Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Crashed my bike... pics and a story

What makes this crazy is that... after I got home from the ride. I weighted in @ 199.5lbs .... This is my present for leaving the clydesdale family LOL
First time in like 10 years that ive been under 200lbs :)
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SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Let me tell everyone how great my day has been since around 7pm

Went out cycling w/ my best friend. Just doing our normal workout on the Bike Path

One the last lap before we were going to head home, we decided to do a short sprint for about 50 yards or so. It within the last 100 yard of the path so we normally sprint that part and coast the last 50.

We start going and at around 27mph or so the chain slips off the crank on my bike... I was standing so the left side of my body just slams down and I start to violently sway back and forth till the front wheel turns 90-degree's and I flip over hard and blast the back of my head into the ground and slide on my back for like 15-20ft flip over again and then to add insult to injury... my best friend comes crashing down since he was like 2 ft behind me when this happend.


I get up and I seem pretty fine, back of my shirt is half way burned off, my elbow and knee are bleeding and so is the back of my head.Richie is generally ok..... Some bumps and bruises but I took the worst of the fall. Walking over to the park bench and I start getting light headed so i sit down and drink some water and im feeling a little better.

Call my Wife and she calls my mom and dad and they all come to pick us up.

I decided to just go home since I'm feeling ok, just my cuts are burning really bad... But other than that I was fine. Or so i figured.


Get home and go take a shower to wash all the gravel and asphalt out of my cuts. My Back got the worst of the road rash , that laceration is like 3" wide x like 7" long and then some smaller ones by my shoulders.

Im in the shower and the water is ****in murder on the cuts. I call my wife over to scrub my back. I start getting light headed so i lean up against the front wall of the shower and I black out. Dont ask me how, but my 5'1" wife was able to hold me up from falling backwards into the tub. I came too after a few seconds.

Told the wifey i need to get the ER now!! Her and my parents rush me over to the hospital and lucky for me James brother is a EMT there... He was able to pull me right in so i wouldn't have to wait.


Had a Cat Scan to make sure I wasn't bleeding in my brain or had any fractures.
Took x-rays of my right arm to make sure my elbow wasn't fractured
And they had to scrub all my wounds out, which hurt like a mother ****er!!!

And to top it off I got a free tetnus shot also.


In the end, other than the bruises and the road rash im fine. I cant wait till tomorrow, its gunna be a funnnnn day.


NOW to my bike, I think there is a crack in the carbon on the top tube... So im gunna take it over to the shop tomorrow and let them inspect it. But as of right now i'm assuming I have a $4000 pile of totaled carbon fiber laying around.
Front wheel looks like a ****in taco and the handle bars are burned down to the Carbon fiber also.
I cant wait to get the bill to repair the broken stuff and for a new frame.


As for my injuries

Gashed the top of my head plus the bump from the impact

Road Rash - Elbow, knee left shoulder , center of my back

Huge bruise on my hip
left hamstring is ****ed up
left shoulder is ****ed up too

And of course i got some pics... Only have a pic of my elbow and knee... but my back is really the worst.


http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m133/xlacrosse/IMG_7310.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m133/xlacrosse/IMG_7314.jpg

this is what looks to me to be a crack...
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m133/xlacrosse/IMG_7316.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m133/xlacrosse/IMG_7318.jpg


This is what the back of my shirt looked like
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m133/xlacrosse/IMG_7320.jpg


and a shot of the wheel (the handle bars are straight)
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m133/xlacrosse/IMG_7319.jpg

Bummer! Question is, WHY did that chain come off? Sounds like the front derailleur is not adjusted properly? Normally, the cage of the derailleur should be centered on the chain rings to prevent losing the chain. Of course, you know all this, but I just thought I'd state the obvious again... Hope you heal quickly!

Glad you are OK! Your bike doesnt look too well off, however :( and that just plain sucks. That top tube "scuff" looks like a crack from here too. Get that looked at by someone with more experience...

How did the chain just fall off? Something has to be out of alignment/adjustment (in my experience) for a chain to fall off...I did $40 in damage to a rear wheel on my mountain bike because I decided to go riding before I performed my yearly spring tune-up....cables stretched...chain fell into spokes...

I hope the bike is salvageable. Be one awful expensive replacement...

