good luck, man – get well soon, and ride prudently

@ErikdR

It’s adrenaline I reckon – after a fall you’ve obviously put yourself in danger and your body’s natural reaction is to juice yourself up to get out of danger and get somewhere safe. It sucks when it wears off, your body cools down and things start throbbing. 

 

Minion, that’s spot on as far as I can tell – Adrenalin would trigger a sort of “fight or flight” reaction, yes? And as there’s usually nothing left to fight after trying to punch the tarmac out, you’d feel compelled to get the hell away from the scene. Very good point.

Over almost forty years, on and off, I must have cycled more than 100,000 km, and I’ve had 5 crashes in all – three major ones that required a recovery period, and two minor ones that I just rode away from more or less undamaged.

I remember The 3 major ones vividly: the first was, partly, caused by monumental stupidity on my part, the second was just a matter of being weirdly unfortunate and the third was boringly predictable. They all sucked, big time… but none required hospitalisation or anything. And you know what? I actually consider myself pretty lucky with regard to my crashing statistics. I’ll most likely find out what number 4 has in store for me, at some point – although I must admit that I ride a lot more cautiously nowadays then when I was young(er)

I’m still chuckling a bit at @roadslaves’ British take on the matter, though: “terribly sorry to have fallen”. A good sense of humour in the face of mishap – that’s the ticket…

Something else that I find impressive, is the fact that even a hip/ass that looks the way @roadslaves’ does at the moment, and yes, even a knee that looks as horribly demolished as the one on @Ten B’s brother, can actually heal – and be healed – with time (and in the case of  @Ten B’s brother, with help, of course…)

I’m absolutely awestruck by these self-repairing mechanisms, or whatever, that are at work in the human body, which can transform a road rash that looks like uncooked hamburger into a patch of slightly-paler-than-usual skin in a matter of months. The old lady who, as Tim Krabbé puts it, so richly rewards those few who still can be bothered to woo her – i.e Mother Nature – is a class act in my opinion. 

@ten B OK, that’s not an “ouchie;” that is an outtake from a horror movie! Did he get back on a bike (or even walk) with that leg again?

It was 10 days ago, so he’s still laid up. He did IM Mont Tremblant a few weeks ago, so he’s not lacking in the V department. He’s hoping to make a full recovery, and get onto the new P3 he bought a week before the accident (luckily he was on his old bike).

@ten B

+1 x 2…

What is the Tarantino scene from?

It’s from Google. Seriously though, apparently It’s from a movie called “Sleep with Me”, which I haven’t seen.

Oh, and for the masochists out there (and perhaps the sadists too – you perverted w****er c***s) a photo of my bro’s knee injury (I decided to link it instead of posting for the squeamish little girls out there):

Ouchie

Great article @Roadslave. A month or so ago, I was talking to my teammate, telling him that I was surprised that my ticket hadn’t been punched in the 3 years since I had come back to racing.

Thought I’m not generally superstitious, I should have never said anything. That very night, at our Tuesday night worlds local race, I went into the tarmac at 54Kph. Couldn’t be avoided. My teammate that I ran into, ended up in the ER with a broken collar bone and scapula.

Exactly… this thread is like sending a gilt-edged invitation to A Fate c/- Doom House, Superstition Road, Curseville.

I’m doing a mountain ride next Friday with a descent where I would normally be hitting around 80km/h and I’m going to be thinking of all these f*cking photos and horror stories.

It’s still not enough to make me wear a helmet though.

+1 x 2…

What is the Tarantino scene from?

No one else has mentioned it, so I’ll bring up the ‘be fucking sure your gear is functioning PERFECTLY’ advice if you plan on riding hard and parking at home sans weeping wounds and worrying bulges. My drivetrain developed an occasional click after a high side chain unshipment wrapped up the rear derailleur and crank arm in amusing yet confounding ways. ‘How the fuck….’. The chain was less than recent, and I’d put on a used cassette to boot. After this incident, and only in the 53 x 19, a small ‘click’ would assail my ears. Irritating, but it had no effect aside from esthetic.

So, I’m riding after work with C, trading pulls and generally getting worked up into a powerhouse frenzy, and jump to the front to sprint up an overpass on a completely deserted side road. Shift into the 53 x 19, grab the hoods and stand up, cranking hard but with perfectly smooth form, trying to maintain at least 30 over the top when I hear ‘CLICK’ and the fully loaded drive side crank suddenly skips 90 degrees. Here comes the curb and railing…swerve back left with a massive correction fighting to regain control, and try to pedal through to get the left crankarm down so I can swerve right to save this and now, it fucking jams. Ribs meet the road at just under 30 km/h, and the bike rebounds up off the road and slaps my right inner shin so hard the whiplash snaps my head off the pavement. Shortest skid ever. 6 feet, tops. If you want to absorb a maximum of velocity in a minimum of distance, I recommend crashing uphill.

