My fall...

[craio]

So this happened a while ago, but for some reason didn't feel like posting about it (or even posting at all for that matter). But yesterday started reading up on the tesla and other crashes, so i thought i'd 'contribute'. It ended up being a fairly big wall of text, so i've put a tl;dr at the end.

This happened back in september on a warm but windy day. Had the Gotway ACM for a couple of months and started to feel - maybe to- confident. The weather was nice and felt like accelerating but had a fairly strong headwind so might have over leaned a bit. The tiltback was set at 35km/h (used to be at 30 but got annoying to be tilted back all the time) and instead of slowly being tilted back (probably because of accelerating?) the tiltback was sudden which in turn caused me to lose my balance.

Because i lost my balance i fell/flew forward and first landed om my right hand and slid a bit, then on the right side of my head and slid some more followed by either shoulder,elbow, wrist or pelvis on te left side and somewhere along the way i might have turned my head (atleast i recall seeing both sides...) and saw my wheel come to a standstill against a big sturdy flowerpot. Managed to get up go to my wheel, then couple minutes of trying to find my balance (probably cause i banged my head) inspected for injuries. 

Luckily i was wearing elbow, knee and wrist guards but unfortunately it was summer so just a tshirt and shorts. Because of shorts and sliding my knee protection didn't help much (just slid upwards) nor did the elbow guards (might have caught the first hit, but have roadrash). My shoulder didn't look to good though and the wound on side was fairly deep . So managed to get back on the wheel somehow and to make an even longer story short spend a night in the hospital with a heartmonitor and the following night under family supervision because the crash caused a small crack in my skull... 

But that wasn't it... I also had backpain and at first they thought just a strained muscle. Didn't improve in the following month or so, so went back for x-rays which didn't show anything, so advisement was fysiotherapy which changed the diagnosis to a touched nerve and another month later I still wasn't convinced it improved so they changed diagnosis to either a moved disc or something equally bad. So the suggestion was to first try an osteopath before an MRI. She concluded a locked rib and some other stuff (probably unrelated to the accident, but earlier surgery). These sessions actually felt like they made a difference and in february i was finally able to consider it at least healing...

So pictures! Three pictures of injuries (as far as i was able to take them, elbow not included), one of the maybe overkill bandage they put on the arm and two of the effects on the gear.

What i was wearing at the time was knee and elbow from G-Form and wrist guards from Flexmeter and just a standard bicycle/skateboard helmet. I don't want to think on how my skull or wrist for that matter would have looked and i'm pretty sure i'd have spend time in the ICU unit instead of a regular bed for a night. 

I think i used the wheel again november (had to wait a month for the cracked skull to heal) since then I replaced the helmet with a Kali Interceptor (for some reason i still don't feel like wearing full facial) and bought a kevlar hoodie with protective pads in elbow,shoulder and back (but don't use the latter). Kevlar because it lightweight and is supposed to protect in case of sliding. 

The wheel still works fine but disabled the tiltback cause i don't trust it anymore but all the other alarms are still active.

tl;dr: Fell due to sudden tiltback (and inexperience maybe). Injuries limited because of wrist guard and helmet but overall road rash on knee, thumb, elbow, shoulder, pelvis. Small crack in skull and 'locked' ribs. Wheel survived and got back on after about a month or two but with a small protection gear upgrade.

 

[Pard]

Thanks for sharing.  I hope you have a 100 percent recovery soon.  

[Rehab1]

OMG you hit hard!! So glad you were wearing safety gear. The helmet really saved your life!

It sounds terrible but the more accident posts and photos that members share the better. I truly believe these optics have a major impact on converting those that staunchly believe “That will never happen to me”!

[Pard]

25 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

OMG you hit hard!! So glad you were wearing safety gear. The helmet really saved your life!

It sounds terrible but the more accident posts and photos that members share the better. I truly believe these optics have a major impact on converting those that staunchly believe “That will never happen to me”!

True. True. 

 

 

[craio]

Yeah, that's probably the reason i've posted it afterall. At the moment i've driven (or is it ridden?) 1630km with my ACM (use it for commute, 10km daily). Not sure if it would happen again (balance issue due to tiltback) that i would still fall or be able to recuperate from it.

But yes, if not for the helmet i'm not sure if i would still be around.

[meepmeepmayer]

Oh God, the details

TLDR: Don't fall, people.

[Marty Backe]

Glad that you are now OK and back in the game.

I for one appreciate these post because they help to counter the complacency that we all develop. I know that I have changed my safety habits. Regardless of the length of ride I now always wear wrist guards and knee pads.

