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Old 05-04-20, 01:45 AM
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canklecat
Me duelen las nalgas
 
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Originally Posted by Lemond1985

Crashed on 4-30. Front tire rolled off on a 12% descent at 30-35 mph. It was an off-camber turn, and I had a slow leak in the front tire, unknowingly. I countersteered and dove into the turn. Front end went down hard, and I slid down that 12% grade on my side for 3 1/2 seconds, until I came to a stop. Cuts and abrasions from head to foot on my left side. Ruined my new silver Diadora shoes from Italy.

Saved my collarbone by staying in the drops though. Happened so fast, there was no time to react anyway. Most painful, bloodiest crash I have ever had. I did manage to patch the tire, straighten out the bike and ride home unassisted, and have not accrued a dime in medical bills. Forced myself to ride the next day, I will be fine once all this road rash heals. Note that the animation is sped up slightly, I had trouble making one small enough to post here.
Dang! Glad it wasn't any worse. But you probably already know it's a good idea to watch for concussions. It's hard to spot the symptoms in ourselves so it's a good idea to discuss this stuff with family and friends in advance. Tell 'em to watch daily for symptoms and get the crash-ee to the ER pronto if any symptoms occur.

I usually point to Natasha Richardson's death as an example of how badly this stuff can go wrong when neglected. Her only warning signs were irritation and headache, but that would have tipped off anyone who knew what to watch for -- and the EMTs or paramedics who attended her should have taken her to the ER despite any hesitation.

I had a slow speed fall a few weeks ago, about 8 mph on ice -- it was late March, and apparently a puddle had some frozen stuff from patchy, scattered hail or sleet the night before. I think I was in the drops and went down like a sack of old cyclist. No immediate pain or re-injury to my shoulder and neck, but a week later my ribs began aching. That lasted about 3 weeks. No head impact.

But as we get older the brain shrinks and bounces around a bit more inside the skull. So it doesn't take a direct head impact to cause a concussion as we age. My mom had multiple concussions from falls without head impacts, which neurologists speculated may have contributed to her eventual dementia. She had terrible balance, worsened by a bad spine (combination of scoliosis and lordosis, which I have to a much lesser degree) and bum knee that she couldn't bend. So if she lost balance even slightly she'd plop down, usually on her butt. That happened so many times in her life it apparently added to the cumulative effect of multiple concussions.
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