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Need Advice after Weird Fall and Serious Injury


UPONIT

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Sounds kind of like you lost traction in a sharpish manuever, probably something not good with the road surface. Coming down sideways onto an arm on pavement is going to hurt, I had a minor fracture in similar circumstances even with armor in that area. 

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7 hours ago, Cerbera said:

Eww - that looks like it was pretty painful and nasty - sorry it happened, and very much hope it isn't the end of the hobby for you.

I think all of us spend A LOT of time thinking about what caused the falls we encounter in our riding lives. In a few cases the answer is clear and relatively certain, but I would bet that in a lot more it isn't, and we are left to decide if we want to continue without any definitive reason for the crash.

Were you data logging or tour recording in EUC World at the time ? Or does IM machines log the data elsewhere independently of that ? If they do, you need to see those logs; hopefully one of those owners will be along to tell you how to access them...

Does the machine power on and balance OK now ?

Did you feel (or can you remember feeling) any pedal dipping immediately before the fall ?

What was your battery level at time of fall or just before it ?

Could we get a bit more detail about exactly what armour you had on, especially over the bit of you that broke ?!

It's a shame that mistakes on EUCs have to hurt so much, and that how much they do is so randomly variable ! Sometimes you can fall at epic speeds, and walk away with a few scratches, and sometimes you can just put a foot down wrong at almost walking speed, and cause yourself a horrible twisting or fracture injury that puts you out of action for months.

It sounds like you do everything you can to avoid falls, like I do - keep it reasonable speeds most of the time, don't go where the big traffic is, be ultra-vigilant, and ride massively defensively with a huge look-ahead range, constantly scanning the road and surroundings and trying to predict where the next hazard may come from. Yet doing ALL that does not exempt us from luck and real-world circumstances and finding ourselves in situations in which our response is 'unpracticed' !

As Capt Picard reminded us 'It is possible to make no mistakes and still lose' ! :)

Some mistakes / accidents / near misses are one-time things, that may come from indecision, or changing ones mind at the last second, but those don't necessarily indicate insufficient rider skill - just how sharp (or not) you happened to be on the day in question - and of course that varies all the time as well ! We've all ridden when tired, and been a bit less diligent for it ! Even the sharpest-sensed of us will miss the occasional pot-hole, or not see it until too late. We all slip in mud sometimes.

If this crash happened after months of you having a lot of near-misses, and noticing a substantial reduction in your riding skills / judgement / decisions /  awareness then you might have cause for concern. But if that isn't the case, and this was a random mad crash out of the blue, then sometimes you just have to accept that those will happen occasionally, and that you can't do anything about them when they do ! And if you can accept that, then the only decision to be made is if that is a risk you are willing to continue to take, and of course if you still trust your machine not to drop you again, which is why it is important we at least try and find the cause.

I have had 1 such crash without adequate explanation. My MS3 cut out on me in similar circumstances whilst traversing an innocuous looking bit of pavement around town one day, at walking speed. Never did find out what caused that, but it took about 6 months of daily rides before I fully rebuilt trust in the machine, but I was right to continue, because it didn't drop me again for another 3 years after that, and eventually full trust was regained.

Sorry; that was all a bit rambling wasn't it, for someone who is basically trying to say "Don't worry, shit happens, hope you're back up and riding again soon" !

Not rambling at all. Very well thought out and helpful. It helps a lot and I appreciate it.

Wheel powers on and balances fine. I haven't ridden it yet and only turned it on a couple times so as not to overwrite anything?

No pedal dipping at all. Battery was at 90%. Wrist guards, elbow guards, helmet shin/knee guards. The doctor said it was a twisting, probably stiff-armed impact landing on my hand. So probably no equipment could have prevented it.

It happened in an instant. I've only fallen backwards once before. That one was easily understandable. Too quick stop on Mten4. I landed on my butt and hands with no injury. That's what has set me back about this one: I just don't understand it.

But one thing you said especially stood out: that may come from indecision, or changing ones mind at the last second. That's a really perceptive observation. I do remember right before it happened having several quick decisions: I couldn't see cross traffic, so need to slow down and divert onto sidewalk. For some reason (although I can turn my head and still balance usually) it was in my active mind to turn my head. In other words, I didn't just do it, I thought about it. Does that make sense? Coincidence?

