I have been riding for about 10 years road and roughly same time mountain. Many wrecks on the mountains trails of course but never anything serious. On the road I have fallen over unable to unclip in time < stupidity there

Today on a lunchtime ride at work on the Blue Ridge Parkway on my turn around going downhill and picking up speed to almost 30 mph I left sided after getting too close to the shoulder and went off the road then over left! Then all I could do was hang on for the ride as I skidded some 60 feet across the asphalt as my cycling clothes just ripped away! Totalled my cycling glasses; left side brifter ground off abit; left side pedal and left shoe ratchet ground down; somehow the right side brifter got ground too and shifted; slight grinding to the rear QR as well.

Me..................oh where do I begin!!!!! No noggin damage as I had enough presence of mind to keep my head elevated off the asphalt to keep from grinding my left side off

Upper left arm road rash; forearm of left deep cut; main outter of left hip severe road rash but shorts held up!!!!!; left side calf area slight road rash; top of left shoulder aching like a mother but went to my wife's practice at the hospital to get checked out.

Road gloves.............did their job!!!!

When I get to feeling better I need to tear the bike down and see what is wrong if anything or is it all cosmetic! I was able to ride (climb at times 7% grades out of the bottom of the ride back to my car while gingerly treating my left shoulder wincing in pain when I had to stand out of the saddle to mash the pedals. I thought to myself, could call a co-worker to come get me or suck it up and have something to talk about and of course brag about years down the road. I knew I probably had no broken bones so riding back was of no real concern and sometimes we just suck it up and be a man!

So, hoping for a quick recovery and back on the bike soon. Just hope the bike is better shape than it looks! Hey, shifted okay coming back with a few slight misalignments! Oh, damaged my newly installed Lizard Skin bar tape

Geez that stuff is expensive!

Glad you came through it. Hope you heal and wear the scars on the bike (literally) proudly.

Heal soon.

Bummer!

There is a sticky at the race forum (the "33"), about road rash, with good advice.

Get your shoulder thoroughly checked out. I had a torn labrum after getting hit by a truck and it only gets worse if untreated. Not trying to scare you, I just know the crap I went through before I had surgery. Hope you heal soon.

Sounds nasty! Hope you're 100% again soon. I was flying down a hill here on the weekend and thinking about how going off the road here often means going over a cliff. Glad to hear that didn't happen.

Cycling has its dangerous side. I'm glad you are OK. As cyclists, we worry about our bikes because we feel that the body will always heal. Actually, the truth is a little different. Be happy you did not hurt yourself too badly, and allocate the money and time to rebuild/replace bike parts. Heal quickly! Ride more!

Sleep lots, get better, ride again soon!

Sorry. Hope you heal up quickly!

Been there (unfortunately) and feel for you. The worst parts are the showers and wound cleansing, but once the scabs begin to form the pain factor diminishes quickly. Tylenol helps.

Wow. That is a hell of a fall. Heal up fast.

I try not to think of this kind of possibility when riding but still...it is a possibility.

Had a similar experience two Saturdays ago. Still dealing with torn ligaments and a sprain. Bar tape is the thing I hate to damage most too. The way this year has gone, I'll be a master at bar tape replacement :-( hope you heal up quick!

OP- Are you positive you did not hit your head? Your account of the story seems flawed since there is no blame placed on another rider, a vehicle, poor road maintenance, or critter.

It appears you are new here, so we will forgive your truthfulness this time, but from now on, please be aware that most BF members do not accept responsibility for their own poor choices, and any future stories should place blame on some type of animal or elderly person.

Yes, I agree. There's room for embellishment in your story. Throw in a rabid groundhog or two.

On the plus side, any repairs you put into the bike will likely be cheaper than the deductibles you'd be paying for broken bones.

Heal up fast.

If I'm following correctly, the bike wen over on the deraiileur side. Check the derailleur hanger allignment, and the setting of the limit screw. Just a little bit of bend can result in derailleur in spokes. Not a good thing.

