I crash into religion

Today I fell down hard on my road bike. I figure I was going about 25
mph when I hit new paint at the end of a wooden bridge I’ve been over
dozens of times never finding any traction issues. However, sometime
recently, the City decided to put new wood and paint on the bridge. Add
some dew at 0600h and it made for a slippery surface. I skidded sideways
and then, when I hit the tarmac again, I high sided. I was not wearing a
helmet, but have good reflexes in the curl and roll. I ended up with a
terrible case of road rash, my eyeglasses embedded in my cheek (the lens
came out and stuck into my cheek right at the cheekbone) and a lot of
debris embedded into my muscles plus other injuries. I truncated the
ride returning 20 miles instead of the planned 40. My bike sustained
minor injuries with the saddle being the most badly damaged.

Evaluating the crash, I figure that I may have been more badly hurt
wearing a helmet, but ironically, I’ll will buy and from now on wear a
helmet when riding. This sounds paradoxical, but here is my logic. The
only place I hit was my face from the cheek down. I hit the glasses very
hard, scraped away a lot of skin from my face, nose, upper lip and chin.
There are other lower body injuries as well including a badly hurt right
arm and leg. I would guess that had I hit just that way with a hat on,
the visor would have exerted rotational force on my neck making for,
perhaps, much more serious injuries.

However, what will remain with me for a long time, and it was the first
thing I remembered when I woke up there on the bike trail, was the sound
of my face / head hitting. It was a loud crack-like sound. I had some
time to review things on the ride back home and then waiting in the
hospital urgent care to think on things.

I was mentally unprepared for the suddenness and ferocity of this crash.
Had I hit higher up on my head I surely would have had a great chance of
sustaining serious brain injury. Instead of a little nap and a hideous
headache now, (along with at least two weeks off) I may have been
looking at permanent injury or even death. It was the realization that
even at bicycle speeds, something I dismissed before, one can get badly
hurt.

Yes, I’m still opposed to mandatory helmet laws, but I doubt you’ll be
seeing me ride without one from now on.

Paul Cassel wrote:
Today I fell down hard on my road bike. I figure I was going about 25
mph when I hit new paint at the end of a wooden bridge I’ve been over
dozens of times never finding any traction issues. However, sometime
recently, the City decided to put new wood and paint on the bridge.
Add some dew at 0600h and it made for a slippery surface. I skidded
sideways and then, when I hit the tarmac again, I high sided. I was
not wearing a helmet, but have good reflexes in the curl and roll. I
ended up with a terrible case of road rash, my eyeglasses embedded in
my cheek (the lens came out and stuck into my cheek right at the
cheekbone) and a lot of debris embedded into my muscles plus other
injuries. I truncated the ride returning 20 miles instead of the
planned 40. My bike sustained minor injuries with the saddle being
the most badly damaged.
Evaluating the crash, I figure that I may have been more badly hurt
wearing a helmet, but ironically, I’ll will buy and from now on wear a
helmet when riding. This sounds paradoxical, but here is my logic. The
only place I hit was my face from the cheek down. I hit the glasses
very hard, scraped away a lot of skin from my face, nose, upper lip
and chin. There are other lower body injuries as well including a
badly hurt right arm and leg. I would guess that had I hit just that
way with a hat on, the visor would have exerted rotational force on
my neck making for, perhaps, much more serious injuries.

However, what will remain with me for a long time, and it was the
first thing I remembered when I woke up there on the bike trail, was
the sound of my face / head hitting. It was a loud crack-like sound.
I had some time to review things on the ride back home and then
waiting in the hospital urgent care to think on things.

I was mentally unprepared for the suddenness and ferocity of this
crash. Had I hit higher up on my head I surely would have had a great
chance of sustaining serious brain injury. Instead of a little nap
and a hideous headache now, (along with at least two weeks off) I may
have been looking at permanent injury or even death. It was the
realization that even at bicycle speeds, something I dismissed
before, one can get badly hurt.

Yes, I’m still opposed to mandatory helmet laws, but I doubt you’ll be
seeing me ride without one from now on.

A visor will break off (quite easily) before "exerting rotational force on
{your} neck". Good decision; questionable reasoning.

Bill "glad you weren't hurt worse; heal quickly and fully" S.