Assessment time. I can stand. This is good. Left side ribs feel very strange, like something bulgy was just placed beneath them. Push on them. Nothing horrible happens. Good.  Blood runs down my right leg where unknown bike parts gouged into my knee. Following the blood trail, the frame meets shin point is revealed by a crazy bulge. Leg supports weight, can’t be broken. Left hip check, yep, rash inside shorts. Left arm, standard edition road rash. Right shifter pushed in a bit, chain needs putting back in place, and multiple checks reveal nothing to explain what happened. Clearly, sprinting in the 53×19 is ‘out’ for the duration. Crush it on the way home, set a personal best along the way, and 6 weeks later my ribs still aren’t normal.

Check your gear. The V is all good and well, but best observed via intentional suffering.

Iceman: The Later Years by popculturefiend

And as for that abomination of a movie (as a self-respecting Naval Aviator I vomit into my mouth a bit every time I hear a Top Gun quote), I have to agree with Quentin’s take on it:

oh and quick — first spoken lines in top gun. don’t cheat. winner gets… well, nothing other than the embarrassment of knowing that wee bit of 80s movie trivia.

@Cyclops  is right on, things can go to shit so suddenly it’s scary. There have been several instances recently of cyclists being killed on the road here in central Texas and it really gives you something to think about. Is your bicycle properly maintained, is the route your taking safe? Are you going alone, with a group/team?

Really the only thing to do is get back on the bike and ride.

It’s adrenaline I reckon – after a fall you’ve obviously put yourself in danger and your body’s natural reaction is to juice yourself up to get out of danger and get somewhere safe. It sucks when it wears off, your body cools down and things start throbbing. 

By the fucking way, crash talk must be about as bad as puncture talk for the superstitious. After I saw Scaler 911’s purple arse on here, I innocently thought, huh I haven’t crashed for a while. Few days later, hit a pothole doing I think 40-ish on a decent, had the bars jerked out of my hands when the front wheel hit, then bucked off the saddle when the back wheel hit the pothole. No fucken chance of holding that one together, although I did manage to get hold of the bars again on the way down somehow, since I hit the ground holding them and turned a 42cm set of bars into a 38cm set of bars at the drops. 

Moral of the story is, I wasn’t wearing gloves; I took half the skin off my right palm, and the skin off the tips of my index and middle finger, and a decent chunk of flesh out of my left elbow. The following week at work sucked hard (can’t type with 2 fingers on your right hand, can’t lean on your left elbow, can’t sit back in the chair because of bruised hip) 

Moral of the story #2, do it in front of an audience. I was riding round the burbs here, and hadn’t seen anyone at all for 40 minutes; the street I do it in front of a parked car getting ready to pull out, 2 guys with concrete mixers, and a car full of a women getting ready to go somewhere. Very embarrassing to ride around hilly Wellington for years and never cook a decent, then come here and stack it on what could generously be described as a ‘rise’. 

Good Mercxk I think I’ve crashed more than some of you have had hot dinners. Admittedly most of the bangers were while I was a cycle courier (stupid riding + 8 hours a day + taxis) but they’re par for the course. I’ve got the cyclist’s collarbone and rarely feel anything in my elbows when I crash these days. 

Oh and get good scars – after one run in with a taxi, I headbutted the curb and split open the skin to the left of my left eye socket. Bit of tarmac got in there, and now I have a small permanent dark road coloured scar there, a wee bit like a single teardrop tattoo that Marcus got either in Prison or Freddy Mercury’s house (Marcus’ reasons for being at both places is the same). 

Great article, Roadslave. Maverick out.

@Cyclops

I have an acquaintance that is on a conti-pro team that had his front wheel come of on a 80kph descent early this season.  He’s done.  He rides a little but he’s having a hard time reconciling the danger with the benefit.

That’s my one phobia “” losing a front wheel on a fast descent. And it started this season after a crash (March). This really hit me after the doctor’s release (broken clavicle) out during the 2nd rehab ride, while going down a long, fast section. The descent lasted long enough to get it in my head, so I stopped almost near the bottom and checked both skewers. I wanted to get beyond it and resumed all the downhill speed and more so. I have the *phobia*, but rationalize it as craziness… I know that I constantly check the skewers

Yeah I found my rear QR loose while on vacation with my bike earlier this month (in and out of the car with it, taking wheels on and off) and I guess I had not checked it well enough.

Finding the lever that has almost worked itself into the open position after you’ve ridden up and down 1k of elevation gives you a bit of pause thinking “what if”.

You are now forgiven for posting that avulsed arm photo earlier. +1. Beauty

I have an acquaintance that is on a conti-pro team that had his front wheel come of on a 80kph descent early this season.  He’s done.  He rides a little but he’s having a hard time reconciling the danger with the benefit.

That’s my one phobia — losing a front wheel on a fast descent. And it started this season after a crash (March). This really hit me after the doctor’s release (broken clavicle) out during the 2nd rehab ride, while going down a long, fast section. The descent lasted long enough to get it in my head, so I stopped almost near the bottom and checked both skewers. I wanted to get beyond it and resumed all the downhill speed and more so. I have the *phobia*, but rationalize it as craziness… I know that I constantly check the skewers

I spent my teenage years crashing bmx’s, mountain bikes and skateboards, my shins and knees look like i’ve been in a shark attack.

