Alleytom

Fell off my fatbike and not allowed to ride by doctor's orders for a couple weeks, so I have to go stationary. If I'm going stationary I may as well do it in style...

Ex Pres 

Regarding concussion - if you really have a long-term issue it can be a PITA. Hope you don't. For two years I couldn't go down hills and especially if it was both downhill and around curves at greater than 25-30mph. Felt like I had absolutely no control of the bike. Quite odd and disconcerting. I think I'm OK now 5 years out, but to be honest I still haven't tackled any of the 50mph hills around here.

Does that paver have an electronic height adjustment?

Alleytom

I’m hoping for no issues of course, the helmet (and my teeth) took most the blow but we’ll see. I’m usually on the canals and am lucky if I hit 20mph.


And yes, got it on Amazon and control it with my iPhone🙂

canklecat

Best to be cautious. Between amateur boxing (and know some pro boxers and former world champs), cycling (crashed a few times), and health care, seeing patients and family with concussions... it's a good thing to avoid.

The worst I've seen recently occurred at a casual group ride about three years ago. A fellow nicked the uneven pavement ledge on a notoriously uneven, irregular boulevard paved with large sheets of striated concrete -- the kind of stuff that's notorious for heaving along with the soil, creating ledges that can be nearly invisible amid the sea of light grey pavement. Poor fellow fell to the right, smacking his head hard, then slid another 10 yards or so headfirst into a curb. Fortunately the curb was sloped, slightly reducing the potential second impact. I caught the entire mess on video and it was terrifying to watch later.

Another rider and I were first to reach him, and fortunately this large group ride was accompanied by the fire department paramedics or EMTs, who quickly arrived via a golf cart sorta vehicle. While I was observing the fellow who crashed was reasonably coherent for a few moments, then lapsed into shock and began repeating the same few phrases every 15-30 seconds. His helmet was destroyed but there was no apparent scalp injury, blood, etc.

I heard second or third hand that he recovered, but never heard any details. I've noticed often when people talk about "recovery" from a concussion or head injury, they gloss over the long-term effects, perhaps to avoid embarrassing anyone. But I've seen family and friends suffer long-term consequences from concussions and TBIs, and wouldn't ever say they were "okay."

Others, like former heavyweight champ George Foreman, seemed to keep chugging along just fine despite some blows to the head that would paralyze most ordinary humans. I quit boxing in my early 20s, yet saw the long-term psychological effects on some boxers I'd known since they were teenagers in the amateurs, and later world champs. It was a permanent, daily struggle for many of them. Some have struggled with depression, alcoholism, substance abuse, behavioral problems and violence, with some jail time or mandatory confinement for mental health treatment. Much as I still enjoy the sport of boxing, it's difficult to ignore the serious cost to many participants.

My worst head blow probably came from a car wreck about 20 years ago. Broke my back and neck in six places, and I had a concussion, but never lost consciousness and retained a perfect memory of the event. But later I had severe headaches, vomiting and felt pretty lousy for a couple of weeks. Since then I've avoided most risky activities, although I've crashed my bike unassisted a couple of times and was hit by a car in 2018. Minor knocks to the helmet in the car incident. No head problems but it did worsen my neck pain and caused a pretty serious shoulder injury. I may just be lucky to have a head that isn't particularly sensitive to concussions. My mom was very sensitive to concussions, even without direct impact to the skull. And my brother, also an amateur boxer and much more talented than I, had what's called a glass jaw and was knocked down and out easily. I'm not sure he suffered any long-term consequences, as he died in a car wreck at age 40. But he always seemed okay whenever I saw him after he quit boxing in his early 20s.

It's tricky because some folks seem almost impervious to side effects from head knocks, while others are permanently impaired after a single concussion or TBI. But I prefer to err on the side of caution and not assume that folks can just brush it off and walk it off after a blow to the head.

Anyway, take care of yourself. Ask family or friends to keep an eye on you and let you know if anything seems amiss. Often victims of head injuries will be dismissive of concerns expressed by family and friends. Unfortunately that may have contributed to the death of actress Natasha Richardson. She fell while skiing, was under-diagnosed by emergency techs, and assured family she was okay despite symptoms of concussion or worse -- notably a severe headache. She died soon after from a brain bleed.

beicster 

I hope you feel better soon. Now, tell me about that bike. It is painted just like my 84 Paramount but it doesn't have the same lugs or head badge.

Bruizer

TBI= Traumatic Brain Injury. TY I learned something new today!

RB1-luvr

looks like you just passed the feed zone.

zandoval 

For those of us who have sustained Head Injuries or Near Head injuries, wearing a helmet takes on a whole nother meaning...

Be sure to pay attention to your functional properioception. That is often over looked during regular neuro exams. Test yourself by walking in complete darkness with your eyes open. If you are not steady then it needs to be investigated...

By the way, so glad you didn't pick your Rollers for your stationary work out... Ha

Alleytom

Jokingly suggested it to my wife, she was not pleased, especially I after showed her a few of the youtube videos of cyclists crashing on rollers...

