Originally Posted by bubbagrannygear

Bummer about the crash but that only seals your membership into the community. I think it's an unfortunate fact of life for anyone who cycles regularly in the dark, that there will be some moment when you are just riding along -same as you have hundreds of times - and you find yourself in a violent encounter with the pavement.

For me it was last fall, when after commuting 18 miles a day without incident for a year and a half, I crashed 3 times within two weeks.

1)Day after the freak October snow, at 5AM had to detour from my normal route due to down power lines. Sliped on ice that I didn't think would be there according to predicted temperatures. Barked my shin -no big deal.

2) Due to same freak storm, tons of branches had come down because the heavy wet snow fell when the trees still had leaves. Everyone dragged the branches to the curb. So again, in the dark sometime between 5 and 5:30 AM, I'm riding along +/- 15MPh and I come to a sudden violent halt due to branch in spoke. Half asleep, all of a sudden I'm flying headfirst over the handlebars. Really smashed my right wrist, shin and left elbow and knee. Lots of blood from the shin and ligaments and tendons in wrist clearly damaged. ( could not roll down window of my truck or use it to push open a door - but somehow could ride a bike as long as you allow for loud cursing upon every bump and pothole)

3) again about a week later about 5 AM in light rain that was not supposed to fall according to weather report, I overcooked a turn at an intersection that I have traversed hundreds of times before. Went down hard and damaged left wrist, shin and right elbow and knee. A mirror image of the previous wreck.

So what can we learn ?

1)The wrists are a tough injury. Mine are still not at full strength but they are much better than last fall. Best I can tell, conventional medicine says that rest and immobilzation are the keys to healing torn tendons and ligaments - like that will ever happen with an addicted cyclist.

2) The over cooked turn in the rain ? Turns out upon closer examination, there was a steel plate in the road at wider radius that I normally make. Turning bike tire on a wet steel plate ? No chance. Moral of the story -slow down when conditions are not favorable.

3) Although I damaged my wrists I did not tear up my hand due to gloves that I was wearing on account of temperature. I now wear cycling gloves without fingers in the warm days just to guard against my next crash. Sound like you might consider this.

4) When riding in the dark - more light - more better. I don't know how I didn't see the stick or the steel plate but more light couldn't have hurt. (was riding with about 120 lumens which seemed to be enough at the time .......)


good luck - hang in there - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger