dannyflynn

I used to commute to work, 20 miles each way. I had a Schwinn 700C hybrid, and for my 5 am shift, I left at 2:30 and always arrived by 4 am. Coming home in the afternoon, I took the bus part of the way, and rode the last 10 miles or so. I followed the same route every day, both coming and going. On my way home, there was one intersection where the road and the traffic really threw me, so I rode on the sidewalk for a short distance. For about 30 feet, that sidewalk formed a bridge, passing over water underneath. The sidewalk there was made up of two side-by-side sidewalk sections. For most of the length, they were caulked together, but for about 8 feet, they were not. There was a narrow gap between them of only about 2 or 3 inches. Unfortunately, my hybrid had super narrow wheels on it, of maybe only an inch or so in width. In any event, narrower than the gap between the sidewalk sections. One day, somehow my front wheel slipped into the gap between the sidewalk sections and I went over the handlebars and onto the concrete on my face. This was a serious fall, far more severe than any common fall from a bike. I was knocked cold and lay on the concrete while police and paramedics were called. I have absolutely no recollection of the circumstances of my fall, but needless to say, I was a basket case. The paramedics said that my words at the scene were "How did I get here?" leading them to suspect brain damage. Again, I recall nothing of the accident or of the next three days. Arriving at the hospital, the doctor examining me detected that my gaze was imprecise and failing, so I was admitted to ICU. I remained in ICU for three days, and was rendered unconscious. I used a breathing tube for those three days, and when I woke up on the third day, I could not speak. I remained speechless for three months. I suffered an array of injuries, including the loss of my front tooth and temporary immobility, but the most memorable aspect was that my vocal cords became paralyzed, both of them. The doctor had never seen both vocal cords become paralyzed before, but so it was. I could not speak, and I could not eat or drink. For months, I was mute and lived on a liquid diet ingested through a feeding tube in my abdomen. Years later, I have as good as fully recovered, even though I cannot sing! I was never a great singer, but at least I could carry a tune, which I no longer can do. Rats! Silly to say that, since it's really an insignificant remnant of my severe injuries. The hospital bill was $104,000, which my great insurance paid the bulk of. To make a long story short, bikes are fun, but also potentially quite dangerous. Watch out!

cb400bill

Welcome to Bike Forums Danny. Sorry to hear of your accident.

Fastfingaz

Well sorry to hear that Danny, but since we were kids we all knew ,, step on a crack break your mother's back, but in this case it was your face, only good thing about all this is that you had insurance,,, and I hope everything works out for you,,,

Bmach

Welcome and what a story to start off with. I hope you never can top that one.

rumrunn6

welcome to the forum. how long ago was this? do you still ride?

trailangel

Bikes aren't dangerous, people are.

Colnago Mixte

Three words:

Hyperventilate

Danny mate
will it be possible to redo your post with paragraphs added?

drlogik 

Unfortunately falls are part of cycling. It's usually not a question of if but when you dump. Going over the bars is particularly bad. I've done it a few times.

The last time was about this time of year last year. I hit a new pothole that wasn't there the day before and it was during a night ride. Some road construction evidently was done between the day before and they didn't fill a hole completely. It caught me off guard and the front wheel hit the hole, twisted my bars and I went over doing about 20 mph.

That fall was actually a blessing as I had been in a lot of back and chest pain for about two years. The fall made it exponentially worse and went in to see what was going on. Turned out I had a benign tumor attached to a nerve inside my spinal column. Doctor said it was a miracle that I could still walk as myh spinal column was about 95% blocked. Got the tumor removed and back on the bike after rehab. Feel better now than I have in years.

I still do my night rides but I don't ride complacently any more, that's for sure!

rangie

Helmet?

Maelochs

For that fall he would have needed a goalie's mask as well.

Great story to tell to get out of singing if the crew goes gets drunk and goes to a karaoke bar.

Glad you survived.

Lots of people, for their first crash, only scrape a knee or bruise a hip. You went pro-level right out of the gate!

dunrobin

Sounds pretty horrific but at least not catastrophic. I've had 2 bad accidents in the last 2 years...both I attribute to my own stupidity.
The first I was fortunate to walk away without a scratch after doing a full 360 in the air.
Destroyed a carbon frame.
The second was a month ago...front tire gave out while mashing..bounced bike, body and head on asphalt hard. Guy behind me stopped and was pretty slackjawed. I was lucky..helmet dented, bloody scraped face healed in a week, body is about 80% back..
Only real issue left is right shoulder feels like I have rotator cuff but its getting better with therapy. It could/should have been a lot worse...fortunate to just be a reminder/lesson.
Bike isn't destroyed but scraped up pretty good.

Maelochs

Yeah, you can buy all the safety gear known to man, but you cannot by alertness.

Once I stopped riding like an idiot (after several really major crashes and first separated shoulder) i found that I could crash by being inattentive for a few seconds, also.

dunrobin

Part of what I find attractive with cycling is the constant alertness. I still try to ride quick but I'm constantly monitoring for people, cars and road issues. I also used to bunnyhop over potholes at speed but I've stopped that practice after blowing a couple of tires...I seem to be a slow learner.
I know my first accident was because a car blew through an intersection on a red light..but I shouldn't have taken for granted they would stop.
My second was because my 28 vittoria corsas were pumped to 100psi for a fall ride. I was mashing around a corner through a puddle with leaves..front tire traction disappeared and in an instant I was bouncing on the asphalt.

Hopefully I've learned something..my accidents have been both painful and expensive....