I haven't had a lot of near misses. In fact, I've been really grateful that being cautious has allowed me to have this amazing activity without ever feeling "in danger." I do little dumb stuff and learn from it. But no jumping or racing or other things. I just wish somebody had SEEN it so I could piece together the mechanics...

Thanks a lot @Cerbera. This is exactly the kind of "philosophical" help I need! I really don't want to "have" to quit. I'm a "get back on the horse" kind of guy usually...

 

7 hours ago, Brendan "nog3" Halliday said:

Welcome to the proximal comminuted humerus fracture club, there's quite a few of us. I've spoilered the hardware in my right shoulder because for some people it will be upsetting.

 

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It sounds to me like you might have hit a patch of oil, an unexpected tram line or something else that lost you traction. Oddly enough, that's what also happened to me (carved into a mossy/muddy patch of footpath) at 10kmh but I fell forwards and not backwards.

It's certainly worth revisiting everything that happened to you, learning from it and taking steps to make sure it doesn't repeat - but at the same time hyper vigilance can be worse at making it happen again. Find a balance and work from there. I've been riding ever since I recovered from the injury in November 2020 and the only crashes or injuries I've had have been from impatience - either my own or cagers.

I hope your recovery is going well, and you've gotten really good at one handed pushups :)

Thank you so much for responding. I'm sorry you had this injury and really glad you recovered. It is helpful to know that my experience wasn't an outlier. You give good advice about how to proceed.

Is there any reason I can't see the image you posted? It's driving me crazy, but the link is broken. I would really like to see it, because it sounds like you got the surgery option for this fracture. I wanted the metal plate because it seemed like it would be stronger and faster to heal in the end. But the Surgeon said there's too much risk of complication/nerve damage to not try natural healing first. It's a long, spiral fracture, so no arthroscopy.

As you probably know, there's a Sarmiento splint option, which is what I've been in. The problem is that the fracture is so high up, that the splint can't clamp it together well. The gap is 11mm. It took 4 weeks before it even began to feel stabilized. It was bone on bone grinding the whole time. I'm used to casts mashing the bones together and healing that way. But the doctors said the bone can bridge the gap and the slight misalignment won't affect things too much. I'm trying to be patient while I can't even ride my bike...

I'd really appreciate seeing the hardware that fixed you up! Any negatives from that route? Thanks again for letting me know about the "club." :cheers:

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Since you were passing over to sidewalk, could it have been due to veering into a low curb at a sharp angle? Even a very low curb of 1-2 inches can wreck you if you hit it with the sidewall of the tire, so it can't get over.

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34 minutes ago, UPONIT said:

Thank you so much for responding. I'm sorry you had this injury and really glad you recovered. It is helpful to know that my experience wasn't an outlier. You give good advice about how to proceed.

Is there any reason I can't see the image you posted? It's driving me crazy, but the link is broken. I would really like to see it, because it sounds like you got the surgery option for this fracture. I wanted the metal plate because it seemed like it would be stronger and faster to heal in the end. But the Surgeon said there's too much risk of complication/nerve damage to not try natural healing first. It's a long, spiral fracture, so no arthroscopy.

As you probably know, there's a Sarmiento splint option, which is what I've been in. The problem is that the fracture is so high up, that the splint can't clamp it together well. The gap is 11mm. It took 4 weeks before it even began to feel stabilized. It was bone on bone grinding the whole time. I'm used to casts mashing the bones together and healing that way. But the doctors said the bone can bridge the gap and the slight misalignment won't affect things too much. I'm trying to be patient while I can't even ride my bike...

I'd really appreciate seeing the hardware that fixed you up! Any negatives from that route? Thanks again for letting me know about the "club." :cheers:

Sorry, looks like I copied from google photos again, I forget that this forum just uses the URL and not the image :) I've updated the original post and here's a picture of what my surgical site scar looked like 1 yr after.

 xhG6q1G.png

I'm not sure why, but in the humeral fracture support group I'm in it seems like the majority of cases in the US are forced to use a sarmiento brace or sling and hope for the best. I know that there's definitely an impost of time and costs due to the medical system but I can't really speak to the efficacy of that approach. There's also a prevalence of using staples vs surgical glue which leads to gnarlier looking scars.

As for negatives, like you said it's a bit difficicult with spiral fractures - I was fortunate that mine wasn't spiral and was just a separation of the greater tuberosity (I landed arms outstretched and my shoulder dislocated before hitting the ground). I was also fortunate enough that our public medical system here is heavily subsidised and not profit motivated and I happen to live near (and used to work in the same hospital as) some of the most experienced and talented orthopaedic surgeons in Australia. Below is my actual fracture xray (spoilered because)

Spoiler

ngkMlLS.png

Patience will be the hardest thing to have right now, but that soft callus will not form well if there's too much movement. If it helps you understand better, get the doctors to show you where the soft callus is forming and how it's going at becoming hard.

Best of luck, and happy to answer any more questions you have :)

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I don't think whatever this was is the same thing as Adam's fall - his wheel noticeably accelerated out from under him, and kept on accelerating until it crashed, so not quite the same sort of symptoms as here I'd say...

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1 hour ago, Rawnei said:

I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned but V12HT has thrown people backwards on their butts before,

 

8 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

I don't think whatever this was is the same thing as Adam's fall - his wheel noticeably accelerated out from under him, and kept on accelerating until it crashed, so not quite the same sort of symptoms as here I'd say...

+1

In WrongWay's incident, he also mentioned his wheel only showed symptoms below 80% battery.

Plus, there were other symptoms like pedal dipping and motor noise. 

 

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13 hours ago, UPONIT said:

I was going around 12-15 mph, slowing down on a paved park road as i approached an intersection where i couldn't see cross traffic. I was starting to veer left to take sidewalk, turned my head to the right to check for peds or cars and bam! I went down diagonally backwards and to the left. I don’t think I lost consciousness, but I don’t remember the actual fall. Unfortunately, there was no one around to witness and provide a description. I was going pretty slow and nothing seemed unusual. I’ve fallen on pavement before with no injury except soreness.

Here is my analysis. Gonna compare it to incident where I fell. In my case I was traveling forward but also turned my head to the side. My speed  was faster 25-30km/h. What I did find similar was that because I had cleared the road ahead, I felt comfortable to look away on the road to the side. I had missed a detail, a small bump and root in it. I fell forward and it was very sudden. If I had watched forward as per usual, I would have cleared and recovered but watching to side, I could not recover even I think it seemed rather insignificant bump. The root in the bump steered the wheel to side, and my body continued forward with momentum. Caught by surprise I simply decided to slide it, not fight it, unusual event for that matter. Hard to fight something you didn't see. If I had my eyes forward I think I would very easy recovered from the event.

That being said I find it somewhat strange that you fall backwards. Some kind of slip could make sense but don't see it in your event desc. It is always risky to put hand down first in highspeed, it is instinct so I also had minor wrist pain for some time, mostly swelling. Falling backward is more dangerous in my books, I feel (in case of falling forwards) there is good change to slide with knee protectors and avoid any injury. Falling back, you tend to poke the hand out, I think you just had the worst there, a twist.

After my accident I had good time thinking through the event and how to be safer. One thing I realised is that, I need to start actively thinking this one important thing: When I/you look to sides, always slow down while doing so. Also taking the best stance while doing so: bent knees and as stable stance as possible. Makes sense but was so easy to just fall into the fall sense of security. It should be obvious to slow when watching away from the way you are moving forward to with device that requires balance. By not seeing the horizon it will be hard to recover any event like such.

One more thing, if you have any doubt about your vehicle, is there any local or nearby store where you could take it for inspection? It could be that they could find something, like hall sensor losened. Something that could make more sense how you end up falling backwards. This could put more trust back to the hobby if nothing else.

I also can come up multiple reasoning that could cause to best of us a momentary case of losing of balance. Just gonna put sunstroke, dehydration and simply not seeing the horizon out there. Not that I think they are the case here, or you are in any way to blame of this incident.

Also now that you have healed, it could be good time to go back to the scene. Take pictures, it would help explain your situation more better. And maybe you solve the case on your own.

Final thing about should you continue the hobby question: I think you alone can answer that one.

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7 hours ago, techyiam said:

I don't know of a formal procedure to determine that.

But we can reason it through.

Based on your description of how the wheel was being used at the time of the incident:

(0) at the outset, the V12 HT is not known to have random cutouts.

