CroMo Mike 

Took a spill and slide on a city street after running OVER a kitty cat. Got right back on to make the long ride home with plenty of bloody and painful street pizza but nothing broken. Didn't hesitate to get back on the bike the next day.

pdlamb

The title and this thread are a great illustration of why we need to define our terms clearly. I read "cycling accident" and thought it meant roughly "did you have an accident with a motor vehicle?" Which has led to my surprise at reading how many people were scratched riding by a blackberry bush on a bike path or similar.


It's somewhat similar to the response to the classic bike helmets argument. 65% reduction in head injuries? Sign me up, I don't want to have a concussion! Oh, a "head injury" can also mean a black eye? Never mind, down in the statistical noise...

wphamilton

Have you been in an cycling accident with injury?

Drifted into a rut a few years ago and broke my collarbone.

After your crash/injury how long until you were cycling again?

Five days after surgery, so about a week total.

Any changes in cycling since your accident

I rode a few inches further away from that rut! And in general, give myself a bit more buffer room from anything hazardous.

Machka 

Funny ... when I think cycling accident, I actually don't think motor vehicle at all.

I think things like when I fell over at the lights the second time out with my clipless pedals.

A weird lump came up on my left knee where I landed. Was a bit concerned about it ... maybe I should go to the Dr.

Then about 10 days later, I fell over at the lights again and landed on the same spot on my knee. The lump disappeared. Problem solved.

atitagain

greenways suck . leave them for pedestrians and cycling neophytes . Real cyclists stay on the roads .

atitagain

How was the poor little kitty ?

ricrunner

I had an accident 5 months ago, was hit by a large 4WD with those Clearview mirrors. Was hit on the right shoulder in an 100 klm/hr road. Knocked off road into side gully, stunned, sprained shoulder, thankfully no damages to bike. It took nearly 4 months to get back to riding again as I was scared to do it. Still a bit iffy today. Have to travel these speed roads always as live in regional OZ and I tour mainly as my bike hobby. It was never a problem when I was younger. seem's to be more of a psychological problem now. Had nearly been run down by Semi-trailer weeks before.

twodownzero

I got hit by a semi truck in 2011. I rode the bike home from the crash, went to class (still bleeding), then went to the student health clinic, where they sent me to the hospital.

HTFU was my motto even when I was a newbie cyclist, I guess.

Machka 

Which region of OZ?

bobwysiwyg

diphthong

concussion/wipeout going 40 on a downhill (wearing helmet) with some decent upper back road rash kept me off the bike for about 8-9 days.

broken clavicle kept me off the bike for about two weeks. took it super easy for another two weeks.

various back spasms/ailments always feel better when on the bike but have missed up to 3 days w/o riding
because of them.

t-boning an suv at 27 mph set me back approx a week. started riding again to increase circulation and flexiblilty
in the hips. glad i did. was able to cycle at a relatively brisk pace and up some steepish short hills whereas i was still
walking with a cane to get around on foot. weird. i truly feel the cycling expedited my recovery.

CroMo Mike 

The cat was apparently ok. He left the scene post haste.

khyricat

I used to bike commute and ride a lot. then I started having massive vertigo problems (later diagnosed with meniere's disease) and thought I could keep on track through it... till I had a bout on the bike and fell and somehow broke a wrist (probably trying to catch myself though I don't remember anything but being dizzy). I didn't ride for 5 years or so (mistake!) and am not getting a trike rather than a bike. I have been running between... and I've ridden a trike recently and loved it and didn't realize how much I missed riding until I was up there. Still too afraid to do 2 wheels in case of a repeat, but on 3 its no worse than falling off a stool. If I get dizzy I can stop and wait it out! plan is to get new trike in spring and start commuting again shortly thereafter- already talked to my boss at the clinic I'll be commuting to (the other is 42 highway miles and more by local roads- too far for a bike commute), and she is fine with me parking the trike inside the back delivery door when I am there.

canklecat

About two days after I cracked some ribs in early 2017. Riding hurt less than just trying to sleep. Within a week I was reasonably comfortable on the bike, but it hurt to move in bed for almost six weeks. Had to prop myself up with pillows and needed to clutch the headboard in a death grip to get out of bed.

Only previous significant ouchy I can remember was in the 1970s. Road rash and bruises all along one side from crashing in a criterium. Probably took a week or so for that leg to heal enough to ride without bleeding all over myself at work. I worked in a Navy hospital during a year long training program and had to wear white scrubs. The petty officer in charge of our class warned me I might be subject to disciplinary action and kicked out of the training program for participating in off base sports without clearance, so I'd better be careful to hide the injury. Seemed silly -- I was at far greater risk of the same injury just commuting by bicycle to work -- but I wasn't going to push my luck.

Occasionally I'll take two or three days off the bike when neck spasms flare up. Broke my back and neck in a car wreck in 2001 and occasionally the neck spasms still bother me. Usually clears up within a couple of days. Had neck spasms all day Saturday after a 40+ mile ride Friday. Feels better now but I probably won't ride again until early next week since we're due for freezing rain New Year's Eve and day.

ricrunner

Machka, It was on Thunderbolts Highway near Inverell in the New England NSW.

