Had a crash - lessons learned
 

I had a crash on Sunday morning. My daughter and I had gone for an early morning mountain bike ride over the Quantocks, about 10 miles, nothing strenuous or difficult. On the way back to the car we were rolling down a stretch of trail running about 15 feet above a stream - not fast, nothing difficult about the trail which we'd ridden quite a few times before - when I hit something, a rock or root, I didn't get a chance to find out what.
The bike came to a very sudden halt and I was catapulted off, over the edge, downwards through a holly bush, before landing on the streambed. I don't remember anything about this, my first recollection was sitting in the stream picking holly leaves out of my legs.
My daughter - 15 years old - was a few feet behind me on trail, and had the awareness to stop immediately, get the bikes off the trail, and run upstream to a point where she could get down to the stream and then walk down to me. Luckily, someone else was riding down the trail, and she managed to flag him down. Even more luckily, this gentleman was a former Mountain Rescue team member. He applied some first aid to my ankle (which was at a decidedly odd angle and twice its normal size) then stopped another group of riders. Incredibly luckily the guy leading this group was a British Cycling coach and he worked brilliantly with the other guy, sending someone off to call an ambulance and my wife.
They then got the other riders together and carried me - the best part of half a mile - out of the river and down the trail to a point where they managed to sit me back on the bike and wheeled me down to the end of the trail, by which time an ambulance had arrived. A trip to A&E confirmed a broken ankle and foot.

Anyhow - lessons I've learned from this: -
Firstly, if my daughter hadn't been with me getting help would have been much harder. Hopefully someone would have found my bike and looked over the edge...but, if you're going out do take someone with you, or let someone know where you're going so they know where to look. A mobile phone is no use at all when you're sat in river with no signal and a backside full of holly leaves.
Secondly, a few first aid essentials can make a difference - apparently the support put on my ankle made the difference between a plaster cast I'm now wearing and pinning / surgery.
Third - and this one is contentious I know - a helmet can make a difference. There's a bit of a dent in mine, and both the paramedics who drove me to A&E and the staff there told me they'd seen cyclists with brain injuries which could have been avoided by the use of a helmet.
Fourth - the NHS is brilliant. The care I received from the paramedics, the staff in A&E, the radiographers, and everyone else was exemplary.
Fifth - I'm really proud of my daughter. No panic at all from her, she stayed calm and did everything right.
And finally - all you cyclists are great people. The way the guys and girls who helped out were simply fantastic and I owe them a huge thank you.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...79d406882c.jpg

Glad your injuries weren't worse. Congrats on raising a capable, responsible daughter. Aside from the actual crash, it sounds like fortune shined down on you. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Ouch hope you get better, I follow you on Strava and saw this. I think I gave you kuddos :lol:

Yes a helmet is critical when riding mtb. Saved my butt many times! Those roots and little cobbles can be nasty, even a small washout that can perfectly grab your front.

Were you on a rigid bike?

cringe worthy! yikes! get well soon! props to your daughter! she grew up a bit that day, huh? seeing her Dad hurt & all ... I'm sure you gave her a big hug to thank her. she must have been shaken. how is she doing?

I broke a leg once. peeing. glad to see you elevated it, I found a pillow under the knee is comfy too, meaning on your back, 2 or 3 pillows stacked right up to your knee so it's bent a little. alternate w fewer pillows but keeping one under your knee

so, back on a stationary bike for physical therapy right around 1st week of September? :)

Agreed... I have yet to NOT fall down at least while riding MTB... I can't recall the last time I fell while street riding. On the other hand, I've yet to be hit by a car while riding off road. ;)

Yep, definitely so. I usually go mountain biking with my son, but he's discovered girls and partying, so doesn't want to get up early and go biking with Dad so often now. He's got the teenage boy sense of invulnerability and has had some spectacular crashes which have frightened the life out of me, but has got up every time with barely a scratch on him. I've had a few offs mountain biking, but I've always found something soft to land on up to now; it's a case of luck running out.
I've not had a single accident on the road though, not since 1990-something when I gave up racing.

Cheers for the kudos - think my daughter earned them more than me. It was a full suspension, I think the suspension must have compressed under my weight at a sudden halt then rebounded and threw me off.

Thanks rumrunn6 - my daughter's ok. She's doing her Duke of Edinburgh Award at the moment and I'm sure the training she's had for that helped. We were due to do a sportive together this coming weekend that she's been looking forward to, so I feel bad at letting her down.

I'm getting the plaster cast off at the end of the week and a fibreglass one put on in its place - I've told my wife I'm going to ask for carbon fibre with a Look cleat bolted in. Can't give you her reply due to forum rules on swearing :)

All's well that ends well. Your daughter is a treasure. Your experience highlights the fact that the seriousness of an injury is dependent on the circumstances. By some miracle your misadventure happened to occur with the best possible people on hand.

Glad to hear you're mostly okay. Get well soon!

You can give someone your tracking password for your phone, so they can track your phone using theirs.