(1) you were not running out of headroom. 12-15 mph.

(2) you were not over leaning. You were not making an emergency stop.

(3) your V12 HT powered back on and balanced, so your mosfet were fine.

(4) your battery charge level was excellent. Battery at 90%.

(5) you were braking from 12-15 mph turning left but scanning to the right.

I think we can rule out normal cutout scenarios. 

For the V12 HS, cutouts always accompanied with dead mosfets.

I think the probability is very low that cause of your fall was due to a cutout.

 

One thing that I find is odd is why you fell so suddenly and quickly. 

Like what others have said, unless it was something super slippery, how else can you fall so quickly. 

The V12 has gyro effects, even at 15 mph, it isn't just going to flop sideways.

 

 

 

I agree. That's why I'm pretty sure it was my error. I just wish I knew what that error was. See below.

7 hours ago, superox said:

Since you were passing over to sidewalk, could it have been due to veering into a low curb at a sharp angle? Even a very low curb of 1-2 inches can wreck you if you hit it with the sidewall of the tire, so it can't get over.

Thank you for the suggestion. It wasn't at the transition. I was still on the asphalt road. Unfortunately, I was so shook up, I didn't examine the road or even survey the scene for oil, or distance of wheel travel while I waited for the ambulance.

7 hours ago, Brendan "nog3" Halliday said:

Sorry, looks like I copied from google photos again, I forget that this forum just uses the URL and not the image :) I've updated the original post and here's a picture of what my surgical site scar looked like 1 yr after.

 xhG6q1G.png

I'm not sure why, but in the humeral fracture support group I'm in it seems like the majority of cases in the US are forced to use a sarmiento brace or sling and hope for the best. I know that there's definitely an impost of time and costs due to the medical system but I can't really speak to the efficacy of that approach. There's also a prevalence of using staples vs surgical glue which leads to gnarlier looking scars.

As for negatives, like you said it's a bit difficicult with spiral fractures - I was fortunate that mine wasn't spiral and was just a separation of the greater tuberosity (I landed arms outstretched and my shoulder dislocated before hitting the ground). I was also fortunate enough that our public medical system here is heavily subsidised and not profit motivated and I happen to live near (and used to work in the same hospital as) some of the most experienced and talented orthopaedic surgeons in Australia. Below is my actual fracture xray (spoilered because)

  Hide contents

ngkMlLS.png

Patience will be the hardest thing to have right now, but that soft callus will not form well if there's too much movement. If it helps you understand better, get the doctors to show you where the soft callus is forming and how it's going at becoming hard.

Best of luck, and happy to answer any more questions you have :)

Thank you so much for posting it. Very informative. I don't mind a scar at all. Like I told the doctor, I don't care how it looks as long as it works.:D

I feel pretty confident it wasn't a cost concern that made them go with the splint. I got a second opinion who also was concerned about how the nerves for your hand (and other structures) pass through the very high point of my fracture. Since they can't do that surgery arthroscopically, the incision is large and risks are higher. They said surgery was an option if the bone didn't start rejoining by 6 weeks. My shoulder didn't dislocate.

Did you have a metal implant placed? Any x-rays of that? Thanks again for taking the time to share your perspective.

6 hours ago, Rawnei said:

I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned but V12HT has thrown people backwards on their butts before, Adam Wrong Way for instance, there has been a couple of mentions about this but no conclusive information.

 

I don't know if there was any topic created specifically about this, maybe @supercurio knows ?

Yes. Adam's crashes were the only tiny little ray of doubt that it was user error. Because of the backwards falls. But I'm sure it was me. I just remember a quick "WTF? Going down!"

I guess it could have been tire tracking, or any combination of errors. It just didn't feel like any other tumble I've had and it was into the 8 o'clock direction. The wheel continued on, but I was too rattled to make note of how far. For once I wish there were witnesses. Two very kind German tourists walked by about 2 minutes later...

