mtalinm

at least I made it 2300 miles without falling over, but I finally bit the pavement on Saturday. details here:

https://mtalinm.bostonbiker.org/2010/...ummer-century/

Tried a a bunch of different things on the road rash. apparently the revered Tegaderm is not necessarily the best. the doc I saw today ripped it off and dabbed it with Bacitracin, then wrapped it up.

am now seriously thinking about shaving the legs. sooooo gross having the hair wrapped up in the bloody goop. yanking bandages off is harrowing as well, though it gives my wife a chance to say HTFU :-)

will try to get back on the bike tmw, maybe commuting again by the end of the week.

Magnificent777

Well did a good effort. No worries on the falling. My first year of cycling I fell about 5 times. A couple times was because I would forget to unclip from the pedals.

My last crash was at 21 mph and I bit the pavement hard. My crash due to wrong tires on my rebuild and cornering too sharp with those wrong tires. The front wheel went right under me.

My injuries were alot. The worst lost my skin on my knuckles of my last 2 finger of my right hand. I had gloves but they were half finger gloves. I skin forearm and knee scraped.

I have to say duh!! on the adapter and pump you didn't have. For a bike ride that far you got to be prepared.

mtalinm

I have a frame pump on my other bike, but I figured I'd be ok with co2 cartridges. won't make that mistake again...

sorry to hear about the high-speed crash! I'm lucky I was only going 10 or so

Wogster

I think the issue on the CO2, carry one more cartridge then you have tubes available. Then if you need a top up or a cartridge fails, you have an extra. Always carry the Presta adapter...

El Conquistador De Amore

Just had my first crash last month. Despite cleaning the wound and taking all the necessary precautions, the road rash on my thigh got infected. Odd thing was that part never directly hit asphalt , but everything that did directly skid across the pavement never got infected. I tell you, when you are 275 pounds and you hit the pavement.....you feel it.

Mr. Beanz

You have a frame pump so you prolly know but I have had people ask to borrow my frame pump cause their pump only fit schraeder.

I've had to inform them that plenty of pumps fit both, it's a matter of flipping the rubber o-ring inside of the head. Most pumps do, I don't know about the pumps you tried to borrow or if you know this already. If so, then this is a note to those that don't. May save you some trouble down the road.

I know it sounds silly but I can't count the times I've had to give roadside demonstrations.

cyclist2000

Sorry to hear about the crash, the photo didn't look too bad. My first crash many years ago I broke off my front two teeth, tore my lip and skinned both forearms. The other crashes resulted in fractured elbows when I tried to catch myself. No broken bones and all your teeth are still there, your not doing too bad.

Neosporin will help with the infection.

Now about the CO2 cartridge, on one of my bikes I don't have a frame pump that fits and I only have a medium size seat bag, I carry mini tool, tube, patch kit, CO2 inflator and about 4-5 CO2 cartridges. the reason I carry so many cartridges is 1 for filling the tube, if I have a second flat or put the tube in poorly or didn't get the sharp object out of the tire, I will need to use the second cartridge to find the hole to patch, third cartridge is used to reinflate the tube. 4 and 5 are for peace of mind.
I don't like long walks in cycling shoes.

mtalinm

Three different people offered to let me use their pumps, but they were all schraeder only. Oh if I had only been carrying an adapter!

Will def carry a few extra cartridges next time

Interestingly, the lbs told me I should not buy a frame pump from them because it woukdbe hard to get above 69-70psi

dscheidt

put one on one of your tires. And leave it there. Can't forget it that way.

So's walking a bike. And it's not hard to find a pump that will get a tire to rideable pressure, frame or smaller. The super mini pumps suck, but there are lots of mid-sized pumps that work just fine.

mtalinm

GREAT idea to put one on a tire. it's so small I could see losing it otherwise.

Leebo

The topeak road morph works great.

