sauerwald

Apologies for a youngster posting here (I am 48), but I had a question which I think this group may be able to help with.

I commute to/from work, which is a 30 mile RT, last week I had a crash, where I went over the handlebars, landed on my head, rolled onto my back, and the bike then fell on my ribs. I was lucky and the only things that broke were parts of the bike, not me, but I did come away with some nasty road rash and bruising. I continue to commute on the bike, but damn, those ribs hurt.

As I get older, I seem to have more and more general aches and pains - the current bruising just seems to be highlighting this - what works for you to ease the discomfort of minor injuries?

Blackberry

A: All the things none of us want to hear: Rest, stretching, patience.

Digital Gee

I spoke today with my parents in Florida, who are 80 and 82 years old, respectively. The conversation with them about what they deal with on a daily basis eased every one of my aches and pains immediately. Not only do they live with things like arthritis, bone deterioration, two strokes in my father's case and now a stent, etc. etc. etc. but they have to deal with the fact that on some weeks, two or three of their friends, members of their church, etc. pass away. Every month at least one or two.

Anyway, I'm not belittling your crash and injuries -- not for a moment. Good thing the only thing that broke was the bike! All I'm saying is that every time I start my own complaining (NOT that YOU were complaining!) about aches and pains, a quick conversation with my folks is quite the cure.

Travelinguyrt

Minor scratches and cuts apply thin coating of honey bags under eyes same thing an oldwives remedy, but it works

GrannyGear

+1 to Blackberry and DeeGee above. But also......good humor and some acceptance. At 59, most days something is stiff or sore....old "ski knee", tendinitis here or there, bike crash last month, the usual stuff common to people who have been active most of their life and have the dents to show for it. Usually nothing that doesn't spin out on the bike after a while or at least get masked by endorphins. Making age jokes with peers somehow helps because it reminds us of natural things, but then we have each other to remind us "Just do it".

Waiting for healing to be complete (or "complete enough") is the hardest part. Good time to overhaul the machine, which, unlike us, seldom heals itself. Or go for a walk, a hike, something new.

cyclintom

I'll tell you the way to heal rapidly and completely without scarring.

If there's a public hot springs around go there and sit in the hottest part for an hour. Maybe a hot tub will work but you have to have a LOT of chorine in the water.

If you have a large bathtube run a tub full and put in one full cup of Clorox and soak in that for as long as you can.

This works best if you do it shortly after being injured. It DOES NOT sting. It cleans the wounds so completely that you avoid infections which cause most of the pain and the slowness in healing.

To tell you the truth it's almost a miracle cure and if you don't believe me try it.

jcm

I've heard the same thing as cyclintom said. If you don't have a way to do it just use neosporin ointment or gel on the rash. The ribs? Ibuprofin, the breakfast of champions.

Carusoswi

So, I am curious. You are obviously a fit and experienced rider. What caused your accident?
Caruso

sauerwald

Thank you for all the sage advice - I continue to use vitamin I - referred to as the breakfast of champions, but will try some of the other suggestions. In actual fact, in the past 24hrs the road rash has gotten quite a bit better, I had rubbed an ointment on it made by a friend, not sure entirely what was in it other than beeswax, some herbs and oils. Smelled so bad it took your mind off of anything else going on.

As to what caused the crash... I am not 100% certain, but here is what I think happened:

I was riding through a particularly bad intersection - here in New England we have these intersections were several roads come together in a star configuration - I was at 'Morrills corner' in Portland Maine - if you want to look for it on a map it is where Stevens Ave, Route 100, Route 302, and Bishop St all come together. To make the intersection more interesting there are railroad tracks that go through it. It was rush hour, heavy traffic, there had been an accident earlier that day, so there was a lot of debris along the side of the road, which made me take the lane, and ride directly behind a large SUV. I hit a pothole which was alongside the railroad tracks and went over the handlebars. I was not travelling very fast at the time - perhaps 10-15mph. After the crash, I found that the brake lever which controls the front brake (the right on my bike), had been pushed forward, sliding a half inch or so down the handlebar, which had the effect of clamping on the front brake (bike has drop bars) It is possible that the pothole alone caused me to go over the handlebars, or that the shock of the pothole, with my hand on the brake hood caused the front brake to clamp on, either way, the result was my quickly ending up on my head and then back.

As I play it back in my mind, I probably should have left more space between myself and the car in front of me so that I would have had a better view of the road ahead. I also keep asking myself if the clamp holding the brake lever to the bars might have been loose, so I may have been lax in my maintenence.