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3 hours ago, Tasku said:

Here is my analysis. Gonna compare it to incident where I fell. In my case I was traveling forward but also turned my head to the side. My speed  was faster 25-30km/h. What I did find similar was that because I had cleared the road ahead, I felt comfortable to look away on the road to the side. I had missed a detail, a small bump and root in it. I fell forward and it was very sudden. If I had watched forward as per usual, I would have cleared and recovered but watching to side, I could not recover even I think it seemed rather insignificant bump. The root in the bump steered the wheel to side, and my body continued forward with momentum. Caught by surprise I simply decided to slide it, not fight it, unusual event for that matter. Hard to fight something you didn't see. If I had my eyes forward I think I would very easy recovered from the event.

That being said I find it somewhat strange that you fall backwards. Some kind of slip could make sense but don't see it in your event desc. It is always risky to put hand down first in highspeed, it is instinct so I also had minor wrist pain for some time, mostly swelling. Falling backward is more dangerous in my books, I feel (in case of falling forwards) there is good change to slide with knee protectors and avoid any injury. Falling back, you tend to poke the hand out, I think you just had the worst there, a twist.

After my accident I had good time thinking through the event and how to be safer. One thing I realised is that, I need to start actively thinking this one important thing: When I/you look to sides, always slow down while doing so. Also taking the best stance while doing so: bent knees and as stable stance as possible. Makes sense but was so easy to just fall into the fall sense of security. It should be obvious to slow when watching away from the way you are moving forward to with device that requires balance. By not seeing the horizon it will be hard to recover any event like such.

One more thing, if you have any doubt about your vehicle, is there any local or nearby store where you could take it for inspection? It could be that they could find something, like hall sensor losened. Something that could make more sense how you end up falling backwards. This could put more trust back to the hobby if nothing else.

I also can come up multiple reasoning that could cause to best of us a momentary case of losing of balance. Just gonna put sunstroke, dehydration and simply not seeing the horizon out there. Not that I think they are the case here, or you are in any way to blame of this incident.

Also now that you have healed, it could be good time to go back to the scene. Take pictures, it would help explain your situation more better. And maybe you solve the case on your own.

Final thing about should you continue the hobby question: I think you alone can answer that one.

Thank you for taking the time to give me a lot to think about. You are right about the scenario of slowing and turning while looking. I was about 45 degrees into the 90 degree turn, going around 15mph. I've had the feeling that maybe I leaned too far back to slow as I turned and that, combined with the head turn, let the wheel get ahead of me? It didn't seem unusual at the time, but V12 and tire are more responsive than V11... You are right about going back just to take a look. I have time because it will be at least June before I'm allowed back on the wheel. :facepalm:

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8 minutes ago, UPONIT said:

I've had the feeling that maybe I leaned too far back to slow as I turned and that, combined with the head turn, let the wheel get ahead of me? It didn't seem unusual at the time, but V12 and tire are more responsive than V11

Do you have braking pads on your V12?

If not, you could have simply fell off the back.

I almost did on my Abrams when I first rode it without pads.

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1 hour ago, Tawpie said:

That's a bad accident to be sure, and honestly from the description I wouldn't know how to avoid a repeat. Not remembering what happened is how I am—the first few times something accidental happens I seem to block out the entire incident. But it's really too bad that you can't "look at the head movie" to figure out what happened. Although it doesn't sound like rider error.

Your description doesn't sound like a lack of traction either, those events tend to unfold slowly. It's not a "cutout" per se, but I think you either lost power to the wheel or it did the sudden acceleration thing. Weight biased back and to the left if the wheel lost power it would instantly drop you backwards on your left side. Same thing would happen if it did the sudden acceleration thing too—scoot right out from under you before you even knew that it was getting away. Wrong Way's incidents were on relatively straight sections where he wasn't trying to turn and slow down—he still got dropped on his rear.

As to getting back on the horse, what can one say. Riding can result in falls and obviously nobody needs to remind you that falls can cause serious injury. There are sound reasons to stop. Nevertheless, and from the viewpoint of someone a bit older than you, I'd encourage you to seriously consider continuing to ride. Strength and balance start to go as we age and finding ways to maintain them is challenging—mostly because working out is boring. Even golf got boring. Do what you can to stay strong and keep your balance, riding for me is such an extraordinary discovery—it entertains me to no end and improved strength and balance comes as a side effect. Plus (or minus if you check the bank account), it has introduced me to some new mental workouts… making bad videos and now seeing if I can remember how to drive a CAD system and learn how to squirt hot plastic out of a nozzle to make something I dreamed up. All of it helps keep the old geezer out of my head, and you do want to keep that cretin far far away because he is a total buzzkill.