CraigB

No one is going to mistake using a frame pump to inflate a tire with a walk on the beach, but like dscheidt said, it can be done, at least to a rideable pressure. The thing I've always found, however, is that it's hard work - hard enough that between the pushing, sweating, pushing, swearing and pushing, it's easy to damage the valve stem. There's a particular technique that should be used with a frame pump to prevent that sort of thing from happening. It involves using your non-pushing hand to grasp the tire and wheel both, right at the valve stem area, so it all acts as a solid unit of resistance against the pumping hand. Grabbing only the pump at its "handle" area without also immobilizing the wheel is asking for trouble, IMO. Someone at your local LBS should be able to demonstrate the technique for you.

Coopers_Dad

Sorry to hear about your accident. I got back on my bike two weeks after the first crash this year but I haven't much more than glanced at my bike after my 2nd one last Friday.

Greg_R

People must be using some crappy frame pumps and/or technique out there. Topeak's Road Morph (as well as other styles and brands) have a small hose from the pump. This prevents all the stem damage. Keep the arms straight and use the body weight / core / legs to work the pump (someone in another thread said "it should look like a monkey humping a football"). I've used the Topeak up to 120psi (another person's tire) with zero problems. The 'G' series of Topeak pumps are nice because they have a built-in pressure gauge. At Clydesdale weights the extra few grams don't bother me.

CraigB

^^ That's good to know - all I've ever used is the old Zefal.

socalrider

Use the pump that can do both..The 2nd wind from Genuine Innovations..They work great and have a backup pump just in case you run out of co2.. the come in mini and large lengths and alloy or carbon finish..

https://www.genuineinnovations.com/bi...r-touring.html

As far as shaving legs, Shaving the first time can be a chore.. DO NOT buy cheap disposable razors or you will seriously regret it.. Buy quality blades and use shaving cream the 1st time.. After that you can just use soap and shave.. The best blade right now is the Gillette Venus which is a womens specific razor but is made specifically for shaving your legs, they work better than anything I have used before..

cyclist2000

When using my zefal pump, I normally raise the wheel off the ground and place one finger behind the bottom of the pump when pumping so as not to torque the valve stem.

The topeak road morph folds out to resemble a floor pump and is capable of pumping to +100 psi.

I also like the lezyne pumps because these mount with the water bottle cage at the side, are well built.

finelargeaxe

I'm so glad I'm young.

Last year, I got knocked into by a soccer mom talking on her cell phone on her way into a parking lot in downtown Monroe. That plus inertia forced me to ram full tilt into a 10 year old elm tree growing along the street. I've never seen that woman since. I survived, my gear survived, the tree...eh, not so much. It seems I was the final blow, as it had caught a degrading disease that's running rampant up here. It's gone now, and there's no evidence that it was ever there anymore...except for a lingering flare of pain whenever I go by that spot.

mtalinm

looks awesome (the pump) .. can it do 120 psi?

good advice on shaving ... am seriously considering it. even worse than the pain of replacing bandages is my wife saying "you weakling! you don't even know what pain IS!"

Zudnik

Crashes suck but they are part of cycling. I had a high speed crash about 20 years ago. I didn't know what happened, but according to a witness a dog ran out as I was doing about 40 down a hill. I biffed it big cracking my helmet. Apparently I somehow got back to my dorm although I was bleeding real bad from my scalp and face. Someone stopped me as I was walking in the dorm and called the ambulance. A few days later the witness tracked me down by calling the hospital. He was driving a car, saw it happen, but had a newborn with him and couldn't stop. Told me it was a wicked crash and I slid for like 100' on the road (no idea if true). I've had several concussions, but think that's the one that really gave me the pcs that's plagued me for years.

It's all good though. Hey, what's a little skin

socalrider

I use the mini version and doubt it could get 120psi but could do 100 psi without any issues.. The longer one would of course work better in a pinch.. This is of course only needed when you run out of co2.. I carry 2 in my seat pack and one can screw into the top of the pump..

funrover 

Chicks dig scars!
Wounds Heal
Pain is temporary
GLORY IS FOREVER!!

mtalinm

I am amazed at how true this is!

We will see whether they also dig my newly-shaved calves :-)