Hope you are ok?
Always figured if that happened to me I would prefer to have a helmet on too but I sure don't want to make hay out of that issue here.

thanks all. This morning I feel very very sore. Day off from bike riding. At least for this morning :)

Probably a good idea for at least a day.

didnt work. i got in 30.75 miles.

I figured out would hit the saddle but had to give the obligatory,"take a day off" speech. Lol

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

Dude, great post. Loved it all. I would agree, some cussing over the bumps to work really helped out :)

Glad you're alright, Chef!

I'm still recovering from my fall last summer July 3, 2011...Dislocated shoulder.

I still cycle though! :D

Chef, haven't I see pics of your bike with five or six lights on it? I'm curious how you missed the tree. Were you busy looking down at the twigs? I've learned to keep my eyes moving when riding in the dark. Since I can't see as far ahead at night as I can during the day, I try to spend more time looking down the road. I'm glad your fall wasn't catastrophic for you or the bike.

Edit: Oops, that cehoward. I have about the same amount of light: 700-800 on the bars, 400 on the helmet.

Might I recommend skateboarders' wrist protectors? They're made to prevent the wrists from bending too quickly in a crash, without restricting the range of motion.

It was really stupid. It was on the start of a curve that curves right and I saw a lot of twigs and looked down. When I looked up I was met with the tree. Stupid. But I learned.

Thanks. My wrists are getting stronger but still not fully recovered. I will look into them since I'm sure another fall would cause major damage.

The pads are designed to keep you from bashing your wrists on the ground when you put your hands out to break the fall.

http://www.allsportprotection.com/v/...s/scaphoid.jpg

I feel like wearing them while riding would be very tough.

http://www.projumpforum.co.uk/bockin...rist-guard.jpg

Especially with the plastic in your way..they do limit your range of motion.

Glad to hear you are okay chef.

Might I suggest a Dogfish Head 90 IPA to take the edge off that pain? :beer:

I'll drink to that!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the research! Wouldn't suprise me at all if I did manage to fracture the old Scaphoid(s) (plus tear who knows what tendons and ligaments - looks like a complicated mess to me). My initial thought is that at this point in my recovery (advanced I think/hope) I probably would not consider them due to the probable interference you have mentioned.................but it was something that I never considered and after the next crash (hopefully not for a long long time ......) I would do whatever it takes to avoid further injury. (thank you in advance Greyrider) After three crashes in short order and wrists that throbbed at every bump and every night, I was terrified (but not enought to keep me off the bike) of what would happen on a subsequent crash.

In addition to weekday commuter I am a weekend warrior on my road bike. As a fellow rider that I happend to come across during a nasty downpour while we were playing " this is not a race but I'm trying to pass/drop you" said as we parted routes after riding to a draw - "STAY UPRIGHT".

Good advice for all of us. I'm doing my best to heed.