Today was not my best day on a bike. I was riding with my young son. He and I were riding to his summer camp program and about mile from our home I looked back to make sure he wasn't too far behind (he can get distracted at times). I heard him yell Dad!!! But didn't see the pothole fast enough. Next thing I know I'm down and my head slams into the road. The coupe de gras was my son hitting my helmet with his tire as he swerved to avoid me.

A little trip to the doc to check me for concussion and I'm back at home. I'm a little banged up but overall I'm feeling pretty good. The bike needs some attention and the helmet is a goner but considering how this could have gone there are some definite positives. My son got a really memorable lesson on the value of wearing a helmet. I think the thing that freaked him out the most was my sunglasses scraped the bridge of my nose when I went down so after I got to me feel I had blood running down my face. It as actually the most minor injury I sustained. It was just a scrape but it sure as h*ll looked bad.

The worst part of the day...the fact that I won't get any riding in today.

Ironic moment...just yesterday I was thinking to myself "I haven't had a crash on nearly 20 years".

Best moment...I've been a martial artist for thirty years and when the bike went down instinct took over and I expanded my body to break the fall. Considering I hit the pavement I really have very little in the way of scrapes and such.

Crashes are humbling. Glad you didn't break any bones. In my book, a crash without a broken bone is a successful crash.

When you ride it isn't a matter of IF you will crash but WHEN. As crashes go this one definitely is way better than it could have been.

Exactly! In 'your book'. I crashed in 2010 on hard-packed dirt (think concrete). Slammed my elbow as I rolled to avoid any neck; head injury. I was wearing a helmet and not a scratch or dirt on it.

Ended up shattering my left elbow. I now have a huge titanium plate holding it all together. I crashed the right way. I'd take a broken elbow any day over a neck/head injury.

OW...but I also agree that a broken elbow is a lot better than a head and neck injury. So how's the elbow doing these days? An residual effects from it?

I spent the afternoon cleaning and repairing my ride. Seemed like the right thing to do. The pedal on one side is pretty scraped up. I also had to re-align the handlebars and put the chain back on but it came through with a few less dings than I did. Since I'm off the bike tomorrow (won't get to pick up my new helmet until late afternoon) I'll tune it up and adjust the gears.

It's fine. Most of the time I forget I have a plate. That is until I play catch or lift something. Never took any medicine (before or after surgery). It didn't hurt, which surprised me. I just couldn't move it.

Told the doc' it was my 1st broken bone and surgery. He told me I did a great job at breaking it and will definitely have arthritis. I'll Deal with it as it comes.

Did all the physical therapy myself. They took too long to call. That was fun.

I was on my bike exactly 2 months after I broke it. Ha!

That sucks dude. I've crashed two dozen times in my career with only scrapes or a sore wrist. Maybe you should learn how to crash better.

I didn't crash on the road while commuting. I was jumping on my MTB. I did crash the right way. Mid-air I let go of the bike and knew I was going down. I did not hurt my neck, head or back.

I'm happy with that. I didn't care about the broken elbow or sprained ankle.

My two mountain bike crashes were both kinda weird. One I slid into a large stand of stinging nettle, That one really hurt. The other I went off a forty foot drop and knew it was time to abandon ship. That time I managed to reach up and grab a tree branch. It was a little embarrassing to be rescued hanging from a tree but no injuries (other than my pride).

The thing about commuting that I try to remember (and I thought about it while laying on the ground) is getting run over by a car because th driver doesn't see me. Thankfully the town I live in has lots of bike trails so I can move about quite a bit with minimal interaction with cars. Oh well, like my son said last night...I gained some life experience points today.

I can relate. I was riding in a mall parking lot and I was so busy looking out for the zany driving that I didn't see the massive pothole in the road. The front wheel stopped; I didn't.

Ouch! Did you go over the bars?

Arse over teakettle. Before I could get my hands up to protect myself I did a face plant on the asphalt. Was knocked out cold but came to relatively quickly and was able to manoeuvre under my own steam to get back to the office. Made a trip to emerg and got checked out and sure enough got a concussion out of the deal. Still have a bump on my chin to remind me of the experience. The bike was fine.

expanded your body?