Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Chainring tattoo?

I've been riding for real about a month and a half now and I love it. It seems far kinder to the body than the jogging I'd been trying to do. On Saturday I pushed it and did 58 miles. Tired when I was done but the next morning I felt fine, except for a line of cuts up the back of my ankle from the chainring.

This is from a 0 mph fall -- I guess I'm still getting used to clipless -- and no other harm done, but This is the third time I've cut that ankle or calf! I don't mind the amateur mark but I don't want a permanent one.

I guess my question is, how do people manage the minor scrapes and dings? Get on, ride on, and worry about it later? A smear of Neosporin? Drama and tears? I notice that people rarely recommend carrying any first aid kit as necessary gear but I'm starting to wonder if I should.

Get a "chainring guard" to avoid getting nipped and infected.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=chainring+guard&tag=googhydr-20&index=sporting&hvadid=6961562677&ref=pd_sl_4izpakuyd7_e

http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/vo-alloy-polished-chainring-guard.html

A first aid kit carried in a jersey is never a bad thing. But having said that I don't ride with one. I guess I'd just do that best I can and worry about it later. If it was bad enough I'd call for a SAG. :)

1. Don't fall off.
2. Don't fall off.

If 1 and 2 don't work, just get back on and ride home. I once came off because the guy in front of me went down on some gravel. We still had over 60 miles to go, and we completed the ride. It was two days later I discovered I'd broken my arm - fractured radial head. Adrenalin is a wonderful thing. I've never bothered with a first aid kit except when on tour.

I'm more of the just keep going kind of guy. Unless it's something really bad I'm just going to keep going.

1. Don't fall off.
2. Don't fall off.

If 1 and 2 don't work, just get back on and ride home. I once came off because the guy in front of me went down on some gravel. We still had over 60 miles to go, and we completed the ride. It was two days later I discovered I'd broken my arm - fractured radial head. Adrenalin is a wonderful thing.

"On, on you noblest English!"

"On, on you noblest English!"

...whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof...

Sadly, stupidity was more in evidence than nobility. It was an interesting illustration, however, of how real athletes continue to compete with serious injuries. Often it isn't that they are supernaturally tough, it's just they don't realise they have hurt themselves.

...whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof...

Sadly, stupidity was more in evidence than nobility. It was an interesting illustration, however, of how real athletes continue to compete with serious injuries. Often it isn't that they are supernaturally tough, it's just they don't realise they have hurt themselves.

I know. I didn't realize riding and camping on a broken rib was dangerous. Then again, I didn't realize I had a broken rib until I'd ridden 90 miles on a bumpy canal towpath and camped.

I know. I didn't realize riding and camping on a broken rib was dangerous. Then again, I didn't realize I had a broken rib until I'd ridden 90 miles on a bumpy canal towpath and camped.

Ah, yes, nothing like a broken rib to liven up getting out of bed in the morning...

Incidentally, the literary references are a treat. It is my (admittedly prejudiced) opinion that the mean IQ of cyclists comfortably exceeds that of participants in any other athletic pursuit.

...whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof...

Sadly, stupidity was more in evidence than nobility. It was an interesting illustration, however, of how real athletes continue to compete with serious injuries. Often it isn't that they are supernaturally tough, it's just they don't realise they have hurt themselves.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;

BTW, I like your signature quote!

Incidentally, the literary references are a treat. It is my (admittedly prejudiced) opinion that the mean IQ of cyclists comfortably exceeds that of participants in any other athletic pursuit.

Nothing like the stupidity of blind nobility leading young men to their death....


Charge of the Light Brigade

by Lord Alfred Tennyson


Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.


There is more, but I di dnot want to hijack this thread (too late LOL)

There is more, but I di dnot want to hijack this thread (too late LOL)

Wotthehell, wotthehell, I am sure mgb will forgive us...

As for blind nobility leading young men to their deaths, we have learned very little, I fear. Except that it isn't just aristocrats that can be stupid.

I agree with you about Coppi, by the way. Before my time - just - but he must have been magnificent.

Hijacked? Fine. You've sent me to my books. I'll read them now and ride tonight, as I always do.

As for blind nobility leading young men to their deaths, we have learned very little, I fear. Except that it isn't just aristocrats that can be stupid.

Agreed...unfortunately you are right about that. :(

Ah, yes, nothing like a broken rib to liven up getting out of bed in the morning...

Incidentally, the literary references are a treat. It is my (admittedly prejudiced) opinion that the mean IQ of cyclists comfortably exceeds that of participants in any other athletic pursuit.

Ditto!
(hopefully the sarcasm was detected)

BTW, to the point of the thread, if I am not gushing blood, I keep going. Clean up and medicate as needed at the end of the ride. Recently, I tore up my right leg just below my right calf. I laid the bike down and went to step over and misjudged the distance. My left foot got hung on the top tube and pushed the bike, sprocket first, into my right leg. In the hilarious fall that ensued, I managed to gouge up my right leg. All I did was laugh, pull up my sock to cover the wound and ride the 14 miles home.

Also fun, when I read the title of the thread I thought it was about a real tattoo. I had been joking about the frequent black imprint several of us seem to get from the right leg pressing against the chain-ring when standing over the bike. I mentioned that I should just go get a half 50T chain-ring tattooed on my calf as the grease/grime one seems to always be there anyway....but I digress...