Take care, and heal up!

Sorry to hear about that. The Clyde Gods were not happy with your weight loss :D

Another good reason for me to ride slowly, and to refrain from standing up.

Im lucky it failed at 27 ... the Sprint the lap before I was @ 34mph


I think the chain was stretched a little and it jumped off the crank... Im gunna have the chainrings inspected also... I could of broke my neck, i got very lucky

Well, the bike may be toast but at least you and your friend are alive and o.k. It is a shame to see such a nice bike ruined. Good luck with the healing process!!

That'll buff right out. Heal up and see you out there!

OUCH!!! Glad to hear you are generally OK. And the bike, most manufacturers have a crash replacement policy, so while it may be painful, it shouldn't be too bad.

One standing crash for me as a kid makes me avoid standing and pedaling like the plague. I'll do it, but not very often and not for very long.

Really hope this all works out well for you, also don't hesitate to call Specialized directly. They're really great to deal with as I found out recently, and will go out of their way to help you!

Thanks everyone

I was looking at my Garmin data log from it... the last recorded event was 145rpm ... So 100% i was right about the chain coming off.

Im gunna call specialized now and see what they tell me to do and then head over to the bike shop and see what he can do.

Ouch, sorry to hear about your crash. I hope you heal well.

Yeeesh, sorry to hear about your crash. That sounds gnarly.

One lesson to take away from it: be careful about quickly concluding that you're basically okay after a crash. With a lot of folks, anything other than a pretty severe injury is largely masked by this huge rush of "Wow, I'm alive and conscious and my arms and legs are all attached, WOOHOO" reaction. If you're used to crashing your bike, falling out of trees, getting thrown into walls, jumping off bridges, etc., eventually you learn to take this reaction with a huge grain of salt: yeah, yeah, it's great that I'm still breathing, now let's just not hop up right away, let's lie here and figure out how bad it is. You also learn that certain types of visible injuries can be indicators of something worse: if the back of your head is bleeding (no helmet, huh?), that's a mechanism of injury for concussion or possibly worse -- doesn't mean you are concussed, but it's sure a possibility. Aaaaand...you learn how to scrub your wounds. Standing in the shower and letting water run over it won't do the job: you have to basically do what they did for you at the hospital, it's not fun but after a while you kind of get used to it.

Point 1: You are alive and relatively unhurt, considering the magnitude of the crash.....you look as bad as I did after mine back earlier. We hit the road at about the same speed......hurts doesn't it? Main difference: I went down so fast I didn't even really have a chance to realize I was crashing until I realized I was upside down with my head ringing like a bell....still clipped in to the pedals. I much prefer that if I'm going to crash, it go that way rather than the one where yu know it's going 6to happen and you can ALMOST pull it back. :(





Point 2:Specialized can give you a 20% discount on a replacement frame based on availability. I called my LBS while the Specialized Rep was in visiting. You have to take it to an S Works dealer though for this. Best info I can get you. Be sure to check your fork and steer tube while you are at it. Flipping 90º put a huge amount of lateral stress on the structure. You're looking at $2200- 20%, $1760 for a Frame and forkset. You'll also need to replace or rebuild that front wheel. Your components will transfer over to the replacement frame.

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=34473

Hey Tom, I dont get a little banner for my achievement of leaving the clydesdale family ;)

A smashed carbon bike just doesn't really feel as rewarding. Lost 80lbs since last May :)

Yikes! I must rectify that! I missed you posting it I guess. :( By the way, you don't leave the family, you just shrink to Emeritus status. ;)


Hey Tom, I dont get a little banner for my achievement of leaving the clydesdale family ;)

A smashed carbon bike just doesn't really feel as rewarding. Lost 80lbs since last May :)

Bikes totaled. You're alive. congratulations. I hope there is no after effects and you are truly fine. that shower must have burned like hell.

good luck.

And they had to scrub all my wounds out, which hurt like a mother ****er!!!

Had a VERY similar experience a few years back. I still remember the ER nurse scrubbing the wounds on my ... let's just say backside .... for about 45 minutes. Can you say OUCH!

To add insult to injury, I worked at this hospital and they all knew me. I'm sure they took pictures!