Mark Stone

Only one serious crash, a collision with a car that was crossing a MUP, 1991 in Denver. Concussion, broken wrist, AC separation in R shoulder, broken ribs. I was out 6 weeks. The change? That's when I started wearing helmets.

thumpism 

Nothing serious on a bike (yet) but I separated a shoulder and broke seven ribs in a motorcycle accident; went down avoiding a collision with a car that had turned into my lane. I'm convinced that hitting the car would have been worse. After healing up I got back on the same motorcycle and resumed commuting.

Try to learn from what happened and try to prevent it from happening again.

Something's going to get you eventually. Do your best to enjoy life until then.

Sojodave

In June, I was t-boned by a car going 40 mph. Witnesses said I flew 50 feet (50 feet...Vacation reference_) I broke my ankle on both sides, my tibia/fibia/shoulder. I spent a week in the hospital and 17 days in a rehab center.

Dr. said I wouldn't be able to ride for 6 months, but I took my first ride 77 days after the accident. I'm still rehabing. I don't remember the accident, but I'm kinda glad I don't.

canklecat

Quickest back-on-the-bike incident I know of was a friend who broke his collarbone crashing into a tree while singletracking. He took a moment to post a photo of his bloodied nose on Facebook, then hopped on the bike and rode home so he could drive to the hospital. So, time off the bike, maybe 15 minutes.

canklecat

Oh, and there was this other guy who was doored by a DeLorean. He got back on the bike 30 years earlier, missing the accident completely.

PdalPowr

My first bike was so old it had solid rubber tires and was painted rust brown from one end to the other.
I was riding along minding my own business with the solid rubber tires chattering noisily on the ashfalt.
Suddenly there was a bump. My butt bounced up off the seat and the seat broke/fell off.
All that was left was the sharp bracket that used to hold the seat on.
And that is what I landed on right on the taint.

I crawled home on my hands and knees.
My parents bought four new bikes for the family right after that.

PdalPowr

Duplicate post

bruce19

On July 24th 2013 I crashed and broke my neck. Spent 8 days in hospital and after two 4+ hour operations I left with C1 & C2 fused. Was back riding on the rail/trails in mid-Nov. of 2013.

Retro Grouch 

This is a question that I doubt other's experience matters much.

I've certainly had my share of crashes and broken bones. The most serious one involved breaking both elbows. The elbows pretty much healed but my PTSD lingered for several years. I didn't have that in any of my other crashes.

tyw214

this summer i had a very very scary run in with a pick-up truck and i came out miraculously with just scrapes and bruises...

Riding along my usual commute route, coasting slowly, the light on my lane is still red when i was very close to intersection so my hand on brake, but as soon as i saw green i released the brake and started pedaling, and little did i know the pick-up on the intersecting lane is speeding through a yellow-turn-red situation (which is quite common, i probably did it myself too when I drive...) And a classic "T-bone" accident occurred...

I was on my CAAD12 that was just about 6 months old, and i don't know for the life of me how the hell I survived... let alone with just scrape and bruises.

I flew from my seat probably about 2-3 meters from the bike and landed on my stomach side. I suffered medium scrapes on my wrist ( i wore fingerless gloves), a small scrape on left knee, bad scrape on my right outside thigh, med scrape on my right knee, and then a very bruised left-ribcage.

An ambulance came in, and I was taken into the Emergency room, fully conscious, no concussion, took an X-ray on the chest, nothing broken, just bruises. I was discharged a couple hours later.

took me about 3 days of intense sting to slowly heal. by end of first weak, the small scrapes dont' hurt anymore, by end of 2 weeks most scrapes don't hurt anymore except the bad scrape on my right thigh, and the bruise on my left rib cage lasted about 9-10 weeks.

I really don't know how i suffered such comparatively 'minor' injury... it was a GMC Pick-Up at least about 15-20mph hitting me from the side...

Couple months ago, I went back to a nice lady who watched accident to pick up my bike, and I looked at the damage. The left rear seat-stay - chain-stay welding has completely broken off. The top-tube has a small dent, and both drop-outs completely bent inward. Judging from the damage as I try to recall how I survived, I probably actually swerved my bike towards the right and the hardest impact (first impact) was actually the left rear seat-stay - chain-stay wedling triangle, so as the car makes an impact with my body, some of the damage/speed has already been reduced hitting the rear...

all in all, it was a scary incident.

As for how I am doing now, I just bought a new bike with the insurance money, and ride MUCHMUCHMUCHMUCH more carefully now when it comes to intersection. I slow down even if it's green, and see the cross-street for any speeding cars :x And thank god I was wearing some nice LG cycling gloves with a good padding on the palm, as I landed squarely on my palm, and only a tiny portion of my wrist was scratched. Seriously, WEAR GLOVES WHEN CYCLING EVEN IF JUST SHORT COMMUTE. I can't imagine what my palm would of been like or my recovery would be like if I couldn't use my hand efficiently due to injury...

other than that, I haven't developed any phobia of riding! Good luck to those who suffered injury and pray to god that none of you would ever have to get into an accident!