Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Fixie Related Injuries - Your first fixie off

Searched - no threads, so out to the 1 1/8 chain gods.

I crashed hard this morning at the much vaunted Brunswick Velo (Melba Aust) doing some 'hip sprinting'.
Dumbass that I am, I didnt give up when the bloke I was racing with beat me to the racing line and I clipped his stays, got a little airtime and ended up with a broken RH collarbone, lots of asphalt love bites and the need for a new lid.
I blame this on my lack of racing composure/maturity and/or my continental sized ego. And you know, I may not have flipped with a freewheel.
Leading me to my question, what was your first substantial crash you had on your fixie?

Im trying not to start 'a how big is your willie' thread, but Im keen to see what can throw a noob off his brand new fixie.

(Edit - try posting dialled out on painkillers and Gin with only your left hand, I mean, F*ck)

AB

Here's my fixie related injury:

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6748/ouch6on0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Fractured skull (two places), fractured lumbar vertebra (three of 'em).

Wear a helmet, kids. :)

HOLY *F* Schnee !!!
I must have missed the thread about how this happened..
What happened ? Are you OK, now ?
Wow....gruesome !

Lapse of concentration threw me. Trying to trackstand and
forgot about toeverlap :eek: Very easy get-off. Im lucky.
Forgetting to pedal is the one that almost did, though...
That first nano-second you forget to keep pedaling
trying to jump a pothole or curb can be very painful :cry:

cabbie. didn't make the curb hop.

got off easy, cracked rib and :

http://wellthathappened.com/yh/ouch2.jpg

last summer i got 'hit' by a car. i was going downhill towards the major intersection in town, intending on making a left at the light. a van is behind me, but i'm spinning pretty hard to keep ahead of him. he pulls up even with me right before the light, and then gets just to my left for the turn. take the left turn, but this guy is on me and pushing me into an eight inch curb. so yeah, i hit the curb, flew over the bars, saw my bike fly over me... ended up with a few spots gouged out of my right hand and wrist, but other than that everything was alright.

and the driver didn't even stop to see how i was when he definitly was the culprit for me hitting the curb.

my hand looks alien in that pic!

Here's my fixie related injury:
That is scary as hell.

I have that same t-shirt. :)

last summer i got 'hit' by a car. i was going downhill towards the major intersection in town, intending on making a left at the light. a van is behind me, but i'm spinning pretty hard to keep ahead of him. he pulls up even with me right before the light, and then gets just to my left for the turn. take the left turn, but this guy is on me and pushing me into an eight inch curb. so yeah, i hit the curb, flew over the bars, saw my bike fly over me... ended up with a few spots gouged out of my right hand and wrist, but other than that everything was alright.

and the driver didn't even stop to see how i was when he definitly was the culprit for me hitting the curb.

Almost the same thing happened to me Feb 15th! Some bastard in an SUV did a right turn in front of me. I had about six feet to stop. I nailed the front brake and somehow managed to lockup the rear too (frozen in fear?) but there wasn't enough space to slow down much. SMACK! A brain bleed to an emergency med flight to a 3 day weekend in ICU has left me with a 3" skull fracture, a vague feeling of a hangover, and the last month off the bike. And oh yeah, the little ****er didn't stop.(insert exploding SUV icon here)

That is scary as hell.
God, I hope so. Learn from my stupidity.


I have that same t-shirt. :)
I don't anymore, they cut it off me in the ambulance.* :(

The story... casual group ride... I wasn't going very fast. I stood up, stomped on the pedals to get some speed, my right foot unclipped, then ... I woke up on my back with a crowd of people and bright lights all around me.

If all goes well, my skull fractures will heal OK, I'll get my hearing back in my right ear, the tinnitus will go away, and I won't have to get several vertebra fused together. I get my back brace off in three weeks... cross your fingers.

I think my crash was a combination of things... eggbeater C's + worn cleats + unclipping + fixed gear + big guy + twitchy track bike = going down. I always wear a helmet, that ride I forgot it and went anyway. I'll never make that mistake again. I'm also having second thoughts about fixed; I wouldn't have gone down if my cranks would have been able to reverse. Fixed is *so* fun, but I'm thinking about it hard.


