"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - crash report/advice - race report (Princeton)

I've just been having bad luck with crashes as i started racing Cs. Last weekend at the philly race and now today at the princeton race.

I'm not sure what happened, maybe one of you who was there knows? Last lap of the C race, i'm pretty sure the guy next to me decided to go out of the saddle semi sprinting into a turn, which ended with him taking a spill because the course is too wet for him to be wiggling his bike around like that in a turn. As he fell i tried avoiding him but hit him anyway and flipped over the handlebars landing right on my head and then my knee... I think about 5-8 people went down

i couldn't stand up for a bit so an ambulance came, a tufts racer broke his collar bone (in 4 places..)
we both needed stitches on our heads, we were the only casualties taken to the ER.

My knee is really banged up, x-rays returned nothing but i literally can't walk faster than 1/2 mph while limping, i really want to get back on the bike but for now i physically can't. What's a good procedure or maybe some treatment for a banged up knee (took the fall directly on the knee cap)? the hospital just let me go without anything but a pain killer prescription, but i feel like i can do more to facilitate my recovery.

On the positive note, i had a really fun race and felt like i did well, they combined the C fields so it was more like a real uscf race with like 70 riders and narrow roads, it was tough trying to be in top 10 but too much fun. Another positive note, i now have symmetric road rash :D

That sucks about the crashes. Only advice I have is to stay up front :o

Glad you're having fun anyway :beer:

oh yeah and, well this debate is unnecessary for the road racing subforum, but my giro pneumo really did save my life. Thing is completely cracked from the back but really if i landed on my head the way i did going 25mph i would certainly walk away with some nice brain damage

For the knee, ice is your friend, especially if you have swelling (i.e., you can't bend it because it feels like it's filled with fluid). At least there's nothing broken, right?

Btw, it took me 5 crashes before getting symmetrical road rash scars, but none of them occurred during a race.

BE.
GENTLE.
TO.
YOUR.
KNEE.

Rest it, ice it, compress it and elevate it (RICE protocol, sometimes with two "I"s for ibproufen). Absolutely do not hesitate to get further medical attention from a sports med doc, an ortho or physical therapist. You don't want an ongoing knee problem. Really.

I was behind that and think I went over someone's arm. It was one of the nastier crashes I've seen. My teammate somehow had his foot ripped from his shoe, still clipped in. Both somehow managed to stay upright. I hope you heal up soon, and my thoughts go out to the tufts rider. That was a weird race, with people getting sketchier and sketchier every lap. Weird, since I didn't think the crit was that bad. Must be those division 2 guys :) We'll have to introduce ourselves sometime in the season!

Did you crash in the crit or circuit race last weekend? My teammate and I, PSU, got taken out during the circuit but neither of us knows what caused the crash (it was on the 3rd lap going down the straightaway.) Anyways, I was behind that crash and it looked like somebody clipped the curb on the left and then there was carnage. There were two army guys who crashed on the final straightaway: first one unclipped during the turn and was swerving back and forth in the middle of the road with his legs stretched out to his sides (not technically a crash but just as bad) and the other one ate it right after the finish.

I was behind that and think I went over someone's arm. It was one of the nastier crashes I've seen. My teammate somehow had his foot ripped from his shoe, still clipped in. Both somehow managed to stay upright. I hope you heal up soon, and my thoughts go out to the tufts rider. That was a weird race, with people getting sketchier and sketchier every lap. Weird, since I didn't think the crit was that bad. Must be those division 2 guys :) We'll have to introduce ourselves sometime in the season!

the course really wasn't that bad, but id prefer if they just kept the divisions split... what school do you go to? I'm from BU

Did you crash in the crit or circuit race last weekend? My teammate and I, PSU, got taken out during the circuit but neither of us knows what caused the crash (it was on the 3rd lap going down the straightaway.) Anyways, I was behind that crash and it looked like somebody clipped the curb on the left and then there was carnage. There were two army guys who crashed on the final straightaway: first one unclipped during the turn and was swerving back and forth in the middle of the road with his legs stretched out to his sides (not technically a crash but just as bad) and the other one ate it right after the finish.

i crashed in the circuit race at the end of the first lap, was completely my fault as i bombed a corner trying to catch some breakaway, underestimated the corner and slid out of it heh. Sucks to hear about your unknown crash, at least otherwise there's a story to tell..
Ah clipped the curb you say? maybe the guy who fell next to me was a chain reaction rather than the first one down, i just remember him standing up and falling under me.

i crashed in the circuit race at the end of the first lap, was completely my fault as i bombed a corner trying to catch some breakaway, underestimated the corner and slid out of it heh. Sucks to hear about your unknown crash, at least otherwise there's a story to tell..
Ah clipped the curb you say? maybe the guy who fell next to me was a chain reaction rather than the first one down, i just remember him standing up and falling under me.

I guessed that as I think the crash propagated out from the left side but I was attempting to get back on 663s wheel at the time so I could be remembering it incorrectly.