... Brad

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o260/TomStormcrowe/Spinner%20and%20Clydesdale%20charts/xlacrosse.gif

Here's your Emeritus banner......sorry I can't award an S Works frame to go along with it!

Sorry to here about your crash, seeing a smashed up carbon bike for us, is like seeing a smashed up Ferrari to a car enthusiast (okay, everybody take off your helmet, and lets have a moment of silence for our brothers, dearly departed bike).

Now, one thing, when you crash, even if you think your okay, you should always seek medical attention. If there is nothing wrong, the cost of a doctors visit will give you peace of mind, which will make the healing process much easier. If there is something more serious, then the doctor can do something about it. In most cases they can properly clean out road rash, and give you some happy pills, to make it at least more tolerable.

Whoa whoa whoa, I'm calling shenanigans on the "Clydesdale Emeritus" status. You can't drop under 200 by leaving 5 pounds of skin on the road, that's cheating.

Just kidding, I hope you and your bike get better soon.

Whoa whoa whoa, I'm calling shenanigans on the "Clydesdale Emeritus" status. You can't drop under 200 by leaving 5 pounds of skin on the road, that's cheating.

Just kidding, I hope you and your bike get better soon.

I dunno, if he really weighed himself post-ride, the rocks stuck in his wounds probably counterbalanced the missing skin.

it is dedication to rip off your skin to get under 200. i would think it would count as the oppisite of cheating. consider me impressed.

And a totaled bike = upgrade time, use the 20% off to move up to the tarmac S-works SL2 :)

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=34167

Well that sucks bigtime but glad you're overall ok. Like the others said, something was out of whack. One reason why I say leave the dorkdisc on for a couple of months or so, you never know what might happen even to a new bike adjusted by your favorite mechanic!

I shaved off plenty of skin and blood to get under 200... lol

Funny when i was in the ER they asked my weight, i paused and answered w. 199 ;)


Thanks tom

Ouch! Hope you feel better soon! Congrats on your svelteness!

Hey, if a man's willing to use the pavement as a cheese grater to shave that half pound, who am I to argue. ;)

Look, I'm just glad you weren't seriously hurt!


I shaved off plenty of skin and blood to get under 200... lol

Funny when i was in the ER they asked my weight, i paused and answered w. 199 ;)


Thanks tom

(okay, everybody take off your helmet, and lets have a moment of silence for our brothers, dearly departed bike).


Correct me if I am wrong here, but the OP already had his helmet off when he crashed to recieve a large gash in the back of his head like that. With a little luck, at least you will have learned the value of wearing a helmet from this, this could have been much worse for you.

Glad to hear you are alright anyways, serious bummer about the bike though. Like I always say, as long as you have yourself and your loved ones your fine, everything else is just stuff and can be replaced.

Jeff

Correct me if I am wrong here, but the OP already had his helmet off when he crashed to recieve a large gash in the back of his head like that. With a little luck, at least you will have learned the value of wearing a helmet from this, this could have been much worse for you.

Glad to hear you are alright anyways, serious bummer about the bike though. Like I always say, as long as you have yourself and your loved ones your fine, everything else is just stuff and can be replaced.

Jeff

I didn't say to RIDE without a helmet, I said we should have a moment of silence for the dearly departed bicycle.....

I am funny when it comes to the helmet, Do I think you should always use one when riding, yes, do I think that the government should legislate their use for adults, no. When I was a kid, we didn't have helmets, heck a lot of safety stuff they have now, we didn't have in the 1970's, it's a wonder anyone survived..... Now, it's like the seatbelt in the car, I'm used to it......

Let's please not turn the thread into helmet wank. OP sustained an injury that wouldn't have happened if he'd been wearing a helmet; that's not soapbox material, it's just a fact.

I'm glad you didn't break any bones. It looks like a hard fall.

Calfee repairs carbon frames. Here's a sample BF thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=358935).

Glad you are ok...i wont say nothing about the helmet. I always were mine and i agree with wogster its amazing when i was a kid i broke a ton of bones on my bike..i rode half pipes but i never wore any safet gear either...i dont think in the mid 80s the gear was much more then things for bike compaines to place there name on something.....hope the bike pans out ok for you to...she looks like she was a beaut.

Damn. I hope you're healed and back on the/a bike soon.