* Funny story - I was strapped to a board with a full neck brace. Paramedics were putting needles into me, and getting ready to cut off my clothing when someone in the group shouted "Wait!" The paramedics stopped what they were doing, and looked at him. He said, "Don't cut that shirt, he just got it for his birthday!". I think they paused for a half second before cutting. :D

jesus, dude. what ride was that?

If all goes well, my skull fractures will heal OK, I'll get my hearing back in my right ear, the tinnitus will go away, and I won't have to get several vertebra fused together. I get my back brace off in three weeks... cross your fingers.



*. :D
My hearing finally came back close to normal this week and the tinnitus is fading (that's weird it was my right ear too), it feels like it takes forever, but it will happen.
Good luck on the vertebrae.

this happend yesterday i was realy drunk and going from a freinds work to a freinds house closed my eyes for a second or two hit the curb and fly off ...the bike is alright... other injures i got that night was a bruised knee and spraind wrist...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/StepUpGhettoBlaster/HPIM0487.jpg
how do ya like the tan?

is that a heart shaped scab, or a bad tattoo?

I was doing some laps in the park. Then I was sitting on the ground staring at a puddle of blood and holding a napkin under my nose. There were a bunch of people around me and an EMT came over and put me in a neck brace.

I was told later that a kid ran into the street and I hit him.

how do ya like the tan?

Holy ****, Refry, it's not like we live in the Valley of the Sun or anything.

Oh yeah, and I ate **** a couple weeks ago when I was riding all alone late at night. Ran into some construction, went over something in the dark (asphalt chunk? rut in the road? crackhead?) hard enough to bounce the front wheel halfway out of the fork ends, then while I was braking and thinking "crap crap crap", I hit something else (parking block? sawhorse? toddler?) and the front wheel came the rest of the way out. I only figured out what must have happened when I picked myself up off the ground and walked across the street to retrieve my front wheel. But I look at the bright side: if the wheel hadn't come out, it might have come out of true worse than it did.

My whole right side still aches from that one, though.

is that a heart shaped scab, or a bad tattoo?
scab...
damn thats sweet i wouldnt of noticed..

I got t-boned by a motorcycle last summer. His fault. Didn't break anything but had the tendons in my thumb snap. In the hospital, my thumb just popped off its joint and my thumb went up into my hand. It was so nasty looking i almost puked. but then i didn't.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7443938@N05/431537138/

Thumbs up!

I don't like this thread.

Yeah it's kind of a nasty thread. but if you learn something about how to prevent your own mess, then maybe its good to read. I was dumb enough to bring my peddle down on top of a curb while running out of the city full speed. I picked the whole back of the bike up, and when I slammed back down i bounced out of the saddle, and over the handle bars.

My bike was mint, but I hit the pavement hard. Fractured two fingers, and gouged my knuckles deep enough to generate some pretty good scar tissue. Skinned my face, and ended up with an elbow just like refrys. The best part was i hit the ground so hard I puked. I was a bloody vomitus mess.....and then I went to work.

Fractured hipster.

Oldy but goody:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/guerillaidiom/IMG_6671.jpg

Most recent semi-major injury:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/guerillaidiom/IMG_1103.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/guerillaidiom/IMG_1100.jpg

First few weeks using clips and straps, came to a stop, forgot to slide my feet out and tried to just lift them up off the pedals, and fell flat over on my side in front of a bunch of people. I bruised my leg. hahah.. barely even an injury. In fact, let's just call it a funny blunder.

But I did wipe out wicked hard on my BMX a few times, trying to do some crazy stunt here and there. I got into a weird "tankslapper" situation while pedalling full speed one day. The front wheel started hopping left-right-left-right while the handlebars whipped left and right too, completely beyond my control. A couple seconds of that and I was catapulted over the front of the bike onto my side on the concrete. I left like 10 feet of skin skid marks as I skidded to a stop. I didn't notice until my friend pointed them out to me. Still scarred up from that one.

