Northern California - first serious road biking crash report

Well, it finally happened. After about 5000 miles of road riding/commuting to work, I crashed hard.

Yesterday morning started off as just another pleasant morning commute. It was especially nice since I was wearing my brand new PI Gavia Vector jersey, and new Therma-slice tights. I was riding my old school commuter (late 70's Motobecane 10-speed), which was pretty reliable up to this day. On mile 13 of 17, I am taking my usual route through downtown Sacramento. There's no bike lane here, but it is still safe because it's early and there is very little traffic. I usually pick up the speed here to keep in rythim with the traffic lights.

I must have been going 23-24pmh when suddenly my front wheel locks up and I am flying. There was no warning whatsoever. I had no time to react and basically flew over the handlebars, still clipped in, and my face was the first thing to make contact with the pavement. Luckily, the front of my helmet took the brunt of the impact, but not so luckily, my face took most of the damage. The end result was road rash all over the right side of my face and neck. I also had a huge cut on the inside of my lip - which I thought would require stitches but thankfully did not.

I'm much better now, but I still took the day off to rest/hide. During the crash my front wheel came off so I originally suspected the skewer had come loose and caused the crash. After checking the skewer and fork, it appears the skewer was not loose. I did notice the fork has no recess in the dropouts, which means it is possible to yank the wheel off with some force. This means the fender was most likely the cause. It looks like the rear stay of the fender might have stuck to the wheel and rotated up towards the fork (which is why the plastic fender disintegrated to pieces milliseconds prior to me being launched. The bike seems to be ok besides my new Brooks saddle getting a little road rash, and two broken fenders. Oh, and my brand new jersey received some tears on the arms :mad: I guess I have a sweet new winter mountain biking jersey!

I'll be back on my road bike next week, but I am now very weary of fenders. Has anyone else have problems with fenders? These are the type that hug the wheel and cover about 1/3 of the tire's circumference.

Be safe out there and check your wheels!

yikes, glad you're ok - things getting into the wheels and locking them up is a scary thought. I'm always paranoid that'll happen to my rear wheel when I commute because I have a pannier on there. That wouldn't be nearly as bad as the front locking up, no way to save that...

Like usual...

ANy pics of the bike damages?

Man, wow, what a close call.

Face accidents do suck because the main concern is scar tissue so in others you may not be the same person again if you know what I mean. I did experience a face accident, although not on a bike, where I had 12 sitches between the upper lip and the nose while doing some yard work.

I recommend sunscreen to cover those areas as you want the least amount of exposure to UV or else it will make the marks more visibles. Apply plenty of vaseline or there is some kind of butter ointment high on Vitamin E that works wonders. One thing I have done is to splice open a Vit E gel cap and apply directly to the wound.

Wish you a quick recovery

Oh man, sorry to read this.

You are not kidding about checking your wheels. I was ready to head out for a fast group ride last week. While doing my quick inspection, I found a "Tube Bubble" coming out of the sidewall of the front tire.

I can only imagine that going off during a ride. I'm glad you're ok.

BR

Man, that sucks. Glad to hear you're (relatively) okay and in good spirits. Guess I'll think twice (if ever) about what I install on the front wheel. Heal quickly.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Here are a few pics of the bike. No signs of frame or fork damage. I'm not sure if I will ride this bike again or not. I really liked it.

As you can see, the bike escaped mimimal damage... it's the pilot that took it.

(sorry if this grosses people out)

Nice pic, now you gotta start working on your story.. I think it should end with "this is nothin', you should see the other guy!"

Nice pic, now you gotta start working on your story.. I think it should end with "this is nothin', you should see the other guys!"

fixed :).

or... 'this is nothin, see me after a spill on the mountain bike' :D

Seriously though looking at that pic made me wince. I know, I know, "It only hurts when I laugh." ;)

Dude! Ouch.

Ouch! Hope ya heal up fast.

Oh man, sorry to read this.

You are not kidding about checking your wheels. I was ready to head out for a fast group ride last week. While doing my quick inspection, I found a "Tube Bubble" coming out of the sidewall of the front tire.

I can only imagine that going off during a ride. I'm glad you're ok.

BR

Is this IMJPS from mtbr?

That pic will make a great avatar. I thought your lip was really swollen and disfigured before I clicked on it.

Sorry to hear about the accident. Heal up.

Sorry to hear about the crash, glad it wasn't worse. Heal up quickly!

Yikes!!! :eek::eek:

Your story scared me and your face scared me more! I'm sorry you had such an ugly ride!