Alleytom

She is a 1978 that was repainted (possibly by schwinn/waterford) sometime in the 80's. I kinda identify with the bike, I was a kid in the 70's but the 80's were much better for me.

tricky 

Ha! Wahoo could slap a sticker on it and charge $500.

@Alleytom , glad you are up and at 'em. I hope you are ok in general and hope for a speedy recovery @CANkletcat hopefully you are doing ok too

cudak888 

And just to make this clear for anyone reading: Just because you may be wearing a helmet isn't a guarantee of a a future concussion nor prevention of a concussion in the first place.

Cycling helmets are designed to prevent skull fractures from falls/drops. They are not designed for and cannot prevent a large enough force from allowing the brain to smack the inside of the skull if it overcomes the suspension of cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds it. The impact can be linear or rotational as well; doesn't have to be a direct deceleration impact.

-Kurt

zandoval 

I git ya 888, They offer minimal protection. Of note I reluctantly had to slow down one of my local ride descents. My reward for a staged climb to the top of a hill was a long decent into a shallow gully. Needless to say, Fast, Fast, Fast... Probably its the only fast ridding section on my routes. I have had to slow down knowing that my bones, skin, and proprioception are not what they used to be, helmet or not! In the old days a front wheel blow out on a fast decent meant a few weeks of road rash. Now days it would mean an ICU... Ha

Alleytom

What is frightening is at most I was only going about 15mph, I do not remember the last 30 seconds of my ride before I went down, and about 5 minutes after, I woke up with the paramedics attending to me. I was on a flat paved path and have no idea why I went down. I did have wrist injuries showing that I tried to break my fall so it does not look like I just passed out while pedaling, but no mud, no rain, nothing wrong I can find on the bike...

Hondo6

I've had a couple of crashes that resulted in injuries, but not a head injury - thankfully.

Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.

Kabuki12

I hope you make a full recovery. I have only had one serious crash in my 50 years of cycling and it was a pretty bad head injury. I was wearing a helmet and the attending physician was shocked that I had not suffered a concussion. I broke my facial bones in 5 places , including the orbital bone, but they did two MRI’s and no concussion. I was off the bike for 12 weeks. The most painful part of the whole ordeal was a broken left hand. I was only going 12mph and I got messed up so now I watch my downhill speeds. I used to love hitting speeds of 30mph+ but no more.

stedge 

As an aside that floor looks pretty hard. wear a helmet even on that trainer and I'd put wrestling mats or some such down on that. I have yet to have my own (though many other injuries) but my wife and children have suffered concussions (skiing, soccer) and they are no joke. Take care fo yourself and heal well and fully.

cudak888 

Side note...do you have the story of that Waterford-refinished second-gen Paramount? Looks interesting.

-Kurt

Alleytom

It's a 1978 P13-9, the guy I bought it from had no history on it, I think it is a Waterford repaint but not sure. It has 80's colors which fit me.

bwilli88 

3 head injuries in the past 5 years, 2018, 2020, 2022. First 2 no skull fracture, the latest a small non separated linear fracture in the rear. None of these did I have a concussion.
First was the result of a dooring while riding my bicycle on my birthday 9 June 2018, 8 stitches on the back of my head and no skull fracture.
The Second was a Motorcycle wipeout during Covid isolation, 7 broken ribs, collar bone, scapula, sternum, banged my head but had a good motorcycle helmet on.
Third was on a small 125 Honda street bike. Lady did a U-turn right in front of me with a food cart and I hit her front corner. Fractured skull and no concussion.

rumrunn6

I've been told "fat bikes don't crash" care to share the circumstances?

rumrunn6

wow, really weird. no ice?

cudak888 

Gotcha. There are a few others out there with the later paint job. Always found it interesting. Thanks for sharing.

-Kurt

TomRea

Oh, I wish you a speedy recovery. A few months ago, I fell off the bike and hit my head really hard. I went for a small ride with my friend, I was riding his bike, and he had no helmet for me, so I just ignored safety rules. And I felt it was a simple road, and I have no idea what happened. Thank God nothing serious, but it took me a month to ride again because I was a little bit scared. But now, no rides without a helmet. Concussions may have very serious consequences, and that trauma is very well spread among bikes and sports players. Some time ago, I wrote a paper about it, and on https://studydriver.com/concussion-essay/, I managed to read some concussion essay examples, which provided me a lot of info about it. I needed to write a paper connected to it; that's why I had to read such examples. But anyway, it's better to avoid such trauma, to avoid all the possible consequences.

The Golden Boy 

I’ve wiped out pretty spectacularly in exceptionally ordinary circumstances…. Never hit my head in a bike accident. Except once- on my way home, first real ride of the season, pretty ass-kicked… going up the last little hill- I messed up the downshift and I ran out of ass… totally fell down- my helmet hit the pavement and made this sharp “crack” sound. I got up feeling my head, the helmet- asking myself if I was OK- and pretty torqued that I scuffed my saddle.

Unfortunately, a nice young lady happened to be walking down the hill and saw me fall…. So I felt stupid.

That sound scared me enough to get a new helmet.

I’ve gotten the livin’ **** knocked out of me to where I felt sick- I assume that means “concussion.”