Spill bill

ddmrcp
ddmrcp Posts: 23
edited August 2011 in Road beginners
1st post but not the most pleasant experience
Out on the london brighton bike route with friends. Descending Turners hill, near crawley.
Bike hit small depression (cant call it pothole) in road, wobbled out of control and i wake up on the floor after connecting with my face.
Lots of lacerations, raw surface ,nasal tear, tooth out.
BIke ok.
Stitched up now but looks like i can audition for a colombian drug lord. Nose feels broken and medics will review what they thought was ok first.

Not able to classify it as anything but a pure accident. Had a good pit stop 30 min earlier, not doing anything silly and with 300 miles a month under my belt (past 15 months) newbie skills were not sufficient.

1. Helmet worn -arguably no use this situation as it was pristine. Bill met asphalt first, bill broke.
2. Downhill just needs extra care. I ain't ever going to be Thor.

Any thoughts or experience of similar 'face offs'?

Comments

  • anto164
    anto164 Posts: 3,500
    ddmrcp wrote:
    Any thoughts of 'face offs'?

    Got a pic? :lol:
  • Peddle Up!
    Peddle Up! Posts: 2,040
    Bad luck. I hope you make a rapod and full recovery. What you describe goes through my head every time I hit a steep descent. The other riders fly by me, but I still wonder "what if?"
    Purveyor of "up" :)
  • mossychops
    mossychops Posts: 262
    How fast were you going?
  • datpat64
    datpat64 Posts: 85
    Bad luck landing face first mate !

    I had a similar situation but managed to turn head slightly and took hit on side of helmet (helmet knackered christ knows what it would have done to me head or even worse me face) !

    Took months to get confidence back though and you might struggle with this at first. Keep persevering and gradually build up speed again and hope your face is better soon
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    I find the effects of unexpected bumps on fast descents are a lot easier to cope with if I'm slightly out of the saddle and with my weight back a bit so I'm not putting any weight on my hands.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    Did something similar when I was 15. I used to ride to school on my road bike and my school was at the top of a steep hill in Wimbledon. Coming out of school I would accelerate to about 40mph down this hill. Looking back it was reckless and stupid with several hundred kids leaving at the same time.

    Well, it had to happen one day....a group of kids walked out between the parked cars just as I came past. I managed to swerve between them, but caught the shouldered bag of one of the group. This pulled my left arm and handlebars, turning my front wheel through 90 degrees.

    Front end collapsed and I sailed over the bars, toe straps kept my feet in like a track sprinter. In 1982 nobody wore cycle helmets and it was all I could do to turn my face to the right before impact. I was going so fast I couldn't even get my hands up to protect myself. I hit the ground left ear first and slid for some distance into a parked car, knees bent with my bike now up my back.

    There was a lot of blood and I was all over the place as a couple of school kids picked me up and sat me on. a garden wall. Ambulance was called and a trip to A&E followed. I had ripped all the left side of my head open, split the skin in the corner of my eyelids and had a deep cut like a boxer above my left eye. My shirt, blazer and rucksack saved my body from any cuts, but my hands had been under my body as I landed. I had grazes all over them and one knuckle exposed where the skin had worn through. I broke nothing more than the bike. I was incredibly lucky not to damage or even lose my left eye.

    The most painful bit was the treatment...getting all the gravel out of my head and anesthetic injected all round my eye followed by stitching which I could see happening from the eye!

    Made a full recovery and ended up just as ugly as before. Saved up for a new bike and learnt to be more appropriate with my downhill speed. One of the quickest in my group at descending these days, but much more aware.

    Moral of the story? Wear a blazer for the fast descents! :wink:

    PP
  • DrLex
    DrLex Posts: 2,142
    Pilot Pete wrote:
    [...]my school was at the top of a steep hill in Wimbledon. [...]

    KCS? I'm a similar age & lived on Spencer Hill (where my brother chipped a tooth going over the 'bars on his Raleigh Chopper) around that time. Happy days.
    Location: ciderspace
  • elmsallmissile
    elmsallmissile Posts: 75
    Peddle Up! wrote:
    Bad luck. I hope you make a rapod and full recovery. What you describe goes through my head every time I hit a steep descent. The other riders fly by me, but I still wonder "what if?"

    What if? is good it pays to have a little imagination!
  • ddmrcp
    ddmrcp Posts: 23
    datpat64 wrote:
    Bad luck landing face first mate !

    I had a similar situation but managed to turn head slightly and took hit on side of helmet (helmet knackered christ knows what it would have done to me head or even worse me face) !

    Took months to get confidence back though and you might struggle with this at first. Keep persevering and gradually build up speed again and hope your face is better soon

    Want to get back when good enough and banish the demons. i probably will be standing on the brakes downhill at first. Thanks.
  • ddmrcp
    ddmrcp Posts: 23
    DesWeller wrote:
    I find the effects of unexpected bumps on fast descents are a lot easier to cope with if I'm slightly out of the saddle and with my weight back a bit so I'm not putting any weight on my hands.
    Must be a lot more to riding downhill but least its a starting point for newbie. Thx.

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