That circuit race was sketch. I raced the combined D race (last race in D's, *sniff*), and wanted out of that pack. Real hairy. It was also a really fast race on a course completely unsuited to my strengths: flat, open, windy back stretch. On top of that, I had burned a lot of matches the previous day to win a prime and take 2nd in the finishing sprint. I didn't figure much for my chances in a sprint and didn't like riding in the pack in any event, so I attacked across the start/finish at 2 to go. I couldn't get a decent gap on the section after the first turn, and I was flying along at 29 mph! When two guys did join me, they didn't understand that they needed to push, so I ended up back in the pack after a third of a lap. I finished very mid-pack, 24th out of 52 or so. I couldn't even hold position very well in the group, and I'm used to being able to easily reach 15th or 10th position. Who knew that I would greatly prefer the crit on a given race weekend to the circuit race?

As for crashes, I'm surprised there weren't lots. There were a few near-crashes, one guy ran up against the curb but somehow managed to stay upright, and one guy managed to take himself down all by his lonesome behind me during the final sprint. Riding in that combined group was really unpleasant, I was very grateful when the race ended.

Ice and anti-inflamatories for the knee. Take it easy when you start riding again- flat short rides. Try not to get too frustrated, it'll come around.

I hear you on the helmet. After my last crash (high speed face plant) I looked for the helmet that had the most coverage on the front and sides, and wound up with a fancy Specialized helmet. It's worth a $50 extra and a few more grams to have a bit better protection.

As for avoiding this in the future, +1 on being up front.

Another thing to remember is trouble comes from the inside out. So being on the inside of turns (Note I didn't saying diving into the inside screaming "inside") will avoid people sliding out into you.

Also, study your opponents. Figure out who the shaky handlers are, and avoid them. Find good wheels to follow.

all good advice, how long on average (i know stupid question) should i rest my knee before getting back on the bike.. im not sure if i can handle a week off :(

all good advice, how long on average (i know stupid question) should i rest my knee before getting back on the bike.. im not sure if i can handle a week off :(

The rule of thumb a lot of physical therapists will use is "let your pain be your guide" - I'd look at getting on the trainer first to assess how you're doing. Then, if it feels good, keep going. If it hurts, stop.

On a related note, does normal health insurance cover these types of hospital or ER visits?

I know some of the health plans specifically have clauses that say accidents that occur during timed events (racing) are not covered, but those are usually for people participating in motor sports. Just wondering what those with experience with this have to say.

Good to hear your ok...The team and I were in a van waiting to cross the course, and watched as the entire wreak happened. From my perspective, only about 30 feet away, it seemed that somebody in the pack decided to make an outside move on the turn and down the straight, unfortunately there was a curb. I believe the rider cranked up his pace and bumped the curb, slid and caused a rider near to him to hit the breaks hard, causing a pile up and it was nasty, dead middle of the peloton. Alot of riders were really banged up and ive never seen a bike as messed up as one in that wreak. Im from Pitt btw

all good advice, how long on average (i know stupid question) should i rest my knee before getting back on the bike.. im not sure if i can handle a week off :(

Be aggressive with ice and ibuprofen. Let your pain be the guide, as was suggested above, and when you do start back on the bike, stretch quads and hams before and after (YMMV, but that's how I treat my knee issues).

The rule of thumb a lot of physical therapists will use is "let your pain be your guide" - I'd look at getting on the trainer first to assess how you're doing. Then, if it feels good, keep going. If it hurts, stop.

+1, I've got some knee problems from genetics and injury. If I find any certain effort causes knee pain, I stop it IMMEDIATELY. This is not the kind of pain you want to push through; that's not how it gets better.

BE.
GENTLE.
TO.
YOUR.
KNEE.

Rest it, ice it, compress it and elevate it (RICE protocol, sometimes with two "I"s for ibproufen). Absolutely do not hesitate to get further medical attention from a sports med doc, an ortho or physical therapist. You don't want an ongoing knee problem. Really.


Have you ever had knee problems? ;)

BE.
GENTLE.
TO.
YOUR.
KNEE.

Rest it, ice it, compress it and elevate it (RICE protocol, sometimes with two "I"s for ibproufen). Absolutely do not hesitate to get further medical attention from a sports med doc, an ortho or physical therapist. You don't want an ongoing knee problem. Really.


Have you ever had knee problems? ;)

I saw the Penn State crash. I was so far behind that I was coming the other way. My team mate was right behind it and had no idea how it happened. Unfortunately, he had to come to a dead stop, and it pretty much ended his chances of glory. Oh well, at least you were not hurt!

This is weird...
The D field is doing better as far as crashes go, so far anyway (knock on wood).

I don't think I'll be upgrading anytime soon, but man chain crashes like this one are bad news bears!

Take care and heal up man! And yeah, go easy on that knee. Let it take its own sweet time to heal whether you like it or not.

I'm bummed that I haven't been riding much lately. My spring break was supposed to be filled with working in lab and riding, but only the first part of that has been true so far...

I need to start riding more but I just don't have the time to if I'm working, during the semester I can get about 10 hours a week if I have my act together like nobody's business. I guess I need to start taking some time out of riding for fun and start a more active training schedule so I can actually improve faster.

The collegiate bfers should meet up at a race sometime!

This is weird...
The D field is doing better as far as crashes go, so far anyway (knock on wood).

It makes sense to me. The level of handling skill in C is only marginally better than in D, but things are generally faster. Except for this past Sunday. I think the D race at Princeton was faster than the C race. I was going 29 mph for a good bit when I attacked and couldn't get a big enough gap. That's only about 3 mph south of my absolute max effort level-ground sprint. Craziness.