Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Old Fat Girl Down!

So yesterday morning I met a friend to do a nice, slow, easy mountain bike ride - basically on a beginner trail. It was a perfect morning, overcast, cool, quiet. We had the trails to ourselves. So we had ridden out about 3 miles and in turning around and looping back, my friend and I were chatting. We approached a short downhill. Although the hill is rocky, I have ridden it 100's of times without issue. All I can remember is picking up speed, hitting something, hearing the rock bounce and vaguely knowing I was flying towards the ground. I hit left shoulder, left breast (built-in airbag), knee and then =CRACK= the left side of my helmet against some rocks :eek:. May my helmet now rest in peace!

My friend came running back. She did not see the fall but knew the bike was out of control. She commented "at least you had the sense to unclip your pedals!" UH??? I did??? Frankly I think I got tossed over the handlebars so hard, the pedals just naturally began unengaged.

When I landed, the wind got knocked out of me and I had trouble getting my breathing back. I was gasping hard and I think this scared my friend. I love this... as I was laying, head down the trail, off into the rocks, all covered with dirt and blood, now a group of riders came past (not one stopped either!!!!). :(

Finally I could sit up. My head was pounding (great yet another concussion!), my left knee bleeding, my chest, shoulder, back and neck aching... but nothing broken THANK GOODNESS! My bike another matter. Not certain how it happened but I yanked the rear cable wiring out of the harness. I was able to remount the bike and ride back to my car. Great another good story to tell!

Today I am really, really sore. Didn't sleep well, my head is pounding and my entire left side is sore, achy; ribs bruised. I probably should admit I am too old and too fat for this activity but I do love it so, even for all the aches and pains.

Oh well, now I have down two mountain bikes. My fully was having the wheels rebuilt and now the hardtail is missing brakes. Hopefully by the time both are fixed I can ride again! (yes I have no short term memory!!!) :rolleyes:

Glad you survived. Here's to a rapid recovery.

scary

Time for RICE! (Rum, Ice, Coke, Enjoy) Use the recovery time to go helmet shopping, and if you really have a concussion, get your head examined. Feel better!

Wow, scarey! Hope you feel better soon! When I fell a few weeks ago, I was scared i did something bad but the only thing I really did was hurt my knee but it is nearly healed up now. Just scrapes.

Pounding headache after a blow to the head might warrant a trip to the ER. +1 on the speedy recovery wishes.

Pounding headache after a blow to the head might warrant a trip to the ER.
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Best wishes on a full and speedy recovery.

Hope you get back on the bike(s) soon :)

Thank goodness for built-in air bags. I may be male, but I'm well on my way to growing some. :D

You're never too "old and fat" until you admit you are. Don't admit it, ever! Heal well, and yes, get your head examined. (I love saying that)

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Best wishes on a full and speedy recovery.+3

A concussion is nothing to mess with, Pam. meanwhile, if you ain't crashing,. you ain't trying. ;)

Time for RICE! (Rum, Ice, Coke, Enjoy) Use the recovery time to go helmet shopping, and if you really have a concussion, get your head examined. Feel better!

I watch and buy helmets on sale... I had 3 new ones in the garage. Old one is retired and am ready with a new one.

I've had plenty of experience with concussions. I figured I have a mild one...no reason to go to the doctor... been there done that. I should get my head examined thinking I can mountain bike!

Sorry for your crash.

Watched my friend crash Twice.

Not fun to watch.

Sorry about that....hope all is well.

but you need to work on the story....it needs to be "and I was doing 50+ and was on my second big air when a wind gust caught me"

ps: last time I hurt myself skiing it was on almost flat ground and I simply was not paying attenting....boom broken wrist... but "it was a snow snake"

I watch and buy helmets on sale... I had 3 new ones in the garage. Old one is retired and am ready with a new one.

I've had plenty of experience with concussions. I figured I have a mild one...no reason to go to the doctor... been there done that. I should get my head examined thinking I can mountain bike!

