First crash

[CarlW]

Not to say the learning process for EUCs does not created numerous and some times painful boo boos when learning.  I likely had more than my share.  This was the first potentially serious mishap that could have resulted in serious injury had I not been suited up.  On a bright winter day with harsh shadows along our cities greenway, a significant root flare in the asphalt managed to take me out when going undetected.  My expensive toy missed rolling into a deep creek by 10 ft, and I went down hard on my back square between my shoulder blades.  It hurt, and it still hurts, but I appear to be in a reasonably functioning capacity, knock knock.  A D30 level 2 vest saved me from a hospital visit or stay.  Work gloves from Walmart and the free pair of wrist guards that came with my wheel left my hands unscathed.  I thought I hit the back of my head when it happened so fast, but my helmet was still in mint condition.  I spent around $700 on my protective gear which would be a fraction of the cost for a day in the hospital.  I got lucky in a lot of ways, but I also took serious the need to protect yourself on your adventures.  Stay safe my friends.          

[Tawpie]

Jeepers... heck of a deal. Glad you came through in 1 piece and that your gear came through for you. There are good reasons to gear up (besides the uber cool vibe)!

[winterwheel]

Glad to hear you are okay. Based on your description you haven't made the case for me that the gear was of any use at all.

[Scubadragonsan]

Camp Lejeune was my tour of duty back in 1980s. Plenty of space to ride there. $700 protective gear is hell of a lot money or gear. You must wheel in style! Falls are good lessons and experience as long as you live intact to tell them

[Cerbera]

Rare to come off backwards - lucky you didn't land on your tailbone. Glad your vest saved your back of course, and that your helmet (and head) survived unscathed !

[winterwheel]

People use breathless geargasms as an excuse to broadcast the proud news that they had a fall and managed to survive it. No different then everyone wanting to publish videos of their falls.

[CarlW]

And now I remember why I stopped visiting this forum.  Folks like Winterwheel go out of their way to be contrary and unwelcoming.  I posted my experience to encourage people the cost to gear up is worth it in my opinion.  I absolutely would have required an ambulance without my back protection.  Excuse me Winterwheel for wanting to engage with a community with similar interest.  I'll spend my time elsewhere from now on and you can continue your grouchy rude old man gig to your hearts content.

         

[Cerbera]

It would be a shame if you felt you had to go @CarlW. Please don't let one person having a bad day and a little vent put you off ! Even if he's right, that's nothing to be ashamed of - people like watching / hearing about crashes, and not entirely in a ghoulish schadenfreude kind of way ! Every crash report I see is another lesson learned, a little bit more understanding and wisdom / XP gained and I fully understand how it is to feel pleased that your gear saved you. It's a positive thing for you, and positive reinforcement that gear works for the vast majority of people that watch it, and the fact that you are not parked on your arse in hospital is worth celebrating and sharing !

Even if the takeaway from your post is something as vague and ephemeral as 'oh yeah - still gotta watch the roots in the shadows !' that's still a useful thought to be reminding people about !

Can't really see the downside to posting it, other than it could be used as ammunition for the various bureaucracies that would rather stop us doing our thing... but in that respect it's a fart in a hurricane anyway, so I say get 'em up and published !

Edited February 18, 2023 by Cerbera

[Tasku]

33 minutes ago, CarlW said:

I posted my experience to encourage people the cost to gear up is worth it in my opinion.

Don't give up! Like some already said (Cerbera), opinions have always some who disagree. There will always be ways to split crowd. Just know that those willing to listen are what matters. The whole  gear talk might be long process to many. And some will take their way to oppose to the grave. There is no harm using gear and avoid serious injury. Thank you for telling us your take and story @CarlW!

[mike_bike_kite]

Sorry to hear about your fall. You give lots of detail like the cost of your gear and where you bought it from but you don't say the speed you were doing at the time of the fall. This part is surely the most important detail. If spending $700 on protective gear makes you (or your wife) feel better then great but I honestly don't think it guarantees any more protection than spending $100. I think the important thing is to wear some protection.

Edited February 18, 2023 by mike_bike_kite

[Cerbera]

9 minutes ago, mike_bike_kite said:

I honestly don't think it guarantees any more protection than spending $100.

Depends what you land on I guess. And you don't cover much with $100 - maybe knees, head and wrists. Nothing against road rash though. I wouldn't set foot on my Master without Leatt Bodysuit these days.

[winterwheel]

Yes, I'm grouchy about the endless, mindless admonishments to people that they have to spend $700 or whatever to enjoy wheeling. Guilty as  charged, not gonna stop any time soon.

[winterwheel]

Further to that, totally interested in hearing about the details about falls; why they happened, how they could be prevented in the future. Those conversations, rare as they have become, move us forward. Detailed descriptions of gear and cost don't.

[Funky]

One could say you needed the gear - because you weren't paying attention to the road.. That's why you fell. Duh.

Ofc gear is great to have. But much, much better is to have knowledge how to ride safely. Paying attention to road and surroundings. Then you won't need the gear at all. Because if you don't fall, then gear is pointless.  