People, use knee pads that can't move during a crash. I really like my Triple-8's.

Do you know why you cracked your head even though you were wearing a helmet?

[Marty Backe]

BTW, can you tell us a little about your physical makeup? Tall/short, heavy/light, young/old, fit/not so fit, etc?

This information can help people better relate to what happened and your injuries.

Thanks.

[craio]

Well my height is 169cm and weight around 55kg so that's probably the reason i slid/flew far

Age 33 (at the time) and somewhere between fit and not so fit (used to cycle to work until i got the wheel).

The reason for the crack was either just a really hard fall or the force applied to the helmet travelled through and cracked the other side (crack didn't correspond to the part that hit the ground).

I most of the time keep my kneepads on at work, to much hassle to take off.

[Marty Backe]

32 minutes ago, craio said:

Well my height is 169cm and weight around 55kg so that's probably the reason i slid/flew far

Age 33 (at the time) and somewhere between fit and not so fit (used to cycle to work until i got the wheel).

The reason for the crack was either just a really hard fall or the force applied to the helmet travelled through and cracked the other side (crack didn't correspond to the part that hit the ground).

I most of the time keep my kneepads on at work, to much hassle to take off.

Thanks. Good info.

The Triple-8 knee pads that I use are really easy to take on and off. I timed it. Less than 1-1/2 minutes. FYI.

[WARPed1701D]

@craio

What version of the G-Form pads were you wearing? Pro-X or Elite? The Elite pads are Motorcycle rated (thicker and larger coverage) and they have grip tape on the top and bottom of the sleeve (rather then just the top of the Pro-X pads). This tape might have prevented the pads slipping up your leg in the fall if you had the Pro-X version.

Were you wearing any of the other G-Form components (undershirt or undershorts). I see on your shoulder a patch that doesn't have roadrash so wondered if you had a pad there.

Right now I feel on the cusp of moving away from EUC's to a folding eBike because of all the injury reports and I miss the cardio of cycling. I've never fallen from my V8 or even come close to doing so but I know it is just a matter of time before I screw up and take a tumble. I use the G-Form protection (Elite elbow and knee pads and pro-x shirt and shorts) so i'm interested in hearing more about which versions you had, how well they fit you, and how they behaved in the accident. 

[Marty Backe]

3 hours ago, WARPed1701D said:

@craio

What version of the G-Form pads were you wearing? Pro-X or Elite? The Elite pads are Motorcycle rated (thicker and larger coverage) and they have grip tape on the top and bottom of the sleeve (rather then just the top of the Pro-X pads). This tape might have prevented the pads slipping up your leg in the fall if you had the Pro-X version.

Were you wearing any of the other G-Form components (undershirt or undershorts). I see on your shoulder a patch that doesn't have roadrash so wondered if you had a pad there.

Right now I feel on the cusp of moving away from EUC's to a folding eBike because of all the injury reports and I miss the cardio of cycling. I've never fallen from my V8 or even come close to doing so but I know it is just a matter of time before I screw up and take a tumble. I use the G-Form protection (Elite elbow and knee pads and pro-x shirt and shorts) so i'm interested in hearing more about which versions you had, how well they fit you, and how they behaved in the accident. 

I can't imagine moving away from EUC's. Do you use the V8 primarily for practical reasons? Or do you ride an EUC for the joy and fun that it provides?

[WARPed1701D]

34 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

I can't imagine moving away from EUC's. Do you use the V8 primarily for practical reasons? Or do you ride an EUC for the joy and fun that it provides?

99% of my riding is practical. Commuting to work. Errands. That kind of stuff. There are few recreational riding areas near me as Pinellas County is built out and surrounded on 3 sides by water. Decent trails are an hour away by car. I also don't have much spare time to just go for a impromptu pleasure ride and if I did I've no desire to ride in bike lanes on busy roads for fun. The lack of places to ride is why I don't cycle for pleasure here either and that is why I appreciate getting cardio while doing something practical like commuting. 

I love riding my V8 and get much pleasure from it. I love the concept of electric unicycles in general. A cheap,  compact,  short range,  environmentaly friendly transportation device...what's not to love about those things! My love for it is why it isn't sold already. I'm not risk averse either but I do manage risk by weighing up the cost vs benefit and lately it seems people are paying a huge price (health and financial) for the benefit of using their EUC. If it were the only transportation option out there with the listed benefits then I'd  be prepared to accept more risk to use it but honestly a folding bike is barely bigger than a Monster or 18S, weighs the same, will go just as fast (as I want to go anyway),  isn't much more expensive, and with two tandem wheels you are at significantly less risk of severe injury even if you only wear a helmet because you just don't have anywhere near the same amount of probability of going down if the hardware fails on a bike. I have a butt load of safety gear I wear when riding the V8 but it seems luck plays as much a factor as safety gear in EUC injuries and no one can control luck. Added to that fitting the safety gear adds 10 to 15 minutes to any journey I make. It's not been as simple as I'd have liked. 