Don't you live alone? You should at least have a friend stay with you tonight. Symptoms can be delayed and severe when they do come on.

Yeah, a mild concussion can lead to death, quiet easily in fact. I use to ignore blunt force head trauma until my last concussion which led to a mildly embarrassing problem called coital headaches. After ignoring it for a week and the problem persisting I went to the doctor. Thanks to me being stubborn and waiting a week I had to have an CT scan and a lovely lumbar test done. The CT was clean so the doc wanted to test spinal fluid to make sure there was no blood from a mild hemorrhage. She said the problem with this and why she wanted to be safe is that more often then not a person can get a mild hemorrhage and it will heal up and they will never know. BUT, if it happens again it is very commonly fatal. So three weeks of no vigorous activity and my coital headaches were gone, thank God!

Don't you live alone? You should at least have a friend stay with you tonight. Symptoms can be delayed and severe when they do come on.

I do live alone and your advice is sound. I had a friend check in with me every hour or so until about 10 pm when I went to bed. At that point i knew i was OK. But the friend started texting me again early (around 5 am when I am up) to make sure... I still have a headache but I think its being caused by sore and strained neck muscles then anything else.

Holy crap!! Sounds like quite a fall you took - hope you heal quickly and are back in the saddle again soon.

Did the rock say "None shall pass."



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXY9TuuwyL8

Hoping for a speedy recovery but remember a concussion is brain damage.
You need to heal up before you ride again.
My club's rule is that any time the helmet hits the ground, the ride is over and the rider gets SAG.
Concussions mean a trip to ER.

Glad to hear you are OK , but do go get your head looked at you old people just don't rebound as fast as us young ones.

Glad to hear you are OK , but do go get your head looked at you old people just don't rebound as fast as us young ones.

Ditto what the Aussie wrote. I hope you recover swiftly.

Dang Pam, sorry to hear about the fall and pain you are suffering. Best of prayers and hopes your way. Glad to know you are getting ready to return to riding. Take your time. Weird, its seems those old familiar trails trip us up. Maybe they don't want to be taken for granted?

Shame on those riders that just passed by. Violates the whole family atmosphere of riding, especially trail riding. Sorry to hear it.

How does the cat feel about the fall. Is the cat trying to get you to quit? :lol:

Gee, that sounds like me and my thorns a few years ago. Course, all I needed was a flat place to stop and then fall off the side of my bike into a ditch full of brambles. Umm - no photos huh? Feel better soonest!

Glad to hear that you're OK and the helmet did it's job.

Glad you are in one piece!!!!!


Time for RICE! (Rum, Ice, Coke, Enjoy)

I like that train of thought..................

Shame on those riders that just passed by. Violates the whole family atmosphere of riding, especially trail riding. Sorry to hear it.

How does the cat feel about the fall. Is the cat trying to get you to quit? :lol:

I wonder what I would of done... I am sure I would have stopped to make sure everything was OK. At least I would have hoped I would. Their help was not needed but I thought it odd they rode past. I'm sure I looked pretty bad and its clear I went down over into the rocks.

My cat is actually loving it since I am been fairly inactive and staying put in the big chair in the living room. He has been sleeping on me for 2 days - lazy cat.

Thanks for your prayers... and everyone elses.

OK so how stupid and dumb is this. I was riding my "backup" bike at the time and decided I need a better back up bike. So I started looking for another Santa Cruz Superlight and well well well, ran into the 2012 Santa Cruz Juliana in Light/Gloss blue, Rxc kit. I am coveting the bike and thinking of getting it and making my best bike a backup.... Can I blame this foolishness on a bump on the noggin????

BTW I already have a permanent brain injury caused by a fall in 2006. I have been told no more falls on the head so I will be checking with my doctor today just to make sure no problems. I am getting those weird strange bruises in funny places. I am still sore but feeling better...

