Post crash blues/re-growing a pair

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Comments

  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,072
    currently fully hairy and regretting that decision now I'm looking at having a surgical dressing ripped off my yeti legs

    oh and definitely no sky kit, i'm not that sick
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • fudgey
    fudgey Posts: 854
    Im 33 and had a pretty bad off in feb 2012, went way to fast down a hill on my mtb, overtook my 2 mates who had rode the route, before - i hadnt. Mate said he was doing 40 when i went past thinking the hill went down, then up...

    It didnt there was a slight right kink, then a 90 degree right. I shat it and hauled on the brakes, locked the rear wheel and got into a massive tank slapper. Relaxed enough to get off the brakes and get the bike steady again, but by this point i was at the corner still doing around 30.
    I just tried to crane the bike over and make the corner but it was like ice, i dropped the bike and my hands, right knee and face all hit the road at the same time.
    As i hit the floor i rolled, my left foot unclipped, my right foot did not and the bike cartwheeled, still attached to my right leg.

    The result was a laceration to my knee and chin and a trimalleolar webber b fracture to my right ankle. I basically broke it in 2 places and it hurt, especially after the female paramedics got me to limp to the ambulance thinking id sprained it.

    Anyway, i was in a cast for 7 weeks and 2 days, then had a boot thing for another month. Not sure if i broke my wrist too as it was incredibly painful to use crutches. I had pretty much the rest of 2012 off the bike and when i got on it again i was very nervous, and somewhat scared of having an off again.

    This year i rode HONC and mountain mayhem, plus done other good off road rides.
    I bought a road bike 2 months ago and on sunday hit 52.3mph riding down the other side of hackpen hill near where itboffin is, as i dont live all that far from him it seems.

    It kind of makes you think ah shit, what if... But thats life, you soon just get on with it.
    My winter bike is exactly the same as my summer bike,,, but dirty...
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,072
    Glad to hear you're on the mend, I commuted for the first time this morning, stitches rubbing inside like crazy but back on the bike.
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • neilus
    neilus Posts: 245
    ^^ x 2

    But...(reaching for nearest can of worms) it sounds like your injury was greatly compounded but having clipless pedals. And yet again im left totally scoobied as to why people bother.

    Risk of NOT using clipless: failing to utilise the rather sketchy and spurious notion of marginal increase in efficiency
    Risk OF using clipless: being mechanically attached to a bike and turning a run of the mill tumble into a potentially very serious accident.

    Each to their own, if you ride clipless good luck to you...but as you may have gathered, to me at least, it carries a risk that i dont think is worth taking!!
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    Properly set up spd pedals will release when you come off.
    They can save crashes as well by keeping your feet in the right place on the pedals.
    In two years riding downhill clipped in I have never had any crash or injury caused by them. I have crashed many times and come unclipped every time.
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • paul.skibum
    paul.skibum Posts: 4,068
    neilus wrote:
    ^^ x 2

    But...(reaching for nearest can of worms) it sounds like your injury was greatly compounded but having clipless pedals. And yet again im left totally scoobied as to why people bother.

    Risk of NOT using clipless: failing to utilise the rather sketchy and spurious notion of marginal increase in efficiency
    Risk OF using clipless: being mechanically attached to a bike and turning a run of the mill tumble into a potentially very serious accident.

    Each to their own, if you ride clipless good luck to you...but as you may have gathered, to me at least, it carries a risk that i dont think is worth taking!!

    You could argue it was an accident caused by improper speed for the terrain surely - had he ridden an unknown route with more caution he wouldn't have crashed. Bit like arguing his tyres caused the injury or his brakes.
    Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    Not just improper speed. More likely incorrect speed/skill ratio.
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • fudgey
    fudgey Posts: 854
    Yes, i hold my hands up.
    Too fast, and the faster you go, the quicker you run out of talent!

    Im far mor cautious these days however, but still like to go fast. But preferably where i can see where i am going.

    I have been riding spd's for years now, at least 15 years id say. I got them because i kept slipping off the pedals of my mtb and my shins couldnt take any more. I tried various pedals too back in the day.
    Spd's keep you feet in the correct place, and you can obviously pull as well as push.

    I have them now as loose as they will go pretty much. Did tighten my road ones 2 clicks last weekend tho as i keep pulling my feet out the pedal when pulling off from a junction or pedalling hard.
    My winter bike is exactly the same as my summer bike,,, but dirty...
  • marcus'73
    marcus'73 Posts: 41
    I've just come back from a week in North Wales and I had my fork fully serviced before I went, I hadn't realised how bad it had become and how much it had been effecting my riding. I just felt so much more in tune with the bike again. I know they say a bad workman blames his tools but now the fork is working again the whole sketchy feeling I'd been having this year whenever the terrain got technical was gone and I'm sure it was more than a placebo effect - the bike shop said it looked like the internals had come up from a swamp - I've had the bike two years and this was the first service I gotten round to for the fork- I will look after it a little better in future!
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,072
    not a bad bit of advice i've never had my forks serviced in since i bought them in 2007 could that explain the twitchy frontend handling?
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • fudgey
    fudgey Posts: 854
    Worn components certainly dont help.
    Also bike setup plays a massive part too.

    Since i got my cube mtb in 2011 i have fettled a bit with it. I found that when climbing on dirt, with sharp corners and in a low gear i kept lifting the front easily, and having to stop as the bike went straight on.
    So i took the stem off and put the spacer that was under it on the top of the stem. I also after longer rides got a bad back so,changed the 115mm long stem for a 70mm one. It made the bike soo much more comfy to ride.
    Then at mountain mayhem a few weeks ago i found on loose dusty trails the front end was washing out quite bad.
    The stem had a 7degree rise so i flipped it over after a lap and then the front end felt much more planted.

    Only small tweaks, but they seem to make a big difference
    My winter bike is exactly the same as my summer bike,,, but dirty...

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