Lots of deer on the Parkway. A 12 point buck could have flown out of the woods and knocked him over. Like the You tube video of the antelope.

Day After-

Well I was sure my hip would be my demise after sleeping all night. Took a muscle relaxer last night to assist and slept well (flat on my back) and was able to get up with some ease. Shoulder still a touch tender but thank God for all my years of lifting weights!

Still stiff if I sit too long so I get up walk around and then sit again. Sounds crazy but moving keeps the hinges going!!!

As for embellishment of the story................I figured you guys and gals would read right through it. Usually here in the NC mountains you can blame wildlife (bears; groundhogs; deer; bobcats; elk; or crazy mountain people) for your demise! This time it was my own stupidity for trying to stay way right on a descent when I should have taken the road since no cars behind me.

Hey, we learn and improve from there.

Update on bike-

Took the wheels off and checked the frame and all the goodies..............only damage was what is listed above. Nothing real major mainly cosmetic. I got on E-Bay and found left and right shifter plates to replace the badly ground down ones as well as new hoods! All in all a $45 buy. I even took the RD and the cassette apart to clean and check. Even though I did not fall on that side I was worried.

All looks fine and I even adjusted the RD and it goes through the shifting pattern smooth as butter.

Now if I could just get some scabbing to occur like one poster stated so the pain of water hitting the raw meat would go away! I literally screamed out in pain when the water hit me in the shower. This coming from over 10 years ago taking my right hand (well fingers really) off in a accident where I did not flinch one bit and walked out of the forest to a waiting police car and ambulance to transport me to the trauma surgeon to reattach all those things you really need unless you like being called "Nubby".

As you can see I am accident proned to a degree!

I know...............those darn things will walk right out in front of you! Not very smart animals but I like to watch them play and rummage from a distance.

Here goes..............As I was descending down the mountain I noticed a rider trying to keep me from sucking up to his wheel and eventually passing. I did indeed pass him and as I looked over it was Marcel Kittel and he then came up to my left and threw a shoulder into me forcing me off the road. I was able to brush off the flapping skin and repair my bike and catch up to him before the flats!

How is that!

It's better...usually there is something about a hot chick admiring your abilities, but this will work for now.

In the future . . . ASAP scrub the road rash areas until completely clean. I use a brush. Yes, it hurts like hell. Then apply Povidone iodine. It does not hurt. Allow to dry for a few minutes, then apply Tegaderm sheets. Tape the edges of the Tegaderm down with Micropore Gentle first aid tape. Leave the Tegaderm on until you can see the rashed area has completely healed. It will heal from the outside in. Do not change like a normal dressing, only if it comes off accidentally. You can completely cover the Tegaderm with the Micropore tape if it works better, but then you can't see the damage. You can shower, etc., with the Tegaderm on without messing with it, just maybe changing the tape. The pain comes from exposure to water and air. The Tegaderm prevents that. Properly done, it will heal without a scar. I've only had scars when I got sick of messing with the stuff too early and left it off.

When I go down, I hold the side of my helmet down hard against the road after the initial bouncing. Better to wear the helmet a bit than lose a bunch of flesh. Modern helmets are amazingly tough. I've never had enough loss of blood to worry about calling for help, but if my clothes got soaked or I had something unusual sticking out I sure would.

Sorry to hear and thank goodness you survived.

Can you explain in more detail how you lost control of the bike?

Well it is easy.............I just simply gravitated too far to the right and ran off the shoulder and the rest history.

I see. Probably can happen to any of us. I routinely descend at 30 mph and many times in a group. I try to stay away from the shoulder and am pretty hyper focused. In fact, I back off on some of my descents because of an over active imagination. One of my riding buddies' girl friend had a 30 mph descending crash that changed her life. I won't go into the gory details...but never far from my consciousness and why my focus goes up proportional to my speed.

All the best in your recovery.