I'm undecided where I will go from here. My V8 has sat in the cupboard for a few weeks now while I enjoy the last of the cooler winter weather on my bike but summer will be here soon and I'll want some kind of powered transportation. It's why I got the V8 in the first place. Sadly, like @TremF before me, the EUC is needed to fund a bike....otherwise I'd have both for a while to see how it pans out. 

 

[steve454]

40 minutes ago, WARPed1701D said:

folding bike

Folding E bike.

https://www.frys.com/product/9400831?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

with coupon, 499 usd.  

[Rehab1]

5 hours ago, WARPed1701D said:

Right now I feel on the cusp of moving away from EUC's to a folding eBike because of all the injury reports and I miss the cardio of cycling

I would hate to see you go. Why not both? Simple: Bike up the hill carrying your V8 and back down the hill on your V8 carrying the bike. I know my cardio is pumping just thinking about it. 

[Charles McLean]

18 hours ago, craio said:

So this happened a while ago, but for some reason didn't feel like posting about it (or even posting at all for that matter). But yesterday started reading up on the tesla and other crashes, so i thought i'd 'contribute'. It ended up being a fairly big wall of text, so i've put a tl;dr at the end.

Thanks for sharing.  I agree with other folks in the thread that posts like these help all of us realize the importance of safety gear.  It's also good for lessons we don't have to learn ourselves like disabling tilt-back.  Thanks!  I hope you've made a full recovery!

[craio]

12 hours ago, WARPed1701D said:

@craio

What version of the G-Form pads were you wearing? Pro-X or Elite? The Elite pads are Motorcycle rated (thicker and larger coverage) and they have grip tape on the top and bottom of the sleeve (rather then just the top of the Pro-X pads). This tape might have prevented the pads slipping up your leg in the fall if you had the Pro-X version.

Were you wearing any of the other G-Form components (undershirt or undershorts). I see on your shoulder a patch that doesn't have roadrash so wondered if you had a pad there.

Pro-X but given that i slid face first I don't think having grip on the underside might have made a lot of difference. But another issue i got with the G-Form is that sometimes (if i wear them to long) I get a rash where that grip tape is, so having it on both sides might make it worse.

The spot on the shoulder is probably due to the (fairly thick) strap from my backpack. Atleast that's the only logical explanation i got.

Regarding the whole safety aspect. Pretty much everyone i know doesn't think it's a good idea to ride the euc (especially my parents after the accident). But the main 'issue' is that it's a fun way of getting around and for now i think that outweighs the risk. But not sure what i'd do if i had another crash of similar severity. I got 'lucky' that i could pinpoint the cause of the accident. If it was a cutoff or any other vague cause, i might have decided to store the wheel (wouldn't dare selling it for fear that the person buying it would experience the same).

[meepmeepmayer]

@WARPed1701D While still alarmed by your potential apostasy, I can understand where you're coming from. Florida terrain is (all-caps necessary) DULL, so much I've gathered from @Duf's videos (he really is making the best of what is there, which is depressingly little). Flat as a pancake, a few meters of elevation count as famous hills, endless samey suburban sprawl, boooooooooooooooring concrete slab walkways or just riding in the ditch on the side of the road, parking lots stretching to the horizon - must be mind-numbingly dull to ride. A EUC alone can't fix that (I experienced that myself).

So my tip: go somewhere interesting to ride, if you have the opportunity. Some real hills/mountains, dirt walking paths, etc. You'll be surprised how much fun EUCing is if you actually have some interesting terrain to ride and some challenge and variety . No comparison of what you do to a mountain ride or some offroad adventure.

TLDR: It's not the wheel, it's where you are.

[Kael]

@craio Glad you're feeling better and not yet completely put off riding EUCs. I gave mine a bit of a break after my comparatively minor tumble, but now I'm back on it and enjoying it as usual. I've just been riding very carefully and slowing right down whenever I'm a bit unsure of the terrain composition/moisture level. 

I definitely plan to gear up a bit over the next few months, especially as I'm looking to buying a faster, higher capacity wheel, so thanks for the kevlar hoody idea. I'll have a look into that.