As yet, i’ve avoided anything more than a light scrape on the road. i know it’ll come at some point….i really should wear gloves more often.

Isn’t it just the funniest thing?  why do we need to get back on so quickly?  I thought it was because I’m British:  “Terribly sorry to have fallen.  All ok now.   No need to fuss.  Let’s pretend it didn’t happen and just move on, shall we”.  Spot on observation

Like this?

Great article mate, but really don’t need to see that arse ever again…

Ouch, scary.  I’ve had nothing like that.  Even so, I was off the bike for about a month, and it took another 3-6 months to get comfortable on the bike after.

* Fractured right clavicle
* Bruised ribs
* Pneumothorax (partially collapsed right lung)
* Road rash all over my right side
* Crushing headache for two days (CT scan was negative). Until I got home from the ER and sorted through the belongings the paramedics had collected, I didn’t realize I had indeed

 hit my head–that’s when I noticed my dented, cracked helmet. (That helmet undoubtably saved my life).

Wednesday, I had a chest tube inserted to vent the air and reinflate the lung. Yesterday was the surgery. My orthopedic surgeon is a great doctor. I’ve known him for years, and he’s even a cyclist. After the surgery, he told me the damage was pretty extensive, and he had to put in a lot of hardware.

So, here I sit on the sofa, loopy on Norco with a machine circulating cold water around my shoulder. My wife is already telling me that cycling is too dangerous, and that I should give it up.

As much as I love cycling, the pain I’ve been through in the last six days has given me pause. For the rest of you–were you temped at all to hang up your cleats? When you did get back on the road, were you apprehensive of every car, every piece of debris in the road? How long did it take for your confidence to return?

@Cyclops Wow, that is a particularly gross, puss-filled picture.

I think you are being a bit harsh toward his gravatar.

A highlight of the Keepers Tour was hearing @roadslave’s stories. He’s a great story teller, even when I asked him to tell the story of the “black bike” for the fifth time. I was like a little child: “Tell it again! Tell it again!”

Being in the unfortunate situation of having ripped a V-jersey during a fall last month, I wonder how a V-jersey should be retired? Should it be cremated at dawn while making the sign of the Merckx? Reused as a shop rag? Saved for use as a tourniquet after the next crash?

Left at the shrine of a fallen cyclist as an offering.

I thought it was because I’m British:  “Terribly sorry to have fallen.  All ok now.   No need to fuss.  Let’s pretend it didn’t happen and just move on, shall we”. 

Solid. Gold. Never knew it was so hard to get Trappist ale off a keyboard. Live & learn, I guess…

Didn’t crash the Pegoretti — my crash was almost 2 years ago.  Hadn’t done accupuncture before, but it seemed helpful.  I’ve found that with the fizik tape I can re-wrap pretty successfully after tweaking lever position or whatever.  But after a crash you’re likely to need new tape.  No one has ever asked me about the ring.

Nate – a Pegoretti & acupuncture? You west coasters are far out! Didn’t realize you went down. Ugh, smashed shifter, no good. I have a fear when unwrapping bars to fix something that I’ll never be able to get it perfect again. I guess when I become rich I’ll always toss on new tape. Have you had any funny queries about wearing your ring on the “wrong” hand?

roadslave – ha! I did and am still pushing to always wear my ring on a neck chain. It feels odd on my finger, could be that I’m only two months in, and I’m always taking it off for cycling and other sports. I like your small white lie…

Ha, yeah, all V-jerseys should have a lifetime crash replacement warranty. But, I do like the idea of a cremation.

My worst crash resulted from a heavy rainstorm and getting cut off by a cabbie. Broke my favorite eyeglasses,  have a scar above my eye, and missed a darn good concert while at the hospital getting stitched up. A woman who saw me go down was kind enough to give me a tea towel to hold on my face & I’m guessing she’s the one who called the ambulance. Oh, and for anyone without health insurance – be very careful riding in an ambulance unless you have a solid bank account. I had no idea how much that cost until I got the bill. Thankfully it was covered.

@ErikdR, you made an intelligent and true comment.

Here in Italy one of the preferred moment to talk about ‘cadute’ (fall) is just before the start of the races, there you can hear the most horrific stories, I’m curious to know if it’s the same elsewhere.

@G’rilla Returned to @Frank for replacement under the “Velominati free lifetime crash guarantee program”?

Amazed that the bike was (relatively)unscathed!

Aside from the visible injuries (roadrash, stitches in chin, tweaked fingers) my body was all out of whack for a while after — achy, temperature regulation off, etc.  A few acupuncture sessions helped a lot.

I now have to wear my wedding ring on the other hand because the second knuckle on my left ring finger is bigger than it used to be.  Also, didn’t just scuff an ergolever but broke the plastic body of it — had to replace.

Being in the unfortunate situation of having ripped a V-jersey during a fall last month, I wonder how a V-jersey should be retired? Should it be cremated at dawn while making the sign of the Merckx? Reused as a shop rag? Saved for use as a tourniquet after the next crash?