Safety gear only makes the user more confident about himself.. And that's how they become more daring. More risk taking. Because back in your mind you have that "safety net" feeling - having gear on.

With less gear on - you are by nature riding more defensively/slower. So less chance of crashing. Some people may ride 10.000Km+ without any falls at all. And here's another guy geared to the teeth falling once every ~1000Km.  

Most crashes happen because user error. Not having knees bent, not paying attention to road. Especially, if going over not so visible path - where you can't see the road..

Edited February 18, 2023 by Funky

[Paul A]

A female fracturing her hip could ultimately be fatal.

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26016287/

Hip fracture as risk factor for mortality in patients over 65 years of age. Case-control study

Abstract

Introduction:

Hip fracture among older patients is a devastating injury in most cases.

It profoundly affects the physical, mental, functional and social balance that patients used to have and, beyond the orthopedic injury, it reflects the aging process and its dire consequences.

Some reports show that up to 50% of patients with hip fracture die within six months and many of those who survive do not recover their baseline independence and function.

In recent decades the increase in life expectancy after 60 years of age has led to an exponential growth in hip fractures.

[mike_bike_kite]

35 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

Depends what you land on I guess. And you don't cover much with $100 - maybe knees, head and wrists. Nothing against road rash though. I wouldn't set foot on my Master without Leatt Bodysuit these days.

Thing is, the more time I have to spend putting stuff on and taking stuff off, the less likely I am to wear it or even to go out on the EUC. I've trained myself to always wear my bicycle helmet and wrist guards. If I'm likely to be doing 30mph at any point then I'll grab a motorcycle jacket. Living in the UK unfortunately means I can't wear something like your bodysuit - the witty sarcasm I would receive would hurt far more than any potential road rash

    

 

[Paradox]

A crash can happen in an instant even to the most experienced rider.  Being geared up is just insurance against getting hurt badly.
 

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by Paradox

[Paul A]

PEV group rides with irresponsible and reckless people.

Could learn from watching groups of cyclists about formation, discipline, etiquette, spacing, etc.

 

 

[litewave]

9 minutes ago, Paradox said:

A crash can happen in an instant even to the most experienced rider.  Being geared up is just insurance against getting hurt badly.

You're not going to convert @winterwheel I assure you. However, I hope he continues to ride safely and remain accident-free.

He has a right to his opinion, but it must be made clear that the vast majority of the community strongly disagrees with him and wear safety gear ATGATT.

[Funky]

Group rides are fine. But there's always some idiots/morons who need to show off and do stupid things like that. And then wonder why crashes happen. Again rider error.  

Don't ride around people and especially around morons like in those videos.

[PLEASE_DELETE]

Deleted.

Edited March 17 by PLEASE_DELETE

[KiwiMark]

4 hours ago, /Dev/Null said:

This video is why I ride alone.

I've been on group rides that were way different to those shown, very much relaxed and riding at a sedate pace. When I ride alone I ride way faster. I wear plenty of gear because I almost always exceed 50kph during a ride and a crash at that speed could lead to serious injury. I always wear a full-faced helmet because a brain injury is 100 times worse than a broken bone. The gear is useful because sometimes you make a mistake or someone else makes a mistake or something unexpected happens for whatever reason, the gear can reduce injuries and I don't have any desire to spend time in a hospital.

[Cerbera]

7 hours ago, /Dev/Null said:

This video is why I ride alone.

Well it's a well known thing;  if you're going to ride like you're a Princess in a broadway musical eventually you will screw up judging how tight the corners are... less 'arms', more look-ahead !

They say pride comes before a fall, but it appears flounciness does as well ! Within 2 seconds of that video starting I must confess to thinking 'Well I hope it's him that falls' !! Of course I wish him well, and a speedy recovery...

Edited February 19, 2023 by Cerbera

[winterwheel]

22 hours ago, Paradox said:

Being geared up is just insurance against getting hurt badly.
 

Actually it's not. Gear confidence increases the likelihood of a severe crash and injury due to the rider taking on more risky situations. Lots of geared-up riders have sustained severe injuries. In some case cases the gear even causes injuries to be more severe than they would otherwise.

[winterwheel]

We've been doing group rides at least once a week, often twice a week for five years now. Our rides range from five to 30 riders. The only serious injury we've had is a rider broke his arm when he rode off the track onto a grassy area, came off and landed awkwardly. He was geared up; didn't help.

We had another collision (three riders went down) in the early days when we were trying to get a fun video show by having the group to weave around each other on a bridge.

A new rider rode into someone instead of between. A bit of skin lost on that one when a free-spinning sherman tire made contact with another rider's wrist.

The most serious injury we've had is when a lone (speed-demon) rider hit a root on a bike path. He's among our most geared-up riders (more gear = more speed as usual).

One of his knee pad split in two on contact with the ground and the sharp edge sliced his knee to the bone.

He was going around for weeks saying "you wanna see a photo of my knee? You'll regret it, but do you wanna see it?" 

He was fine in the end, it was really just a super gory flesh wound that didn't take too long to heal.