Me and my gf were riding home from a party, i was slightly drunk (not a factor in the injury) I came to a stop in front of her apartment gate, started to track stand. My gf pulls up, and drunkingly says "dont show off" and gives me a push, i fall over. Somehow, acording to the doctor i later described this too, as i stood up with all my of weight on my right leg, which was slightly twisted, i dislocated my knee. As i stood up, i heard a pop, and my nee started to hurt like a ***** and i couldnt walk or fully straiten it. Then, i kind of pushed on me knee, and stood up strait, and it popped again. Acording to the doctor, i popped it back into place. I was able to walk normaly again instantly, but it was slighly sore, and for about a week i needed to stretch my knee.

It was a total WTF moment.

you left out the most important part... did you push her over next time she got on her bike?

Me and my gf were riding home from a party, i was slightly drunk (not a factor in the injury) I came to a stop in front of her apartment gate, started to track stand. My gf pulls up, and drunkingly says "dont show off" and gives me a push, i fall over.

You mean ex-girlfriend, right? hehe

Oldy but goody:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/guerillaidiom/IMG_6671.jpg



This may seem like a strange question but are you a Gemini? People who fall under that sign ofter have hands as their point of injury. I sure do.

Wear a helmet, kids. :)

X Gazillion. I trashed my helmet and gloves and I'll spare no expense on their replacements.

And pharken hell schnee, I sure as fried chicken hope you come out of that ok. Geebuz. :eek:

Me and my gf were riding home from a party, i was slightly drunk (not a factor in the injury) I came to a stop in front of her apartment gate, started to track stand. My gf pulls up, and drunkingly says "dont show off" and gives me a push, i fall over. Somehow, acording to the doctor i later described this too, as i stood up with all my of weight on my right leg, which was slightly twisted, i dislocated my knee. As i stood up, i heard a pop, and my nee started to hurt like a ***** and i couldnt walk or fully straiten it. Then, i kind of pushed on me knee, and stood up strait, and it popped again. Acording to the doctor, i popped it back into place. I was able to walk normaly again instantly, but it was slighly sore, and for about a week i needed to stretch my knee.

It was a total WTF moment.


Oh my god, this post is HILARIOUS.

jesus, dude. what ride was that?
Velo Culture. (Waves to Sky)

Thanks for the supportive comments. I feel a little attention-whorish about the pic, but the consequences of me not wearing the helmet should be seen...

I was riding to school no-handed and came upon a huge pothole that I didn't notice in time. I nearly got my hands on the bars before my front wheel went askew, but I think the sudden panic motion is what actually caused me to crash at full speed. The worst part was that I was wearing a chain like a bandolier and I ended up with a lock-shaped bruise on my ribs for a couple of weeks. Also, I messed up my front wheel, twisted my stem and bent the rails of my good saddle. I don't ride no-handed downtown anymore.

Snuck from behind on 6th and Lombard. Never caught the jerkoff.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v154/gore_galore/Picture00502.jpg
after 3 days in the hospital and no showering...aka my birthday.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v154/gore_galore/smiling.jpg
Same accident a day or 2 later. Grand total: Fractured skull and eye socket with some air apparently leaking into my brain (could also have been the cause for the 2 seizures I had). Also a little road rash.

I'm going to buy a helmet this week. Sickning thread.

I have a seriously hard time believing there are people cycling without helmets. And yet, I do see them, from time to time.

I wore a helmet since the very first time I put my ass on a bicycle, and even thought I fell plenty of times in my life, I've never fractured my skull. Closest I came to that, was half a minute of disorientation (the helmet in that case saved me from serious head injuries).

I'm going to buy a helmet this week. Sickning thread.

I was beginning to regret starting this thread until I read that.

Great decision.
You rock.

I converted to ss/fg from BMX a few months ago, and the helmet was the second thing I bought (after the bike). I'm with Wroomwroomoops, I can't believe people ride in the city without helmets. There's absolutely no good reason not to wear one. So what if you look semi-stupid? You know what else looks stupid? A dent in your skull.

Smorgasgeorge...I ride all the way down Lombard everyday. After seeing your face, I'm gonna be a little more careful from now on.

I'm going to buy a helmet this week. Sickning thread.
Yay!

