Obsessive

Hello, all.

I just wanted to share the experience I had with a pretty severe wipeout I had today. I was riding my Trek 7.2FX on a local bike trail and it was a beautiful day. I've been enjoying the bike - already racking up about 500 miles on it so far. The ride was going well until I was approximately two miles from my truck. It was dusk and I turned my headlight and tail light on and proceeded to keep the pace up. I saw some water on the path and went to go around to the right of the puddle, knowing that sometimes there is sandy mud at the bottom in that spot. Unfortunately, there was mud that matched the old blacktop perfectly because it was still damp. I ran through a slight layer of mud - just enough to coat the tires - and that was 'all she wrote'. I was sucked towards the edge of the path and pulled into where the grass rises above the path level - right at the edge and decided to ride it out without freaking out and hitting the brakes. I came out of the mud fine, but the tires were still muddied up and the front tire kicked sideways a little with the rear following.

The bike kicked out from under me and I landed on my left hip, elbow, and my right knee kicked forward and scraped. This is aside from hitting my head - just above the left temple. The helmet ended up saving me from a fractured skull as it cracked in three places on that side. The hit was strong, but I didn't black out. I checked myself out and got up and was a bit dizzy and confused along with a headache. I've had concussions before and this one fit the bill. In the end, the crash got me a severely skinned ankle, road rash on my two knees (right is worse) a pinched little finger, smashed and bashed right thumb, and a HUGE bruise and 'carpet burn' on my hip from my biking shorts. Interestingly enough - no clothes were torn... wth.

The bike handled it very well. It bent the left pedal cage, nicked the rear axle release, and tore up the handlebar tape on the bull horns and scratched them under the tears. Everything else is just fine. I ended up riding it back to the truck and sitting on the tailgate for a bit. I'm new to biking as I injured my lower back and pinched my sciatic nerve which took about 50% strength out of my calf. I was a very avid long distance runner, so I needed something 'low impact' that didn't rely so much on calf strength. In this case it was high impact - not what I was looking for .

Still have a slight headache, but other than that am fine. I learned two lessons. BE CAREFUL - I never fell running over 1000's of miles believe it or not, but I also wasn't doing 18mph. WEAR A HELMET. I always thought they were goofy before I switched to bikes. I now know that I was the one that was goofy for thinking that.

B. Carfree

Did you drive that truck from the trailhead with your concussion of unknown severity, or did you call someone to come get you?

I don't worry much about crashing my bike. I've only been unbiked once in over 550,000 miles (and I landed on my feet), so it seems like a low risk proposition. However, I wouldn't drive after receiving a blow to the head unless it was necessary to save someone's life. I've been in and seen the results of car crashes and those aren't worth the risk, imo.

Chris0516

I agree. About getting a ride after a crash of that nature.

rydabent

Glad to hear you are pretty much ok.

When I post on the helmet thread unexpected accidents like this can happen to almost anyone any time, I am called an old fool.

baron von trail 

It happens. I crash now and then, but it was the one that broke my leg which sold me on the idea of wearing a helmet all the time. My head never came close to hitting pavement, but the impact which cracked my femur at the hip certainly showed me that I am not in as much control while falling as I thought I was. I've worn the plastic hat ever since.

Obsessive

I called my wife. Didn't feel like driving at all. Her friend brought her down so she could drive my truck home.