Glad you are okay.... Take care of the hematoma on your thigh. It will go away but it takes a long time. If it is big, it represents a lot of blood loss so your red blood cell count will be low for quite a while. A male racer crashed at a track race and we taken to the ER with a bad hematoma on his leg. The docs did not want him to race for a couple of days because another blow to the same spot had more serious consequences. Of course, he did not listen, raced and won. Depending how bad the injuries are, you may want to see a doc.

As far as touching wheel of the person in front, we do a drill in skills class called "do you have a plan". Two riders go off in a grass field with one behind the other. The rider in front says, do you have a plan? The rider in back says yes. The rider in fronts says are you ready?. The rider in back says, yes. The rider in front stops quickly and the rider behind uses his plan to safely go around without braking. The verbal cues are eliminated one by one until the rider in front stops quickly without notice and the rider behind goes safely around.

I was a Los Angeles Velodrome and in a paceline (this is all trackies do is ride in pacelines). It was moving about 22 mph and I was about a foot behind the women in front. All of a sudden the paceline slowed and I instinctively went around her and was then riding next to her. I asked her what happened and she did not know. We talked after and she back pedaled when the line slowed a little and it was her 3rd time on the track.

I read the paceline ahead and do not look at the wheel in front. I think constantly what would I do if there were a crash or the line slows. The drill "do you have a plan" and constant mental images of what would I do if something goes wrong becomes engrained in the reflexes.