POLL: injury related survey for EUC forum riders

[tst]

A few bruises while learning don't count for me. The pedal hit your legs.

For me, an injury is when the body is damaged so that you experience some discomfort for longer than a day. Or that it prevents you from going to work. Something that takes long to heal.

I did fall on my back hard, but didn't get injured. I stop my falls with my hands usually. Once I felt that my wrist had taken a serious hit. But again no injury. Just a reminder that a human body definitely has limitations.

I don't drive faster then 20 km/h. Only wrist protectors. I feel those are a must.

The times I took a fall are numerous. But 9/10 it's at low speed when you already anticipate the possibility of falling. Forest trails, mud, wet tree roots, wet leaves, think leaves making it impossible to see what's underneath it etc etc. These are walking trails. Bikes aren't even allowed here. It's impossible to go on a euc, try some new things and never ever fall. 9/10 I just run away mid air.

On a handful of occasions I hit a unexpected tree branch under leaves when driving a bit faster then would be wise. 2 times i miraculously stayed on the wheel to my surprise.

Now i'm battling the complacency creeping in.... wanting to go faster etc... The v8f with a knobby tire just has so much grip it's easy to become too comfortable.

[Mono]

7 hours ago, novazeus said:

probably not the best poll for promoting wheel usage, but good reading for all the newbies, esp the old ones, getting into this activity. 

i joined the forum in 2017, and it seems all my old forum buddies have needed medical attn including myself from a wheel related injury. 

Then I am the only lucky one: I joined in 2015 and during more than 1500 hours of riding I never needed medical attention or missed a riding hour due to an injury.

I went down maybe over a dozen times and had bruises and many more painful entanglements with the wheel. They have become less and less frequent over time. I also don't wear gear and never have, apart from shin guards.

7 hours ago, novazeus said:

if u haven't voted yet, please do.

I don't quite know what "injury" is supposed to mean in this context.

[novazeus]

yeah, i hate to even call mine an euc injury, the one time i did fall, because wearing flipflops in the jungle was stupid. too many limbs and branches laying around. 

sticks and stones will break my bones and rip off an occasional toe.

[Mono]

12 hours ago, novazeus said:

the one time i did fall, because wearing flipflops in the jungle was stupid

this I also learned the hard way: running off on rough terrain doesn't (always) work the same way with sandals as with sneakers 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Mono

[Ben Kim]

Before I vote, what do you constitute as injured? I’ve had some cuts and bruises but no serious injury ever. And certainly nothing still hurts; however it’s been almost 2 years since I’ve fell on an EUC 

[novazeus]

9 minutes ago, Ben Kim said:

Before I vote, what do you constitute as injured? I’ve had some cuts and bruises but no serious injury ever. And certainly nothing still hurts; however it’s been almost 2 years since I’ve fell on an EUC 

not my poll, but i would guess, u would vote the third option. u got hurt, but nbd.

i tore a toe off but that was partly rider poor choice of footwear(flip flops) and design flaw by 9bs2 because my weight was twice what the tire is rated for(i'm sure, 9b was clever enough not to emboss their tires with load ratings), and an outside influence, 2 year old 150 pound Bob galloping on his lease. 

don't do those three stupid things, and i would have never fallen using an wheel. pasture riding excluded. i fell all the time. my pastures all land mines. not long aga i drove my jeep into a bull hole and the ass end wasn't touching the ground. imagine if i had been on an wheel?

btw, on one fall in the pasture, my right thumb got over extended and hurt for awhile, a week or so, making it difficult for me to do ranch chores, and i was thinking what protective gear would prevent that? mittens?

[Cerbera]

1 hour ago, novazeus said:

and i was thinking what protective gear would prevent that? mittens?

Nope - mittens hopeless in that regard as well  I over-extended my thumb on the way down about 2 months ago, during a boots-related dismounting accident (pedal spikes wouldn't let them go !) and I can still feel that now when I put gloves and wrist braces on.  The only thing I think I have seen that actively prevents that occurring is a dedicated thumb brace, which are a) expensive and b) have to somehow be worn AS WELL as wrist bracing, which makes it impractical and a lot of faff. 

[novazeus]

1 hour ago, Cerbera said:

Nope - mittens hopeless in that regard as well  I over-extended my thumb on the way down about 2 months ago, during a boots-related dismounting accident (pedal spikes wouldn't let them go !) and I can still feel that now when I put gloves and wrist braces on.  The only thing I think I have seen that actively prevents that occurring is a dedicated thumb brace, which are a) expensive and b) have to somehow be worn AS WELL as wrist bracing, which makes it impractical and a lot of faff. 

thanks for that, esp the part about the spikes not letting go. that's why my s22 pedals are covered in a thin yoga mat for now with grip tape on top of it. the van's skateboarding sneakers soles create a huge lock on spiked pedals. why i bought ten pairs of different types of shoes from van's. the spike pedals might be right with the proper footwear. like the s18, thin soled van's for skateboarding, ok, but dangerous on big long spiked pedals. 

[Cerbera]

In my case I can't blame the pedals for being too grippy, when I was trying some ultra heavy duty MX boots - I wasn't expecting to have to apply such lifting force to get the deeply ridged soles off the spikes, and the large metal bar that runs down the centre of those Leatt GPX's prevents you feeling where your feet are in relation to the pedals.

I too have had to go through quite some range of boots to find the right ones, and TBH , though the newer, lighter ones I am trying now are a whole load better, I am still not quite there yet in the search for the perfect boot !