Road Cycling - thank God for my helmet

hi all, on my ride sunday i went down hard. i was riding with my neighbor and i was following. i dont recall the accident but he said my frt tire must have went into a separation in the asphalt. i have been riding that road for years and never thought it would happen to me.

i felt like i was waking from a bad dream with people asking me questions i could not answer.... age day month etc. when reality hits me i am in a helicopter on route to shock trauma. i am getting real nervous because i cannot take a full breath in. i am thankful to everyone involved, an elderlylady saw me go down and was there before my riding partner (he didnt notice right away), an off duty paramedic was there in 30 seconds and the chopper in about 5 min. this is what my neighbor told me. luckily i escaped with a fractured clavicle and rib. i was told the broken rib makes it hard to breathe. by thurs i was able to take a full breath in and what a great feeling that is.

i am still in much pain and my right side took the brunt of the blow. i had a cheap specialized helmet that saved me. the outer gold portion was gone in the area of impact. my scalpwas very red and sore where the helmet hit. it must have been a pretty hard wack to have lossed my short term memory, i cannor imagine the damage had i not been wearing it. he estimated we were going about 15-17 mph

Glad to hear your are OK and things will mend. Also great that there was a medic in such close proximity. I just cannot imagine ever going out without the bash hat.

This is why we all should wear helmets....all of the time. Hope you get better soon and get back on the bike a.s.a.p.

Glad to hear you'll be okay. Maybe your post will convert a naysayer and save a life.

When you feel up to it write Specialized a note and thank them. Good To hear your on the mend! :D

That sounds too familar. See my post 3 weeks ago:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=60166

I may get my helmet bronzed.

I will display it at my office.

I was just talking to a friend of mine earlier this evening who said she didn't want to wear a helmet because "they look stupid and, besides, I'm not going to fall down." I'm going to send her a copy of your post. Glad you're okay.

Just bought my second helmet in 2 year, due to 2 different accidents that made a crack to it. Hopefully, the next one (and its owner) will be a bit luckier this next year... (moderate concussion the first year and now I am dealing with broken scapula).

All the best and quick recovery wishes for you. Please pass the word around, helmets save lives.

Kati

I wish you a speedy recovery.

Good to hear you were wearing a helmut! Hope your recovery is a speedy one so you can get back onto the saddle.

Glad you're recovering. I think riders who won't wear helmets shouldn't ride, they make us all look like we're stupid; just like the people who ride against the flow of traffic. The stupider the things some cyclists do, the less seriously we are taken as a whole by drivers.

15-17 mph and it did all that damage? yikes!

glad you're ok

I was lucky. About 4 months ago I was in a pace line, just comming off the pull position and falling to the rear, then another bike falls back she is behind me when the two in front of me touch wheels I hit the guy in front of me and go down hard then she runs over me and hits the pavement hard. We had no broken bones but both of us had broken helments. I feel the helments saved our lives, you just cant hit pavement at 22 to 27 mph on your head and expect to walk away. I hope you are on the mend and doing ok.

In my cycling life I've gone through 4 helmets that were cracked, broken, or destroyed. Two times I was knocked out. Three times I was taken to the hospital. Four times I know the helmet saved me either from sleeping for a long time or not being able to say "Goodbye" to everyone I know.

This life is too fun to quit now.

Hi Hlweyl,

My $40 Specialized Airforce helmet save my life last Wednesday when I had a serious accident too.

I'm glad you're OK, hope you recover soon and get back on the bike.

15-17 mph and it did all that damage? yikes!

glad you're ok

Simply tipping off a standing bike from 6' and hitting your head is enough force to cause death. I've wrecked three bike helmets and a motorcycle helmet in 20 years.

Anyone who rides a bike or motorbike without a helmet has nothing to lose.

yeah, i cannot believe that i was hurt that bad. i'm not sure if i just went down to the side or over the handlebars. my neighbor said the bike was standing upside down(as if you were fixing a flat on the road). i guess being 210 lbs didnt help much.

i have logged thousands of miles on bikes and motorcycles without incident. it has been tempting at times to forego the helmet... but thankfully i never did

after feeling slightly better each day, my upper back decided to completely spasm up last night which was awful feeling. i could not get a full breath in at all. luckily the dr on duty today at my primary was nice enough to give me a muscle relaxer.

thx for all the kind words.

An update, I knew something wasn't right because my upper back has been hurting really bad since the wreck and my clavicle still hurts. It feels like one edge is going to pop out through my skin. The Docs said the pain in my back is probably a muscle strain and that the clavicle was not displaced.... meaning the 2 ends at the break are still near each other.

I went for some additional testing and it turns out I have 3 broken ribs in the front (originally they only saw 1) and 4 broken ribs in the back. At least I know why it hurts so much now. The new xray also showed the clavicle(collar bone) is over an inch displaced. They say that this should heal without any surgery.

I hope to be back on the trainer in about 3-4 weeks. They said the ribs take 3-4 months to heal but I should continue to try and get back to normal... they did say no bike riding as another fall would be real bad for the healing process.

I hope everyone wears their helmet out there! Take care

On a related note, how often should you replace your helmet? One that has not taken an impact...

Most helmet manufacturers recommend you change the helmet after two or three years. UV rays and body chemicals deteriorate the polystyrene. Hey, helmets are cheap compared to brain surgery.

Glad to hear that your all right! The thing that scares me is my group cruises at 28+mph with around 30+ people! Good thing this thread isn't logged into any of my memory when I'm on the bike :)