BTW, I would try to have InMotion look at the data from your wheel. Their focus on "safety" should motivate them to look into every unexplained incident to see if whatever did go wrong can be identified and prevented. But they can't do that without data. Do it for the rest of us...

 

Wow. Very beautifully stated, @Tawpie!

I'm really hesitant to blame the wheel, just because I like to own up to my mistakes and it seems so unlikely. It's likely just wishful thinking to try to come up with some reason I can point to and learn from... which we don't always get, right?

This probably has no bearing, but the one V12HT weird behaviour that I DID have about a week after I got the wheel was this one, which I've read about others having also. I did a low-speed walk off when i messed up going from tennis court surface to grass. The wheel started to tumble and just went full speed berserk onto its side and didn't cutoff like they usually do when resting on their side. It spun around, the tire kept spinning full speed for about 5-10 seconds, and it finally cutoff. It happened one other time that same day and has never happened since.

I just thought I'd mention that in the interest of full disclosure, even though it doesn't seem common, or related to this?

TBH, I have REALLY enjoyed the V12HT. It's portable and super solid and well-made and has enough power to get up my hills. I had been zipping (my version: 20mph lol) all over the neighborhood and city and loving it. Maybe if I continue I will go back to the V11 until I feel thoroughly like it is second nature, but never too comfortable? I really don't want to give this up. :huh:

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10 minutes ago, techyiam said:

Do you have braking pads on your V12?

If not, you could have simply fell off the back.

I almost did on my Abrams when I first rode it without pads.

Thanks! I do have Grizzla flow pads. I thought about whether they could have contributed if my feet got stuck a little when it happened? I feel like it was a situation I've walked off of before, letting the wheel go, but me recovering. :blink:

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i rode motorcycles on the street for the first time in my life from 2006-2014. i learned from that and my years of inline skating, that the govt doesn't maintain or think about humans that travel on them. there is so much garbage deposited on these roads and paths, anything could take u down. 

when u ride street motorcycles u always ride in the tire ruts of the road. i preferred the rut next to the painted line. u do that because all the glass, nails, rocks, beer cans, etc, get pushed over to the bike lane, if there is one. 

the other thing i learned was that it's really easy to daydream or fixate on this new view of the world. riding motorcycles on street wasn't relaxing, it was like being a cat trapped in a dog kennel. i also learned to stop my mind from wandering, like "did i leave the iron on?", i had to make a decision, turn around and go check on it, or wipe the thought from my mind, because if i die on the road, the iron being left on is nbd. 

definitely not giving advice on how to ride. i started in 2017, then quit for 4 years and now i'm back and i consider myself a beginner. i got my v13 a week ago and i have 100 miles on it just practicing up and back on my 2200' private road. not boring at all. working on balance and stopping. analyzing the suspension. an hour or so a day, as much as Bob will let me without complaining. the only time i've ridden a wheel off my property was to show friends what they were and a demo ride around a restaurant. that was enough to teach me i needed lots more practice before going outside. i had this gaggle of humans all in lockstep coming out of the restaurant, probably after cocktails walk in front of me and freeze like deer in headlights.

i mean florida being flat, i can't imagine what learning in hilly mountainous terrain is like. for me, i'm still not ready for the mean streets. one thing falling on asphalt, another thing hitting concrete curbs and sidewalks. 

i don't think u can practice too much riding these extremely difficult vehicles. same with motorcycles. if u want to fast track wheel riding, find a field to practice in. omg, it will beat u to death, but falling is nbd. if i ride in my pastures then come back to my road, my road becomes easier. especially with ur injury, falling on dirt will be better. 

like i say, i'm a beginner, but like with my motorcycles, i tried to ride daily to stay in tune. i think riding daily on wheels is super important. there are so many outside influences, even on my private road. wind, leaves, acorns, tree debris, animals, etc, and i have to navigate all of that. yesterday i felt my street tire squirt a little bit on me on my curve because of acorns and leaves. 

the most important part for me, is picking my line with my eyes so my feet automatically control the wheel. if glare is bad, or strobe effect through my trees, it screws me up. i'm always watching my line way out in front of me depending on my speed. also going really slow helps me practice. especially on this new street tire on the v13. u gotta really balance to use this tire. anybody can ride fast, riding slow takes skill. 

