I had another accident a week ago Sunday and have been laid up since then. While recovering I started thinking about all the other incidents and here's my list:

1. In the late 60's, when I was about 12 years old, I was riding my 5-speed back home in the winter and was crossing a bridge over the Wappenger Creek when I hit a patch of ice between the guardrail and the car traffic. I fell to the right and my right shoulder hit a guardrail upright breaking my clavicle.

2. In 1972, while racing in a motocross race my bikes rear suspension was about dead and when I hit a rut the bike flipped slamming me into the ground. I broke my left scapula.

3. In 1987, while doing a training ride with my cycling club I'd just that year improved to the point where I was finally able to ride with the tough guys. After a short climb one of the other guys fell back and I eased off to bring him back to the lead pack. After a half mile I"d pulled us back to within 50 feet of the pack ahead when we rounded a corner. A dog came charging out to chase the bikes but when the lead pack went past the dog gave up but then turned right and trotted right in front of me. No where to go and when I woke up my left clavicle was shattered.

4. 8 days ago, while doing a ride on the Jordan River Parkway, I was making a left turn on the concrete pavement when the front tire got caught in a groove in the pavement and since I was leaned into the turn I went down hard on my left side. I had gravel rash on my left calf, left thigh and my left forearm, but that wasn't the big issue. I immediately felt a lot of pain in my left groin area and was afraid that I might have broken my left leg or hip. I had to walk the bike 1.2 miles back home and that took me 2 hours. It looks like I escaped any breakage but will be recovering for at least the next month.

I'm getting too old for this crap...


OK, so who's had a similar checkered past?


Brian

why?

Good thing this isn't the mountain biking forum. I'd be on page ten just listing last year's biffs.

Is this a no-pics thread?

FIFY:

Guy took an unprotected left turn in front of me while I was approaching the bottom of a hill in the bike lane (I didn't have a stop sign, yield, light, or anything).

I've only had two road bike crashes in 25 years of off and on (mostly off) riding.

1) 1992. Coming down a long hill in Marin County - somewhere near Tiburon I think. I don't really remember how it happened, I think my front wheel hit a big stick or something, but I laid it down at close to 40mph. Only damage to the bike was my front wheel tacoed. Damage to me was total road rash on my entire left side.

2) 4 years ago on a group ride. My then girlfriend brought me along on a ride with a bunch of people she knew. Towards the end, she surged up from behind and then next to me on my right. Then she started to try to sprint ahead, and changed her line and cut me off, making my front wheel hit her rear. I did a full endo over the bars at about 20mph. I did a perfect flip and stuck the landing flat on my back. It tore my jersey, but there was no damage to bike or me.

The first words out of her mouth were on the order of "that wasn't my fault, you should be more careful" instead of the more normal "are you ok?" or even "Oh my god, what happened?". She was only concerned with not looking like she did something wrong. In hindsight, this was a blessing, because her instinctual reaction was an omen of things to come. She got dumped not to long after that.

My last fracture was almost 30 years ago and I have no pictures of the x-rays fro that or earlier ones. It would be nice to be able to get a copy of an x-ray though and given that they are mostly digital these days there's no reason that would be impossible.


Brian

Woman pulled out in front of me while I was doing 15mph in a traffic lane causing me to swerve to avoid/jam on my brakes/run into her.

This is the large chain ring. 1/4" wide, 3/8" deep, 3" long. 9 well placed stitches.

I was pacing a group of road skaters around the lake at Eldorado park in Long Beach. I was riding my track bike with one front brake. As I lead them into a sprint on the last straight away I was at 28 mph when some dodo started feeding the geese on the other side of the road. What seemed like 100 geese moved in mass across the road in front of me. I tried to slow but the skater on my wheel put his hand in the middle of my back trying to slow himself as we hit the flock. I don't remember going over but I woke up with a cracked helmet and a right arm that was paralyzed for 7 months. I had temporary amnesia. My rear wheel was potato chipped. Did not know where I was or how I had gotten there. It was like I had gone to bed in my own bed and someone transported me to Eldorado Park and woke me up in the middle of the road. I guess I may be the only cyclist that has been taken down by a flock of geese.

Bike or poop?

I got both.

A week ago in a group ride of about 60 riders I went over the bars when a girl touched wheels ahead of me went down. I didn't have time to stop and was over the bars. I landed on left wrist, urgent care diagnosed as a sprain, yesterday hand surgeon diagnosed a fractured nevicular, MRI next Thursday and fully expect a cast from above the elbow to the fingers for 6-8 weeks at least. You never realize how much you need two hands until you start to think about simple things like drying yourself after a shower, putting on socks, tying shoes, putting on deodorant. At least the hand surgeon is a cyclist so we talked more about bikes than my hand. He was impressed that I have a sling personalized by the Jensie.