[WARPed1701D]

6 hours ago, craio said:

Pro-X but given that i slid face first I don't think having grip on the underside might have made a lot of difference. But another issue i got with the G-Form is that sometimes (if i wear them to long) I get a rash where that grip tape is, so having it on both sides might make it worse.

The spot on the shoulder is probably due to the (fairly thick) strap from my backpack. Atleast that's the only logical explanation i got.

Regarding the whole safety aspect. Pretty much everyone i know doesn't think it's a good idea to ride the euc (especially my parents after the accident). But the main 'issue' is that it's a fun way of getting around and for now i think that outweighs the risk. But not sure what i'd do if i had another crash of similar severity. I got 'lucky' that i could pinpoint the cause of the accident. If it was a cutoff or any other vague cause, i might have decided to store the wheel (wouldn't dare selling it for fear that the person buying it would experience the same).

Thanks for sharing the experience and answering my questions. I have the Elite pads and they are always worn under long trousers and a long sheeve shirt. Given this outer layer I don't expect the pads to move extensively in a fall. The shorts and t-shirt were probably the reason they moved and I had anticipated that when I brought them.

The injuries to the rest of your body are as scary as hell and look like they were painful to heal. If I had been you the pro-x undershirt may have saved much of the shoulder injury but I don't know of much beyond full motorcycle gear that would have saved the upper pelvis area.Maybe the 3" wide strap for my back protector would have helped this region but it sits above the pelvis.

More food for thought as I consider my EUC future. Thanks again for sharing and making us all wiser.

[WARPed1701D]

3 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

@WARPed1701D While still alarmed by your potential apostasy, I can understand where you're coming from. Florida terrain is (all-caps necessary) DULL, so much I've gathered from @Duf's videos (he really is making the best of what is there, which is depressingly little). Flat as a pancake, a few meters of elevation count as famous hills, endless samey suburban sprawl, boooooooooooooooring concrete slab walkways or just riding in the ditch on the side of the road, parking lots stretching to the horizon - must be mind-numbingly dull to ride. A EUC alone can't fix that (I experienced that myself).

So my tip: go somewhere interesting to ride, if you have the opportunity. Some real hills/mountains, dirt walking paths, etc. You'll be surprised how much fun EUCing is if you actually have some interesting terrain to ride and some challenge and variety . No comparison of what you do to a mountain ride or some offroad adventure.

TLDR: It's not the wheel, it's where you are.

You are 100% right about Florida being very dull when it comes to terrain...at least where I am. To enjoy living here you need to relish in laying on an overcrowded beach surrounded by overweight people wearing very little, boiling in your own juices while doing little more than breathing, fishing, or watersports. I love boating and tried to get into sailing but a bad experience put my wife off the whole endeavor. Local clubs require 2 people to take their boats out and buying/running my own day sailer is a financial pipe-dream right now. My lack of connection to this environment is why I want to leave either back to the UK or to the west coast (likely PNW).

I'm lucky that my commute is very agreeable and incorporates one of the best sections of waterfront riding in the whole county but riding anywhere else puts me in direct competition with vehicles on the road. Bike paths are rare and sidewalks are concrete slabs that have been pushed up by tree roots to create an uneaven surface and as the entire county is a grid system you can't ride on a sidewalk for more than 100 yards before having to cross yet another road. Riding in close proximity to traffic (usually heavy traffic) on an EUC is much more stressful then on a bike because of the risk of falling under the wheels of the vehicle and driving standards here are abysmal and overly agressive. None the less I still enjoy my EUC everytime I use it. I have just have come to the realization that at 40 years old I've still got a lot to do and experience in my life. I enjoy walking and hiking in the mountains on vacation. I would hate to have those kind of activities curtailed because I can't walk properly anymore if busted my knee in some silly low speed awkward step off from an EUC. I just see that kind (or any kind) of injury as much less likely on a bike and a folding eBike has many of the benefits of an EUC with regards to portability, speed, etc. But I would miss the glide and the community here if I moved on. Much to think about.

[craio]

On 13/03/2018 at 2:00 PM, Kael said:

@craio Glad you're feeling better and not yet completely put off riding EUCs. I gave mine a bit of a break after my comparatively minor tumble, but now I'm back on it and enjoying it as usual. I've just been riding very carefully and slowing right down whenever I'm a bit unsure of the terrain composition/moisture level. 

I definitely plan to gear up a bit over the next few months, especially as I'm looking to buying a faster, higher capacity wheel, so thanks for the kevlar hoody idea. I'll have a look into that.

This is the hoodie I bought. Bit expensive but warm (-3°C and wearing it + windproof vest) and decent quality but fairly heavy (only noticable when carrying it, not when wearing).