i hate that u got injured and wouldn't blame u if u quit riding, that's the smartest thing to do, but if u do start riding again, start back on dirt if u can. that will also stress test ur wheel. 

wind can kill u on these things. not saying it was wind, but look at @Forwardnbakvideo of him crashing into that wall. suppose he was in a bike lane and a gust pushed him in front of a car. a bicyclist dies every other day here in florida. 

wear all the protective gear u can and don't treat this activity casually. i see a correlation between riders getting comfortable on their wheels, and then they have a crash. so never get comfortable. realize the wheel is always trying to kill u. like the rc helis i use to build are always hunting the ground. i think wheels must be first cousins, but wheels are deadlier. 

i'm recovering from a couple bad stops and stepoffs where the pedal scraped the skin off the inside of my leg. finally rubbed two brain cells together and ordered shin guards. i'm also of the mindset of @pico(wish i could ride like him) that u should learn using griptape and no spiked pedals and no power pads. those can come later if u desire. especially with a 110 pound wheel like the v13, i don't want anything to lock me in if i need to bail. @picosays he's 90% practice and 10% cruising, i'm 100% practicing and with 3 new wheels, it's pretty entertaining familiarizing myself with these wheels on my closed practice area. 

while ur healing, if u can, revisit ur crash site and walk it. then see if u see any outside influences might have contributed to ur crash. like walk it, and then decide if ur skills should have been able to negotiate that intersection. i'll have a short trip off ranch soon if i have to go to the dentist, and i plan on walking it again to ascertain if the trip will give me difficulties on a wheel, and which wheel would be the best for this upcoming trip.

best practice area would be a golf course if allowed on the fairways. or abandoned golf course. one of the rc runways had used conveyor belts. that would be excellent too. my road is only 12' wide and i'd love a little more width for practicing u-turns.

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I had an incident where I did a turn from the road onto a sidewalk. Before I knew it I was tumbling head over heels. The culprit? A handful of leaves on the road. That stuff is like ice.

I've also slid out on a turn due to loose bits of asphalt covered rocks on the road (hard to see).

I now not only scan the road closely for debris when about to make a turn, but I only execute motorcycle-style leans when turning - regardless of speed - in order to maximize grip. Always keep the EUC as upright as possible when turning. I've not had any related crashes since. I've even skidded the EUC a couple of times but was always able to recover.

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7 hours ago, novazeus said:

find a field to practice in. omg, it will beat u to death, but falling is nbd. if i ride in my pastures then come back to my road, my road becomes easier. especially with ur injury, falling on dirt will be better.

i hate that u got injured and wouldn't blame u if u quit riding, that's the smartest thing to do, but if u do start riding again, start back on dirt if u can. that will also stress test ur wheel.

 i'm also of the mindset of @pico(wish i could ride like him) that u should learn using griptape and no spiked pedals and no power pads. those can come later if u desire. especially with a 110 pound wheel like the v13, i don't want anything to lock me in if i need to bail.

while ur healing, if u can, revisit ur crash site and walk it. then see if u see any outside influences might have contributed to ur crash. like walk it, and then decide if ur skills should have been able to negotiate that intersection. i'll have a short trip off ranch soon if i have to go to the dentist, and i plan on walking it again to ascertain if the trip will give me difficulties on a wheel, and which wheel would be the best for this upcoming trip.

best practice area would be a golf course if allowed on the fairways. or abandoned golf course. one of the rc runways had used conveyor belts. that would be excellent too. my road is only 12' wide and i'd love a little more width for practicing u-turns.

Dirt and grass are great ideas. Although I was having so much fun exploring parts of the city I don't see when driving. Maybe beach riding? There's a lot of that...

I wish I could ride like @pico too! That's what I was trying to say earlier: I hate that EUCs came along later in my life. This is a difficult vehicle to get really good at. If I had developed high skills earlier, I wouldn't have to be as concerned about falls, now that broken bones mean more...

Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply, @novazeus. It's exactly what I need to help consider how to proceed.

4 hours ago, level9 said:

I had an incident where I did a turn from the road onto a sidewalk. Before I knew it I was tumbling head over heels. The culprit? A handful of leaves on the road. That stuff is like ice.