Stay safe out there my friends, I'll be back out in about 6 months.

Your Accidents -- Post Them!

No thanks. I have no need to rehash them.

Ben

I see your Clavicle and raise you a Fibula in 3 pieces with titanium plate and SS screws.

*** Bonus round includes Orthopedic, Plastic, Reconstructive & Skin Grafts plus a heapin helpin of Osteo Arthritis for good measure.

Thats a 125K leg, beats a peg leg i always say.

The city neglected to cleanup their loose gravel after repaving a road earlier this year. That caused me to crash hard turning left last Thursday which broke my clavicle (yeah, my shoulder hurts), sprained my AC joint, deformed my hip enough to go back for femur X-rays, made a bunch of road rash that's still painful and weeping, and left me with a sore neck and right knee.

My jersey didn't survive
,
helmet has a dent, and my 2010 Centaur Carbon Ultrashift brake blade and mechanism are scraped up.

If nothing else is wrong and I heal quickly it'll be six weeks before I'm riding outside which makes me very angry, means my wife is stuck living with and driving around a grouch, and screws up reaching 4W/kg for a hill climb in October which was my one goal for the year.

Can anybody recommend a good personal injury lawyer in the South (San Francisco) Bay Area?

I peed a little once, but I don't think you want to see that....

Hmmm, my "Bad" ones are few and far between. 2004 caught a false neutral going up the face of a double, cased the landing, bike flipped over me and then landed on my right lower leg turning my foot the wrong way. Torn ACL and meniscus. That one ended a 12 year career in the Marine Corps. This last 7 days, well I decided to double up. Last Tuesday I lost both tires are the same time coming into a fairly mild turn around 19mph, there was sand from rain earlier, I didn't see it in time to slow down while I was still upright and hit it leaned over sliding the bike out from under me and having my first crash ever clipped into a bike, it was rather epic. Bruised the hell out of my hip and road rashed my knee/hip up. Today, I did the same damn thing 44 miles into a 75 miler, slower thankfully but once again gravel/sand on the trail, washed out the front end, and hit the pavement. Wasn't as fast but hit the exact same spots so I bled like a SOB and it hurt hell. still finished.

Should have heelhooked her and ruined her cycling career.

About 2 years ago, 8 PM, thinking "last ten minutes of the ride, sprint a little..." Next, I hear voices, "drunk driver," "we've got her," "try to put the shoulder back in." WTF? Then a voice seems to address me saying my name. "I am officer Russ, you've been in an accident..." Really? I feel so very fine. What are you talking about? Yes sir... Ah... Sister Morphine...

On that warm June Saturday a woman went out with a friend and drank a bottle of wine, before driving home. She got confused and entered a bike trail only for pedestrians and bicycles. She drove about five miles at speed. Folks out for a stroll had to dive into poison ivy bushes to get out of her way, a few had a close call. Then, there I was hyperventilating in the middle of a sprint. She hit me from behind at 40 mph, and fled. No memory of me flying through the air. Inventory: broken arm, dislocated shoulder, multiple bruises and cuts, 30 stitches to the scalp right below the helmet, 40 stitches on side of the face, life-threatening leg blood clot from ankle to groin = 18 months on blood thinners. The summer I became ambidextrous... I know what you mean about life with one arm only...

Police were waiting for her at the road junction, alerted by the pedestrians.

My Pina looked like she'd spent a night with Jack The Ripper.

My Giro helmet cracked almost in half. Brain intact, or so they say... So in all those funky helmet threads we have here, I am like a demon of vengeance to anyone even hinting that helmets are not necessary, statistics, blah, blah, blah.

Dear christ. What is wrong with people?!

There is more... After the lengthy proceedings of a criminal case and a civil case that woman has never apologized for what she did, though I am told she could have done through her lawyer without harming her case. During her deposition, my attorney asked her that were she given the chance to do over that fateful day, would she do something different. She answered, "No." Her defense to dodge the bullet was that she had no recollection of the crash because she had an epileptic seizure (for the first time, and ever since) that and impaired her. It did not work.

Well, at least there's that. I hope you've recovered well, at least...

Thank you kindly, I am well, though, Pacino move over - I - am - SCARFACE.

I frequent other forums and the general consensus is that us cyclists are a-holes and deserve all the injuries we get.

There are a very large percentage of people that simply do not equate cyclists as people.

A goodly percentage of the accidents we've had over the years is down to motorists just not caring about us.


Brian