Injured now with pics! - Back racing!

spasypaddy
spasypaddy Posts: 5,180
edited July 2015 in Commuting chat
On Sunday I set out to do the Leith Hill octopus, I managed 2 climbs, on the second descent I encountered some mud on a corner. I tried to slow down, I tried to go around the corner. Unfortunately the bike and wheels travelled forwards even though they weren't rotating due to braking.

Rather than just running off into the bushes and suffering cuts, bruises and embarrassment there was a car coming up the hill. I went straight into the cars front lights and flipped over the bonnet still clipped in.

I landed on the other side looked down and saw a deep gash in my knee. An ambulance was called and I was well looked after on the side of the road by clubmate, and some other cyclist and the driver who stopped.

Once in the hospital I had xrays and was told I'd not broken any bones. But I had completely ruptured my patella tendon which is why I couldn't bend my leg.

I was then transferred to a hospital nearer home to have the operation and have been in here ever since.

I'm not allowed to put weight on the leg and have a huge cast that weighs a tonne of my leg.

Recovery period is probably 6 months minimum, but more likely 12.

Be careful people.
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«13456

Comments

  • clarkey cat
    clarkey cat Posts: 3,641
    Crikey - that is awful. Keep your chin up.
    Dolan Mythos
  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    Ow, that's shite. Heal up soon
    Rose Xeon CW Disc
    CAAD12 Disc
    Condor Tempo
  • sketchley
    sketchley Posts: 4,238
    How's the bike? :D

    Get well soon
    --
    Chris

    Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/5
  • fossyant
    fossyant Posts: 2,549
    Ouch indeed
  • vimfuego
    vimfuego Posts: 1,783
    edited July 2014
    Ouch - that sucks. Hope the recovery goes well and your back riding sooner rather than later.

    Which descent were you on? I did about 6 of the climbs up Leith on Saturday (reps on Abinger and Broome Hall for the Rapha challenge too) - most seemed fairly clear, but Henhurst Cross and Tanhurst Lane can be a bugger when it's been wet.
    CS7
    Surrey Hills
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  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078
    Sounds awful. Hope its less recovery time than expected.
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Sketchley wrote:
    How's the bike? :D

    Get well soon

    I believe the usual comment here is "I hope it wasn't the Look"......

    Hope you get better soon Spasy and stop trying to compete with ITB....... :lol:
    Faster than a tent.......
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    Bloody hell matey that's rough

    Rest relax and enjoy the weight gain whilst you have a good excuse.

    But yes what about the bike?

    And pics we need pics, why am I the only one to think about pics during those critical first few moments of injury time?
    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.
  • spasypaddy
    spasypaddy Posts: 5,180
    Tanhurst Lane descent.

    I've got pics, I don't have access to a laptop at the moment and can't be bothered to upload and link whilst on my mobile.

    Yes it was the look, my mate said it was OK. I haven't seen it and don't know when I will.
    BMC TM01 - FCN 0
    Look 695 (Geared) - FCN 1
    Bowman Palace:R - FCN 1
    Cannondale CAAD 9 - FCN 2
    Premier (CX) - FCN 6
    Premier (fixed/SS) - FCN3
  • DrLex
    DrLex Posts: 2,142
    Ow-ie! You poor b*gger - GWS.
    Try not to think of all the perfect cycling weather that you're missing & instead enjoy daytime T.V.
    Location: ciderspace
  • dhope
    dhope Posts: 6,699
    DrLex wrote:
    Ow-ie! You poor b*gger - GWS.
    Try not to think of all the perfect cycling weather that you're missing & instead enjoy daytime T.V.
    You evil bastard
    Rose Xeon CW Disc
    CAAD12 Disc
    Condor Tempo
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Shit. 6-12 MONTHS? That's a nightmare.

    And yet another data point I will file away to help me become an even worse descender/bigger chicken than I am now.
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    Greg66 Tri v2.0 wrote:
    shoot. 6-12 MONTHS? That's a nightmare.

    And yet another data point I will file away to help me become an even worse descender/bigger chicken than I am now.

    Yes I've rather lost my carefree descending partically when on the roadie SS which I hardly use now.
    spasypaddy wrote:

    Hope your out of hospital soon and moving about, you'll get back but will just take time.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    I can't add much to what's already been said. Get well soon!
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • rubertoe
    rubertoe Posts: 3,994
    edited July 2014
    Sorry to hear that mate. Im sure you'll be back on sooner than that. You haven't had much luck recently. But it could of been worse.

    If you need a sitter for the fleet, give me a shout...
    "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."

