My helmet saved me

Saturday morning I went out for a muni ride intending to do a fairly
long, fast ride. Within the first 5 miles I could tell It wasn’t going
to be a good day for that. The heat and humidity were bad and I just
didn’t have a good rhythm, so I decided to just mess around and do
whatever came to mind. I ended up at a bridge and spent some time
practicing my climbing and pecking on the steep concrete aprons '(a la
this previous thread)' (http://tinyurl.com/m8s9). Then, I decided to
practice my “other foot” one foot riding under the bridge. This was
actually more of a set of culvert pipes than a bridge. It is made up of
8 separate 8’ x 8’ square concrete “boxes” that water flows through in a
flood. They are about 80’ long and smooth on the bottom, and it was
cool inside them. On about the third try, I got my foot on the crown
and made a couple of revs and thought “hey, I can do this”. At that
point something went terribly wrong and my foot slipped off the crown
and the pedal hit me in the back of my calf, tipping my body backward
very quickly. I seemed to hover horizontally at seat height for a
second, then slammed to the concrete with surprising force. I must have
been in a “high gravity” area. I landed on the back of my helmet, and
my lumbar hydration pack. The force was enough to compress the foam
nubs on the back of my helmet and stun me a little, and it really scared
me to think what would have happened if I had not been wearing a helmet.
What is really scary is that if I had been knocked unconscious, or
worse, it may have taken days for anyone to find me in that pipe.
I now wear my helmet even if I’m just messing around learning a new
trick in the street. You never know, and the result can be
disastrous.

Sorry to be a downer, just thought I should share.
Positive note: Last night I got pretty good on my “other foot” one foot
riding, I hope gliding is next. Eventually. Maybe.

Scott


--
S_Wallis - MUni motivated

"I am always doing that which I can not do,
in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso
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Sorry to be a downer? That's an excellent story! You're still alive,
no broken bones, and one more excellent reason to wear a helmet.
I wasn't a helmet advocate until recently. But repeated stories like
that make me think that I'm going to almost always wear mine.
Glad you're okay. The unicycling world would be a little more somber if
something major happened to one of our own.


--
paco - Proud owner of 2 opposable thumbs

Sometimes crap works fine.
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Wow! You compressed the foam? Some impact!

One more good reason to wear a helmet. I only ride without one when
performing or doing very simple practice on a flat surface. For MUni,
it's daft not to wear one.

Glad you're OK.


--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling

The long distance Fule on his farcycle
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yeah,your alive.now you get buy a new lid.dont you love how that works?


--
jagur - Random Unicyclist

---------------------------------------------------
-searching for the real one wheel deal,the one that wont but will...
all i ask is one rotation,on this vision of singular creation...-[image:
http://newserver.unicyclist.com/gall...x_flipped.gif]
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wow scott. i'm glad you were saved. i hope my non-helmet wearing
friends take note. they will probably rationalize that it will never
happen to them or some other crap.

-eric


--
onefiftyfour - Eric
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jagur wrote:
*yeah,your alive.now you get buy a new lid.dont you love how that
works? *
I know that you are supposed to replace a helmet after any impact,
but...
1. Mine has little pointy things protruding to the back so the slight
crushing was confined to those.
2. I just bought this one a couple of months ago.
3. I just spend way too much money on Profiles and a plane ticket to
Caleefornya.
4. I will make it a point to fall on a different area of the helmet next
time.

Thanks for the concern, and yes, Eric, I was hoping this would lead
others to rethink their helmet wearing while they can still think.

Scott

Let me know when you find those shoes, Eric.


--
S_Wallis - MUni motivated

"I am always doing that which I can not do,
in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso
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ok, i regret my lecturing tone. i realize we all make our own
decisions. i'm probably a little more paraniod than most about
injuries.

-eric (looking for steel-toed bmx shoes)


--
onefiftyfour - Eric
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Glad to know you'll live to ride another day!!!!!!


--
Krashin'Kenny - Crash Tested

If you ain't crashing, you ain't going fast enough!!!!!!
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S_Wallis wrote:
*I seemed to hover horizontally at seat height for a second, then
slammed to the concrete with surprising force. I must have been in a
“high gravity” area. *
Ever notice how they do that in cartoons? The character runs off the
edge of the cliff or building, then hangs there for a second--just long
enough to react, then falls at hyper speed. I have felt this in real
life also. Then gravity pulls you down with a vengance. I think it's
gravity's way of getting even with you for balancing on one wheel all
the time.

Congratulations on getting your money's worth on your helmet! Yours is
paid off. I'm still in the red with all of mine, though I did graze the
ground (while riding a bike) with mine last year.

A lumbar-based hydration pack may possibly heighten the danger of a head
impact in a fall like the one you described. I've fallen like that when
learning wheel walking skills, but don't remember my head ever touching
down. It's probably more to do with the angle of your body before
hitting the ground though.

*3. I just spend way too much money on Profiles and a plane ticket to
Caleefornya. *
Sorry to all the non-Californians for having to be subjected to news
about our crazy recall process. If Arnold Schwarzenegger becomes our
next govenor, I think that's what we're all going to have to start
calling our state...


--
johnfoss - Now riding to work

John Foss
the Uni-Cyclone
www.unicycling.com
________________

"Where's my kids?" -- Amy Drummond
"Where's my unicycle?" -- Andy Cotter
spoken one right after the other, mostly to themselves, at NAUCC 2003

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It's great you're okay, I hate falling on my head! I must emphasize that
oyou should immediately buy a new lid. The old one won't be adaquate.
Really, the helmet damage won't be confined to the pointy things, too. I
shattered one of mine without even noticing. before I threw it away I
took the cover off and I saw a monster crack running straight down the
middle. But, when I put the plastic cover back on it looked good as new
(except it was in the trash). Really, you don't wanna be knocked oput or
worse if your helmet fails.
Ride Safely, bye.


--
gerblefranklin

If life had a meaning, would you want to know it?



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