Velo Culture. (Waves to Sky)

Thanks for the supportive comments. I feel a little attention-whorish about the pic, but the consequences of me not wearing the helmet should be seen...

damn, never been on those rides. hope you get back in the saddle soon.

Most recent semi-major injury:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/guerillaidiom/IMG_1103.jpg

I'm no doctor[soon-to-be emt if that counts for anything] but that has got to ****ing hurt.

i was drafting behind a car that reeked of weed when i hit a big bump in the road.i was going top speed and couldn't avoid it and got air. when i came down my wheel was crooked and the bike turned abruptly left under me. the bike fell over and i kept going forwards. i think i did a flip in the air and hit a tree with my head. the result was a lot of bruising and one busted helmet. i could have been deader than dead though.

those stoned ****ers wouldn't even stop to help me out.

wear a helmet and replace a crashed one even if it looks fine.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/431998802_e4e316d16b.jpg
Road rash on the arm from laying my bike down after hitting some gravel
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/431998822_2a784d5eba.jpg
Road rash on my leg from the same fall

Both of these were memorial day last year. Still have scars on both parts of my body.

+++++ to wearing a helmet and gloves. My head and hands were fine, though both were pretty scratched up. Also ++++++ to having a bag on.. kept me from dragging my back on the road.

This may seem like a strange question but are you a Gemini? People who fall under that sign ofter have hands as their point of injury. I sure do.

I'm virgo, and right on the libra cusp. I was supposed to be born around christmas though. If that counts for anything.

I also like long walks on the beach, vegan dinners and bad movies, smashing hummers, a long day of shopping retail without paying for anything, holding hands, and cuddling.

What's your sign?




I'm no doctor[soon-to-be emt if that counts for anything] but that has got to ****ing hurt.

It hurt the most when the bone shards were trying to tear through the top of my palm.

Oh yeah, and I ate **** a couple weeks ago when I was riding all alone late at night. Ran into some construction, went over something in the dark (asphalt chunk? rut in the road? crackhead?) hard enough to bounce the front wheel halfway out of the fork ends, then while I was braking and thinking "crap crap crap", I hit something else (parking block? sawhorse? toddler?) and the front wheel came the rest of the way out. I only figured out what must have happened when I picked myself up off the ground and walked across the street to retrieve my front wheel. But I look at the bright side: if the wheel hadn't come out, it might have come out of true worse than it did.

My whole right side still aches from that one, though.

you should be able to bend your frame in half before your wheel comes out of your fork. tighten that ****!

tried to skid around a sidewalk at a 90degree turn going 2 mph and just tipped straight over. bounced up, looked around to make sure nobody saw and dipped up my friends steps. the other week i hit a pretty serious dip in a brick road and my hands bounced off my bars and i folded up over my bars and did a flip with my bike. luckily i had my bag which took all of the impact minus a serious bruise on my inner thigh from my stem. i guess i've been pretty lucky so far.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/187/431580007_30b54b6784.jpg?v=0

this happened last night... but I still don't know how.

Yea, I might go get a helmet after seeing all the skull fractures. I had one about 9 years ago after a BMX accident ...3 sets of 22 foot doubles, I didn't quite make the second one because I over aired the first, I also shattered my collar bone...

Riding in DC during rush-hour has proven to be dangerous already, plus it might even keep my hair down on my commute to work...

My friend and I were racing yesterday waiting for class to start. He cut me off and I hit head on a brick wall going about 5-10mph. It hurt a lot. But I only skinned up my knuckle, but I was super bummed I ripped my griptape on my bars.

I was running some deposits to the bank for work, taking the center line down a 2 lane road in savannah, since i was nearly doored about a block back. I got to take a left onto a street. Mtn bike is taking a right off of the street i was turning off of, i skid/fishtail to slow down a bit, freak out the kid on mtn bike, he starts riding towards me, i turn to avoid him. Next thing i know i wake up on the ground.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/givexmeoxygen/ouch.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/givexmeoxygen/nobrakes.jpg

i wish i had a better picture, or a picture of my elbow, it was the size of a softball.

fourth of july, enjoying the fireworks on my way home no handed. hit a pothole and couldn't recover.
3 surgeries
this is a pic my first day out.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/121/292782430_831dd13100.jpg?v=0