    PX Kaffenback 2 = Work Horse
    B-Twin Alur 700 = Sundays and Hills
  • menthel
    menthel Posts: 2,484
    GWS. Sounds like a nasty one.
    RIP commute...
    Sometimes seen bimbling around on a purple Fratello Disc or black and red Aprire Vincenza.
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,294
    itboffin wrote:
    And pics we need pics, why am I the only one to think about pics during those critical first few moments of injury time?
    Not just you. I could get my gash out again.
    Agree with all of the above Sapsy, hope you heal faster than anticipated.
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • sassse
    sassse Posts: 64
    Especially for ITB, here is a link to some nice pictures of surgery to fix a patella tendon rupture, enjoy.
    For the squemish, don't look!
    http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1 ... ment#a1133
  • asprilla
    asprilla Posts: 8,440
    Fingers crossed your recuperation is sooner rather then later.
    Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
    Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
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    Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX
  • Origamist
    Origamist Posts: 807
    That's rough. All the best for a full recovery ahead of schedule.
    Folders
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,612
    Owch. Hope you recover well and quickly.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
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    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Sheesh, get well soon.....

    Hoping the claim from the car driver isn't too pricey!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • thepeopleschamp
    thepeopleschamp Posts: 94
    I'm surprised incidents like this don't happen more often. I live just past the top of Tanhurst and driving on weekends is terrifying around here with all the cyclists, the missus won't even do it!
    The roads are narrow, steep, full of blind bends and as the OP found out, full of crap at the sides, mud/gravel/holes/sticks etc.. it's worse after it's been raining as more sticks from the over hanging trees fall over the road.

    Some tips for anyone else doing the octopus..you need lights on front and back even in the middle of the sunniest day of the year as on the sunken lanes hardly any light gets through and cyclists are very hard to spot. You'll notice locals drive with lights on around here.

    And take every blind bend on the descents at a speed you can stop at. It means crawling along at a snails pace round the bend but these roads are single track and deceptively busy. I've come face to face with all sorts, horse boxes, oil tankers, school buses, cyclists coming up 5 abreast, even cows on the descent!
    I ride the hill every day on my commute and it's not dangerous if you take it easy.

    Glad the OP is ok but take it easy on the octopus I don't want anyone going into my car windscreen!
  • Torvid
    Torvid Posts: 449
    Get well soon, hope everything is okay with the bike and i hope your at the 6 month end of the scale
    Commuter: Forme Vision Red/Black FCN 4
    Weekender: White/Black - Cube Agree GTC pro FCN 3
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    You poor f*cker. Heal up quick.

    I rode up Tanhurst once, made a mental note to never ride up or down it again. The road surface was shockingly bad. Imagine it still is.
  • spasypaddy
    spasypaddy Posts: 5,180
    i will never ride tanhurst again.

    thanks for the wishes people.

    its going to be a long road to recovery :(
    BMC TM01 - FCN 0
    Look 695 (Geared) - FCN 1
    Bowman Palace:R - FCN 1
    Cannondale CAAD 9 - FCN 2
    Premier (CX) - FCN 6
    Premier (fixed/SS) - FCN3
  • N0bodyOfTheGoat
    N0bodyOfTheGoat Posts: 5,842
    Hang on in there, things do get better!

    2014 has been quite surreal since my incident, but compared to what I could do at Xmas, things have progressed a long way. Love that feeling of freedom on the bike, especially now I'm back using the Felt for the first time in ~5 years (Tricross needs repairs to be road worthy after crash, guttingly found my Saracen frame was on the verge of a horrid failure a few weeks back on the seat tube just above the top tube)...

    But I have eyes on giant stalks looking out for danger after what happened 7 months ago, had kittens twice on the way home from work this afternoon, don't think I've ever thought of cycling as dangerous as I do now!
    ================
    2020 Voodoo Marasa
    2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
    2016 Voodoo Wazoo
  • MonkeyMonster
    MonkeyMonster Posts: 4,628
    Heal quickly dude!
    Le Cannon [98 Cannondale M400] [FCN: 8]
    The Mad Monkey [2013 Hoy 003] [FCN: 4]
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    Il Principe wrote:
    You poor f*cker. Heal up quick.

    I rode up Tanhurst once, made a mental note to never ride up or down it again. The road surface was shockingly bad. Imagine it still is.

    I'm beginning to think you live in a velodrome and not the UK

    our roads are shite
    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.
  • spasypaddy
    spasypaddy Posts: 5,180
    tanhurst was different class dodgy. i was coming down on the brakes as it was and i still slid into a car due to road.
    BMC TM01 - FCN 0
    Look 695 (Geared) - FCN 1
    Bowman Palace:R - FCN 1
    Cannondale CAAD 9 - FCN 2
    Premier (CX) - FCN 6
    Premier (fixed/SS) - FCN3

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