I've also slid out on a turn due to loose bits of asphalt covered rocks on the road (hard to see).

I now not only scan the road closely for debris when about to make a turn, but I only execute motorcycle-style leans when turning - regardless of speed - in order to maximize grip. Always keep the EUC as upright as possible when turning. I've not had any related crashes since. I've even skidded the EUC a couple of times but was always able to recover.

You know what? I didn't even think about loose asphalt or rocks. The road was clear of leaves, but it wasn't new and pristine. I'm gonna go visit and check it out. Thank you so much for the suggestion.

1 hour ago, bpong said:

one thing to know for sure,  you will never ever know when an accident will happen.  its just that way with any thing.  you can certainly see a situation developing before your eyes and anticipate a resulting accident.  but to know if an accident will happen....nada....

you can anticipate the hell out of thinking that an accident may happen cause you think something might appear some how in front of you suddenly,  or beside you suddenly.  but in the end,  no one really knows when something will happen.

ive ridden a motorcycle before i got my car license.  i rode for over 18 years, and never had a bad accident.  the only accident i had was the common "im making a left turn and someone ran the light and hit me" - in this case it was a slow speed dinger,  with some old sob driving his volvo.  he only hit me at a slow speed and nothing came of it.  i was not injured and simply picked up my bike, swore at the driver and went on my merry way.  mind you, i also used hand signals for all my turns, and was always wary of these dangerous left turns....

we all fall.  whether its on a bicycle,  kick scooter, jogging, riding an actual unicycle,  riding an euc, .... damn, one can fall simply by walking and stumbling !!!! (and some people suffer from serious injuries in those situations !!!).  so from what you wrote,  it reads to me like you are abit embarrased since you think you took all the precautions and wear all the safety gear.  and yet,  you fall and you got injured.  you dont know if its a cut out that caused the accident cause probably it happened so quick,  you had no time to observe your body reacting to the loss of control.

i fell twice in the past 2 years.  it was both my fault cause i dont use pads on my wheel (i will be using them soon since i think they are necessary - im just lazy to change) and the fall was caused by hitting deep small diameter potholes in the bike lane (i got bumped off the pedals when the euc dropped into the pothole).  and yes, i was also going at 45kph in the bike lane which i think is not too smart on my part.  the irony is that im a very cautious rider - at busy intersections, i get off my euc and walk across the intersection;  i never jump curbs (cause i dont practice it and i dont know how), and dont do any stunts like huge air jumps etc,... im actually a boring rider.  but i do like abit of speed in my riding.  blah, blah, blah.... i didnt see the potholes, i got thrown off my euc, i do a faceplant and destroy my riding clothes,  yada yada yada...its all good, its part of the euc riding & learning experience IMO.

ive never had a cutoff.  i have, however,  accidentally cut my wheel out while riding my V8.  i slowed down and grabbed the top side handle hole and inadvertently hit the cutout button which made me fall backwards while slowing down.  nothing got hurt, and i didnt really know what i did until afterwards when i thought about it.

if i may make the suggestion to you:  shrug off the fall and continue riding.  perhaps add some more caution to your riding style when approaching intersections.  be abit more cautious and stop and cross and then continue on your way.  dont let mental gremlins creep into your enjoyment of euc riding.  and lastly (you may think im abit extreme on this idea) learn how to take falls;  falling forwards, backwards, sideways.  i know how to fall in either direction (gymnastics, martial arts etc,...) and that skill alone helps you reduce injuries from falling off your euc.

good luck and have a safe (continue riding !!!) riding season !!!  dont over-think your accident too !!!

bpong

Thank you for the thoughts and suggestions. I defintely want to continue riding. It wasn't so much the broken bone. It was the unknown nature of the fall. So surprising and unexpected and not able to be figured out. All my other tumbles, step-offs, etc. had clear causes to learn from. Being a beginner, seated riding before knowing how to stop seated, bad potholes, surface transitions, etc. I guess I just have to suck it up that this one just can't be figured out. It kinda messes with you a little bit though... Thanks again.

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soccer field, baseball field, park, all maintained waaaaaaaaaaaay better than my zero maintenance pastures. 

u gotta remember, it's not like driving a car sightseeing. u gotta train urself to just do quick glances and not fixate.

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