On Sat, 06 May 2006 15:38:26 -0600, Paul Cassel
wrote:

Today I fell down hard on my road bike.

[big ol' snip]

Dude,

I'm sorry you got all banged up. May you heal quickly and ride again
soon.

Not fun....

Glad to hear that you came away with repairable damage. My long
experience with oh-s**t moments (including one this AM that was of a
non-bike nature) is that you don't know when or if they're going to
happen; all you can do is figure what the odd look like to you, and
decide what you want to do about it. Sometimes, that's nothing;
sometimes it isn't. To each his own.

Ride on!


--
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Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Wooden bridges are deathtraps. The slime that builds up on them can be
a terror as well. Last fall I took a spill on one due to similar loss
of traction. One second I was spinning nicely, the next I was laying on
my hip going WTF?? I got a hip bruise and lost a couple nice old
Cinelli end plugs. Damn you bridge!

Now I slow down and only coast across wooden bridges unless I'm
positively sure they're dry.

You'll heal up fine. I've taken a couple to the face, including going
headfirst into a snowbank at night, losing my glasses in the snow, and
having to ride home, one-handed to keep the blood from gushing out my
eyebrow. Fun for all! Commuting as extreme sport! w00t!

landotter wrote:
Wooden bridges are deathtraps. The slime that builds up on them can be
a terror as well. Last fall I took a spill on one due to similar loss
of traction. One second I was spinning nicely, the next I was laying on
my hip going WTF?? I got a hip bruise and lost a couple nice old
Cinelli end plugs. Damn you bridge!

Now I slow down and only coast across wooden bridges unless I'm
positively sure they're dry.

You'll heal up fine. I've taken a couple to the face, including going
headfirst into a snowbank at night, losing my glasses in the snow, and
having to ride home, one-handed to keep the blood from gushing out my
eyebrow. Fun for all! Commuting as extreme sport! w00t!


It shouldn't be a blood sport. Not every accident is avoidable, but most
are, including this one. Bike paths often have unique hazards, traps for
the unwary. How many more crashes will be caused by this particular
situation? I hope the OP reports this.

On Sun, 07 May 2006 07:23:42 -0400, Peter Cole
wrote:

landotter wrote:
Wooden bridges are deathtraps. The slime that builds up on them can be
a terror as well. Last fall I took a spill on one due to similar loss
of traction. One second I was spinning nicely, the next I was laying on
my hip going WTF?? I got a hip bruise and lost a couple nice old
Cinelli end plugs. Damn you bridge!

Now I slow down and only coast across wooden bridges unless I'm
positively sure they're dry.

You'll heal up fine. I've taken a couple to the face, including going
headfirst into a snowbank at night, losing my glasses in the snow, and
having to ride home, one-handed to keep the blood from gushing out my
eyebrow. Fun for all! Commuting as extreme sport! w00t!


It shouldn't be a blood sport. Not every accident is avoidable, but most
are, including this one. Bike paths often have unique hazards, traps for
the unwary. How many more crashes will be caused by this particular
situation? I hope the OP reports this.

Dear Peter,

(AP-Pueblo, CO)

"Authorities were informed of a recent 6 a.m. bicycle crash
involving a rider who slipped and fell at 25 mph on a
dew-covered wooden bridge that had recently been
re-painted."

"Signs, warning that any surface may be slippery when
covered with early morning dew, are being posted at 100-foot
intervals along the 20-mile ride."

"In related news, Carl Fogel announced that he was damned
glad that Paul Cassel wasn't hurt worse."

"Mr. Fogel added something incoherent about being up at an
ungodly hour himself, having been struck by a thought about
hanging a biccycle wheel from its upper spoke in an
unrelated spoke-testing thread, stated that the accident
confirmed his long-held opinions about early rising, and
went back to bed at 5:52 a.m. MST."

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

wrote:
On Sun, 07 May 2006 07:23:42 -0400, Peter Cole
wrote:

landotter wrote:
Wooden bridges are deathtraps. The slime that builds up on them can be
a terror as well. Last fall I took a spill on one due to similar loss
of traction. One second I was spinning nicely, the next I was laying on
my hip going WTF?? I got a hip bruise and lost a couple nice old
Cinelli end plugs. Damn you bridge!