Dockside97

For the ribs you could use an ice pack on it 10-15 minutes on and 10-15 minutes off. I was told by several doctors when you have swelling you hit it with ice until it starts to feel better and then hit it with heat. You obviously have some swelling around the ribs. I use this method when my back goes out. I also use the ice on my bursitis in my right shoulder when that flares up. Gettin old stinks, doesn't it? My mind is like 30-40 years old and my body is definitely the 62 that I am. Hopefully getting back into riding will make my body feel a lot younger.

jppe

I had a very similar accident 2 years ago. I entered a curve on a descent on my brand new bike WAY too fast and couldn't make the curve. In the process of locking up the brakes and going down I went over the handlebars and landed on my head (helmet shattered), shoulder and then back. My head was fine but I had a slightly separated shoulder and had fractured a rib. Luckily my new bike was fine!!

I had to get healed quickly for a once in a lifetime opportunity to play with some golf pros in 4 weeks so I sought all the advice I could find. I went to my ortho who told me the extent of my injuries said it would be at least 4 weeks before I could swing a club. That wouldn't do. I was playing in 4 weeks and needed to practice beforehand.

My wife convinced me to go see an acupuncturist she was going to and I was willing to try anything. All I can say is that I was playing golf with little pain in about 2 weeks....

My wife is now getting educated to do acupuncture and I'm amazed at it's potential. You might do some checking but that could be an alternative for some of the aches. I was actually lucky with my ribs in that I fractured the bone instead of tearing some of the ligaments or whatever's there. Either way it HURTS to cough, laugh, roll over in bed, etc.

Good luck and stay safe!!

lhbernhardt

Interesting. Two thangs:

1. Has anyone else ever noticed that since the use of clipless pedals in the mid-80's, bikes tend to get flipped higher in crashes? I think it has something to do with the way the pedals release. The old toe clips didn't let the bike get thrown as high. The result is that if the bike ends up landing on you, it does more damage!

2. I had never considered the consequences of the aero brake lever sliding forward on the bar. Had the traditional non-aero lever been used, the brake wouldn't have locked up since the cable would have just gone with the lever. But when mounting an aero lever, one of the first thangs I do is to tape down the cable housings, which then get covered by a roll of hbar tape. Interesting.

I'm glad to see that someone else is clever enough to set the right lever to the front brake (Italian style or motorcycle style). I don't understand why the right lever is usually set to the rear brake (except in Italy, where they obviously understand cycling). In a hard stop or in threshold braking, you want the dominant hand (usually the right) over the front brake because that's the one you need to modulate to keep the rear wheel from skidding. Bicycle brake lever configuration is one of the few thangs favoring southpaws in North America!

- L.

Artkansas 

1) I do notice that the fellow in the photographs should have done some trampoline training. I've done an over the handlebar flip like that and caught my bike with my feet. But he's headed in the wrong direction. He should be stretching out to spread the impact of the road over as much of his body as possible. Then the bike should hang from his feet.

2) I don't know either. But I suspect it may have something to do with city cycling.

Assuming that you are trying to brake and signal in a street situation, traditionally you signal with the left hand. That leaves the right for braking. If you are going to jam on the brakes one-handed, you definitely want to be squeezing the rear brake as squeezing the front brake with only one hand on the handlebars is a sure fire way to crash. Hence, install the rear brake on the right.

old99

The front brake carries 70%-80% of any vehicles's braking power. On a motorcycle, about the only time you need the rear brake is in loose conditions--sand, gravel, maybe wet (but not always)--and under full panic conditions, plus depending on circumstances, locking the back wheel can be just as nasty as locking the front. Because you can't see the rear wheel and most riders don't recognise the slide till it's too late, it's easy to lose control over-braking the rear.

On a bike, I see two things here: one, if your left hand is in the air signaling, by the time you get it to the lever you're deeper in trouble already because the rear isn't as effective. And in a full panic stop, I'd think you'd want your strongest and most sensitive hand already on your levers, modulating your strongest brake.

Personally I set my bikes up with front brake on right lever. In normal riding I rarely use my rear brake. If I'm expecting to need it, like when running stop signs, I'll make sure I'm on both levers.

JiO

stapfam

Hate to say it but accidents happen, and not only when cycling. You could have been more fortunate and had the accident at Work by walking into a filing cabinet or the like.

Only way to get over accidents like this is to keep moving- not doing any strenuous work , but keep moving in some way. The cuts, and grazes wil be the worst so I use Surgical spirit on those. Keeps them clean and after the initial stinging, does ease them a bit. If a hot bath does not work- then localised cold treatment with a bag of frozen peas helps. Witch hazel on the bruises and a tie a knot In your cycling shorts to remind you not to do it again.

Good luck for a speedy recovery- but until those bruise heal and the graises stop pulling, take it easy.