I never get cut from the chain ring. I wonder if it has to do with unclipping with my left foot first or only. At stops, my right foot stays clipped n so I may (rarely) get a tattoo but never cut.

I wonder if this has to do with less risk of missing the pedal from a start or stop. I have accidentally missed the clip throwing my leg forward so that my heel lands on the pedal. I figure if I had done this on the right side, I may have gotten cut by the chainring. Gina unclips on the opposite side and thinks it's strange that I unclip on the left. Maybe there is a reason I use my left.

Makes me wonder what foot others use to unclip at stops. I use only my left and the right remains clipped in.

I never get cut from the chain ring. I wonder if it has to do with unclipping with my left foot first or only. At stops, my right foot stays clipped n so I may (rarely) get a tattoo but never cut.

I wonder if this has to do with less risk of missing the pedal from a start or stop. I have accidentally missed the clip throwing my leg forward so that my heel lands on the pedal. I figure if I had done this on the right side, I may have gotten cut by the chainring. Gina unclips on the opposite side and thinks it's strange that I unclip on the left. Maybe there is a reason I use my left.

Makes me wonder what foot others use to unclip at stops. I use only my left and the right remains clipped in.

This sounds like what I do.

Speaking of chainring tattoos, I got so many grease smudges from my chainring in my first year of riding that I'm going to get a chainring or grease smudge tattooed onto my right calf when I hit 2500 km (about 250 km to go). I'll get a distance/date chart to match on the left calf.

I was told that the scraps, bruises and blood are great stories for the cute girls at the end of the ride. If it ain't broken or the bone sticking out, brag about it over beer.

Nothing like the stupidity of blind nobility leading young men to their death....


Charge of the Light Brigade

by Lord Alfred Tennyson


Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.


There is more, but I di dnot want to hijack this thread (too late LOL)

Or, as my friend Sam paraphrased (in response to my announcement that I'd signed up for the Hilly Hundred):

Cows to the right of them.
Cows to the left of them.
Into the valley of lost momentum
Pedaled the 5000.

Ah, yes, nothing like a broken rib to liven up getting out of bed in the morning...

Incidentally, the literary references are a treat. It is my (admittedly prejudiced) opinion that the mean IQ of cyclists comfortably exceeds that of participants in any other athletic pursuit.

I named my first bike "Excelsior" thinking it would help me climb hills.

This is why I try to ride with someone who's smarter than me and carries a cellphone, when I went down and broke a rib (sometime last century [a great line if you can use it by the way :) ]), my riding partner told me not to move and went down the hill to get a cell signal, and called an ambulance. I was ready to jump back on the bike right there, wasn't until I tried (tried being the operative word) getting out of bed the next morning that I really felt it.

I got three nice gashes from my chainring on my right leg somehow....I ended up picking the scabs so I have three little scars now like cat claw marks :D

I've never broken the skin, but I've finished the occasional ride with a chainring grease mark on my calf, with no recollection of ever making contact with it. Not often, but it's happened.

I named my first bike "Excelsior" thinking it would help me climb hills.

I have "Excelsior" tattooed on my left calf. It was from a hiking accomplishment in NY (as it is also the NY state Motto). When I started cycling, I figured it still applied.

This hurt. It's one of the reason I gave up clipless.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/167869_1658815922735_1607271639_1495220_7365817_n.jpg

It's not too tough to carry a rudimentary first-aid kit. Mine's just a little waterproof vinyl folder with a few bandaids, a gauze pad and some antiseptic. It weighs next to nothing and easily fits in a tiny seat bag along with tools, a patch kit and a spare tube. An infection is no fun, and it's easy to avoid.

The thread title disappointed me; I was hoping to see some new skin ink.

The thread title disappointed me; I was hoping to see some new skin ink.

I know some fine people who are inked and/or pierced. But I'm way too cowardly and squeamish to get such permanent adornments added to my own person. And I'm old enough to remember when tattoos were only seen on naval vets, bikers, ex-cons and carnival workers.

Unclip your left foot only!!! Keep your right foot clipped in till you dismount.

Unclip your left foot only!!! Keep your right foot clipped in till you dismount.

Or visa-versa. I keep my left foot clipped most of the time; I'm left-footed.

I know some fine people who are inked and/or pierced. But I'm way too cowardly and squeamish to get such permanent adornments added to my own person. And I'm old enough to remember when tattoos were only seen on naval vets, bikers, ex-cons and carnival workers.

Ditto that!

I do tend to unclip my right foot and not my left when I'm coming to a stop. I think I'll start switching it up. It shouldn't matter -- I should always be able to clip out when I need to.

Which foot I unclip depends on the intersection. Intersections with a right turn lane, I'll do left foot. All others, I do right foot so I can push the button to change the light.

I've noticed that the teeth on the outer chainring are worn very sharp. If I replaced that it would be less likely to take the skin off my leg. But a good quality ring with pins and ramps (I run 52 and 36 in front) is pretty expensive. Might as well get all new cranks with new chainrings. A triple! Probably needs a new fd then, and a new chain, and a new freewheel...

No no no, just get use to un-clipping your left foot the obvious reason your chain rings are on the right hand side. You'll not suffer from chain tatoo, or worse.