.... cause last night i lopped off part of a thumb!

just a nasty flesh wound, I was working on my commuter and somehoworother my left thumb got too close to the spinning disc brake and wap! one of those priceless "I sure wish I could rewind 5 seconds" moments

Big chunck of skin hanging off a nasty dirty wound, blood going everywhere, part of the nail hanging off. I lopped off the loose stuff with the kitchen sissors, put on pressure, and went to one of those minor emergency places.

$100 and a tetnus booster later, I grabbed a Dum-Dum lolly pop on the way out, which I thought most appropriate.

I was running on 3 hrs sleep last night and was quite fatigued... I work in a plant environment, heavy, moving, hot, sharp, dangerous equipment everyhwere, and have never hurt myself, and here I go home and hurt myself on a dam' bicycle!

I plan on driving for the next few days till the wound is scabbed over. I'm afraid of popping it open on the bike, plus it's been very very rainy and I'd hate to show to work (a food plant no less!) with a big wet thumb bandage all dripping blood everywhere.

that is my tale of woe.

Ouch... Did you see yourself doing it one second before it happened ?

When swapping pedals around a while back I was pulling the pedal wrench toward the big ring. I thought to myself, "If this slips I'm going to hit the ........BAM! " Thumb meets big ring at a rapid rate.

Sprocket tooth jammed straight into the joint...and deep. Hurt like a mutha and bled like a stuck pig.

Learn from this... when swapping pedals, move chain onto the big ring. I already knew this but forgot until one second prior to impact.

Didn't see it coming... it was wham smack! can't believe that happened!

Haven't hurt myself this stoopidly since I got my first swiss army knife

I have a fixed gear. I do not spin my rear wheel rapidly when I am working on it. If I want to spin the chain, I do it by turning the rear wheel (not the crank) with my hand. Go over to the fixed gear forum and look at some of the pictures in the threads about running fingers through cogs and chainrings and you will see why. Some of the pics are not for the squeamish.

Also i hear, if you're too ill to ride to work you're too ill to work!

I try not to spin anything when working on a bike too... on my fixed i have been hit with the pedals so many times cause i just stand there and spin the wheel, BAM a pedal strikes me on the leg (or worse). Also when cleaning the chain i go slow to avoid the chain ring or cog eating my hand/fingers.

yowza you fixies are scaring me - i had never considered that aspect before.

This accident just served to remind me that even though it's just a bicycle, it's a machine with moving parts & the ability to maim. Reminded me just how frail we are. you get used to a machine, get just a touch careless for a second...and it costs you big time.

I've been very careful with my stapler today

Yeah, I never really considered the hazard of the fixie either until I saw some of the threads. I used to get that rear wheel really spinning with the cranks then mess with a rag around the hub axel to clean out gunk. With the inertia of that wheel though, if you inadvertantly get a finger caught between a tooth and the chain, it's not stopping at that first tooth like with a freewheel - your finger is going around for the full ride. Knowing that too many fixed riders are missing some portion of their finger(s) keeps me careful now.

We all have one of those!



Glad you posted that. Could happen to anyone!

I'm going to patent something like this for bike mechanics:

Looks like someone has already solved the problem:

or heck, ride a unicycle or a big-wheel

Back on the bike this AM - the wound is no longer oozing much (bleh). I hated the drive yesterday. seriously, half the drivers seem to have their brain shut off.

I never knew I'd miss the use of the left thumb so much. Makes simple things like putting on socks quite tough

There is a guy at work who has a folding bike with a drive train like that.

Sorry to hear that you had to drive to work today. I hate driving to work.

BTW-If you had a road bike none of this would ever have happened.