I bought some Emu and vitamin E oil from Total Beauty Experience on Arden Way, past Howe, to put on my road rash from our crash in Marin. Stuff works well. But +1 on the Vit. E caps and sunscreen.

Heal quickly!

Is this IMJPS from mtbr?

Guilty.

Sorry to hear about that rydaddy ... pretty impressive wounds ... Too bad about the commute. Hope you get better soon.

Get well quickly. Sorry to hear about the crash.

Yes, take care mounting those fenders... I've had my rear tire snag on the fender that was positioned without enough clearance and jammed the rear wheel. I was lucky it wasn't the front.

Neosporin is all I have to say. I had a head to pavement incident about 20 years ago. I was digging rocks and glass out of the scrapes with my finger nail and a wash cloth. I used copious amounts of Neosporin and you can hardly find any scarring. I'm still an ugly mutha****er but all healed nicely.

Do not apply too much ointment if any while the scars are healing. One thing my doctor recommended was mix 50/50 of Hydrogen Peroxide with Mouth Wash, if it hurts to much add a dab of distilled water to the mix. Pour large amounts over the wounds as much as you can every few hours.

It will help on cleaning the area and kill any bacteria and/or prevent any infections.

After the scars heal and the dry skin falls off then apply anti-bacterial ointment. Try to stay away from direct sunlight, use a cap etc. Its almost a given, but just in case... have clean pillow covers as much as possible. Let the scar get as much fresh air as posssible, thats why I say no ointment if so then very minimal.

You may or may not recover the lost skin on your cheekbone.

Well, a little update. My face has healed amazingly fast. Since the crash, I washed the wounds thoroughly every morning and re-applied neosporin. I stayed out of the sun for the most part. There is very little scabbing and the only thing that still hurts is my lip/tooth.

Thanks everyone for the advice/kind words. I'll be back in the saddle Tuesday! :D

Happy to hear that you have healed up well.

Ride safe.

I'd be interested in an updated pic. I found this thread while searching on reviews for that Gavia Vector jersey. Turns out, about a week before your crash, I took a nasty face-first fall as well. In my case, I was wearing sunglasses, so in addition to the road rash on the elbows/shoulder/knee/ankle/wrist, the frame dug into my face resulting in a trip to the ER to get stitched up. My wife was serving in the Middle East at the time, so I had no way to contact her.

Here's a pic right after I got stitched up. You can see the crescent-shaped wound where the lens impacted my face. Inside that, is another, smaller cut, where the frame dug in.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/2330743266_804da9871e_o.jpg

And here's a pic taken on my macbook pro 30 seconds ago:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2146/2329917273_3ae01c6e6b.jpg

Overall, it's healed pretty well, but nearly 5 months later, there's definitely still a mark, and it's still pink. Doc said it could remain pink for up to two years.

Ouch - get better soon!

JB

I'd be interested in an updated pic. I found this thread while searching on reviews for that Gavia Vector jersey. Turns out, about a week before your crash, I took a nasty face-first fall as well. In my case, I was wearing sunglasses, so in addition to the road rash on the elbows/shoulder/knee/ankle/wrist, the frame dug into my face resulting in a trip to the ER to get stitched up. My wife was serving in the Middle East at the time, so I had no way to contact her.




No updated pics but the hole in my cheek is pretty much healed and not visible unless in direct sunlight. The rest of my wounds were pretty much gone by the following week.

The bike is still hanging in the garage unrepaired but I have discovered why it happened. Let's just say make sure you know what you're doing when fiddling with old single pivot brakes. :o

I'll be fixing the bike soon but it's more of a winter commuter than anything.... and Winters' almost over! :D

Owwwwwww :( Hope you heal quickly and well. AMAZING/LUCKY you didn't need stitches after that affair with the pavement. Wow.

<rushes off to check on his fender mounts>

Everyone needs battle scars :).

Everyone needs battle scars :).

I don't know...

I could do without that stupid lump on my collarbone, and the clicking in my neck ;)

I don't know...

I could do without that stupid lump on my collarbone, and the clicking in my neck ;)

Well now, those aren't technically scars are they :D Do you have a wicked story behind each injury that you can tell the grandkids?

Oof - that hurt just reading it. Best wishes for a speedy recovery

I could do without that stupid lump on my collarbone, and the clicking in my neck ;)

The lump should go down over time, although it will always be there. Wow, just realized it's been 19 years since I broke mine.