Now I slow down and only coast across wooden bridges unless I'm
positively sure they're dry.

You'll heal up fine. I've taken a couple to the face, including going
headfirst into a snowbank at night, losing my glasses in the snow, and
having to ride home, one-handed to keep the blood from gushing out my
eyebrow. Fun for all! Commuting as extreme sport! w00t!

It shouldn't be a blood sport. Not every accident is avoidable, but most
are, including this one. Bike paths often have unique hazards, traps for
the unwary. How many more crashes will be caused by this particular
situation? I hope the OP reports this.

Dear Peter,

(AP-Pueblo, CO)

"Authorities were informed of a recent 6 a.m. bicycle crash
involving a rider who slipped and fell at 25 mph on a
dew-covered wooden bridge that had recently been
re-painted."

"Signs, warning that any surface may be slippery when
covered with early morning dew, are being posted at 100-foot
intervals along the 20-mile ride."

"In related news, Carl Fogel announced that he was damned
glad that Paul Cassel wasn't hurt worse."

"Mr. Fogel added something incoherent about being up at an
ungodly hour himself, having been struck by a thought about
hanging a biccycle wheel from its upper spoke in an
unrelated spoke-testing thread, stated that the accident
confirmed his long-held opinions about early rising, and
went back to bed at 5:52 a.m. MST."

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Thanks for all the good wishes on this thread. I also appreciate the
info that the visor will break off rather than kill me. I currently am
bidding on a Giro Atmos hat on eBay and will surely get something soon.

I had a good laugh at your post, Carl.

There is a bit of a postscript here. I found myself having nightmares
about that bridge last night so today I (perhaps stupidly) went out on
the single speed to ride the bridge again on the theory of getting back
on the horse. In the end, it was a beautiful day, I was happy to be
alive, I crossed the bridge and went on to finish up a pleasant 40 mile
single speed ride. I'm feeling fine except for being wracked by pain (I
expect that makes sense to all of you here).

Just to make it perfectly clear (to coin a phrase) I consider the crash
to be 100% my fault and none of it the City's. It is my duty to watch
where I'm going as well as assess the surfaces I'm riding on. I did
check the surface today and was astonished at just how slippery it is. I
will advise the City about using sand in its paint to make it a better
grip.

Looking at my clothes, I'm amazed at the damage. For example, my heavy
duty gloves are all but gone. Well, lesson learned and I guess all
people who ride need to take that spill sometime. I've been riding a
year now; my time was ripe.

-paul

i artikel , skrev
landotter på den 06-05-07 04.04:

Wooden bridges are deathtraps. The slime that builds up on them can be
a terror as well. Last fall I took a spill on one due to similar loss
of traction. One second I was spinning nicely, the next I was laying on
my hip going WTF?? I got a hip bruise and lost a couple nice old
Cinelli end plugs. Damn you bridge!

Now I slow down and only coast across wooden bridges unless I'm
positively sure they're dry.

You'll heal up fine. I've taken a couple to the face, including going
headfirst into a snowbank at night, losing my glasses in the snow, and
having to ride home, one-handed to keep the blood from gushing out my
eyebrow. Fun for all! Commuting as extreme sport! w00t!


Wood bridges are terrible. It's not just the moss, they can be frosty too. A
bridge freezes much more easily than the road, so can be slippery for that
reason if the night was cold. And then there's dew. Whereas the sun might
dry the road quickly, the colder temperature at a bridge will make it wet
for longer, especially if it crosses a body of water which reduces
temperature and increases humidity.

I've seen enough slippy wood that I consider it icy, even without thinking.

--
Erik Sandblom
my site is EriksRailNews.com
for those who don't believe, no explanation is possible
for those who do, no explanation is necessary

Per Paul Cassel:
I surely would have had a great chance of
sustaining serious brain injury. Instead of a little nap and a hideous
headache now, (along with at least two weeks off) I may have been
looking at permanent injury or even death.

My recollection is that you still might be looking at death. Something about
subdural hematomas swelling up after the fact. Maybe somebody who actually
knows something can comment on this - I think it's a reasonably serious
consideration anytime you get whacked in the melon.
--
PeteCresswell