I think in light of that recent post that you need to see a doctor ASAP! GO NOW! It is commanded, I am sure that there will be back up for this coming shortly.

Shiney bikes are tempting, Imay have caught the bug from you. I keep thinking that a Santa Cruz Tallboy should be in my future. Back to YOU! Get yourself checked out before you go checking out any more bikes, don't make me get ugly on this. Seriously-at our age, things leak and swell and complications follow. Remember Liam Neesom's wife was fine, until she wasn't. Not trying to be scary, just realistic. Have someone drive you.

Add some lime to that rum and coke. A Cuba Libre is 10x better tasting.

How can a doctor tell you no more bumps on the head, serious are you mean to live in a bubble the rest of your life ?

I am 24 and i have had 3 concussions and a total of 4 mins black out time so far ...... no lasting damage :)

but let us know how the doc trip goes, and be safe-ish.

Hope all goes well at the doctor's and glad you're healing up otherwise!

I'm replacing a helmet as well after an accident a week ago. Nothing as spectacular as yours though it could have been if a car had come zipping around that blind curve like they always do with me dazed in the middle of it. I did meet a wonderfully nice woman who called her husband to come give me a ride home rather than have me sit in the snow for a couple hours waiting for my husband to get off work. So, don't lose heart in human kindness! It is out there. Just bad luck you had a bunch of insesitive jerks come along.

I did meet a wonderfully nice woman who called her husband to come give me a ride home rather than have me sit in the snow for a couple hours waiting for my husband to get off work.

Waaay OT.... but that sounds like the perfect setup for a really bad 'adult' movie. OTOH... 'really bad adult movie' is tautological.

Anyway, hope that gave Pameestique a laugh... unless, of course, it still hurts to laugh, in which case, I hope it gave her that inner chuckle that indicates that something was silly enough to raise your spirits, but not so much that you have an actual physical reaction to it.

Observational humor is hard.

Back to your regularly-scheduled well-wishes. :)

I am feeling better... I just ordered the new Juliana... its going to be beautiful and I can't wait to ride it. Daspydyr that means you have to get the Tallboy!!! BTW went through Speedgoat.com and got a great deal.

As to my body... checked out the head... things are OK; just told to watch it and stay off the bike for a week. I am still so sore anyway and am developing bruises in weird places. I will be doing easy short hikes this weekend instead.

Hi Pam, glad that the head checked out OK. That sort of thing can get nasty. That Juliana is a sweet looking bike. Is it the blue one shown on the website ??

Hi Pam, glad that the head checked out OK. That sort of thing can get nasty. That Juliana is a sweet looking bike. Is it the blue one shown on the website ??

I ordered the 2012 which is a lovely light blue compared to the 2011 "Seabright" or Ford blue. It's definitely a girly colored bike!

I ordered the 2012 which is a lovely light blue compared to the 2011 "Seabright" or Ford blue. It's definitely a girly colored bike!

Even though it's Carolina Blue, it's a beauty.

+1 on that. It's a really nice color, girly or not !! You're going to enjoy it by the look of it. Just try avoiding the rocks perhaps.

Even though it's Carolina Blue, it's a beauty.

My Nephew just graduated from UNC/CH so that's fitting ;)

It's hard to avoid rocks in California... we don't have tree roots we have rocks and sand. I am usually good through the rocks but was riding my very light hardtail and I think (cause I really don't know) when the front wheel hit a rock, it just got turned to the right, launching me off that bike. That old hardtail has all of 2 " front travel so you can imagine. With a plushier bike I should be OK (that said - =knock wood= ...as she taps her head).

Glad to hear you're getting better, I had a crash in early January and landed hard on my right shoulder and it's still no where near healed.

Shoulder injuries suck, I can't believe no one stopped to help.

Good to hear no more permanent damage. I am suffering some memory issues from my own header last summer, though my additional damage overshadows that! It will be some time before I'm back on a bike though that isn't on my trainer or an exercise machine.