accident

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evilclive

Active Member
There's such a range! The one with the longest lasting effects started off very slowly - last winter (17 months back) riding on ice, taking it very easy, doing fairly well, front wheel went whee!, went down, bust hip.

There was falling off the side of Wrynose as I mistook a sharp corner for a much more gentle one. Wet, locked up, went straight on, hit a hummock, went flying quite a way. Thought I must have done some major damage when I landed. Once I'd worked out which way was up and that I could in fact move all my limbs etc, the only damage turned out to be a snakebite in the front tube and a cosmetic dink in the rim.

Most expensive have involved cars - bent a couple of decent frames that way, and one car tailgate (house insurance paid for :-) ).

Most potentially serious was when I was 12 and set off across the road right in front of a moving car. That taught me to look where I was going. Woke up as I was being walked into the ambulance. Stitches to my temple, nothing lasting.
 

Chichak

Active Member
When I was a young Thruster I used to deliver free newspapers, my bag was full of them and was very heavy. My route to my round took me down a very steep hill, So on my Raleigh Grifter Mark 1(A lump of Pig Iron from the early 80's) I made haste down said hill. Paper bag became front break hence went over the front and proceeded to cartwheel down the hill. No crash Helmet in those days, thankfully only a few grazes and twisted wheel. Papers went everywhere and it was windy..
 

Hydra

Occasional Pepper Carver
Location
Sheffield
As a kid: speeding down through the park, got to the bottom where the path takes a bit of a turn and skidded on some leaves. Must've gone a fair few yards before I stopped. Took most of the skin off my face and arm and knee. What hurt worse was my nan nursing the cuts with anti-septic.

So far, as an 'grown-up', I haven't had a serious accident. The closest was coming down THIS road, about 25mph. See that red car? Well that car started backing out, clearly without looking, forcing me to brake and flump into the back of him. If I was going any faster, or wasn't as quick on the brakes, I'd have gone flying.
 
Some daft mare in a BMW who was parked facing oncoming traffic,on a bend

on double yellow lines just took off right in front off me,clipping my rear wheel

causing me to go flying over the handle bars, resulting in a broken arm and a

dislocated wrist.

She never even apologised, she said "I dont need this I've just had a blazing row with my boyfriend" :rolleyes:

I now sport an 8 inch steel plate in my arm thanks to that daft nellie :angry:
 
Well, I suppose my 'off' of about six years ago, when I'd had a few drinks, found myself regaining consciousness by the side of a country lane, with my face carved up, nose broken and teeth knocked out, and two concerned ladies looking on anxiously - and still have not a clue what happened ... that's got to count surely. But I was whisked to hospital and had the brain scan, they decided I was no stupider than usual and sent me packing...
 

Bigsharn

Veteran
Location
Leeds
Once I did a bad thing and went up the inside of a bus as traffic lights turned green, my back hasn't been the same since (and I wouldn't really call it being offed, as I stayed upright)

I've only once been offed and it involved a large hill, a Honda moped who never looked and came out between cars... Then drove off. Flew 10ft onward and into the other carriageway and came out with a concussion and a black eye.
 

buggi

Bird Saviour
Location
Solihull
:cry: Broke my collar bone 3 years ago after crashing into the back of someone in a group after they pulled an "emergency stop" for a non-emergency. Also was knocked out for half hour and woke up to find the paramedics putting me on a spinal board! had concussion for about 3 months after. I kept my sense of humour for the first 12 hours but I was NOT expecting that level of pain once the adrenalin and morphine had worn off. :cry: Suffered from a sense of humour failure for next 6 weeks.

also bike slipped out from under me on wet gravel in France and i went to A&E with suspected broken pelvis. turned out to be soft tissue damage and couldn't walk for 5 weeks. Again, kept my sense of humour for first 12 hours (but to be fair, the hot french doctor helped!) but then had sense of humour failure for 5 weeks after (particularly as i also lost out on a HOT date that was a sure thing!). I even went back to docs to say they must be wrong, it must be broken, but she assured me that soft tissue can feel as bad as a broken bone.
 

soulful dog

Veteran
Location
Glasgow
I've only had the one accident so far <touch wood>, and I was quite lucky..... it happened on only my 3rd or 4th time cycling home from work when a lorry driver pulled out of a junction without seeing me and clipped my back wheel. It sent me flying, but fortunately the car coming the other way didn't hit me, and even more fortunately, I wasn't a few inches further back or the lorry wouldn't have just clipped me. As it was, the pannier rack and the wheel took the brunt of it and I was left with just cuts and bruises. I still flinch every time I cycle past that bit!

Funniest accident was when on holiday in France, my Mum and I had hired bikes for a quick ride on the very flat Ile de Ré. On our return to the bike shop my Mum (by this time full of confidence having successfully ridden a bike for the first time since she was a kid - she's in her 60s), decided not to follow my lead by getting off the bike outside the shop but to cycle up onto the pavement and stop next to all the bikes lined up outside the shop...... can you guess what happened next?

Yep, she was going too fast and ended up falling onto all the bikes, toppling them over. She then couldn't get up as the pedal was stuck in the wheel of one of the bikes she'd knocked over. Nothing but her pride was hurt, but the guy in the shop was asking her if she needed to go to the hospital while we were killing ourselves laughing :laugh:
 

funnymummy

A Dizzy M.A.B.I.L
Had a couple of close calls, nothing too serious, but the funniest has got to be - Back last year I KO'd a kitesurfer!!
Riding home along seafront cyclepath one fine autumn evening, there is a 1/4 mile stretch that runs by the beachuts, Bollards & clear white dividing lines - one side for bipods, the other for bicycles.. So come round the corner to the nice open straight, not a pedestrian, dog walker, electric scooter in sight - I hunched over the drops, flicked a few gears & went for it... glanced at me little gizmo.. Ooo 22mph...bit more effort...25mph...Oooo Lovely - looked up in time to see a wetsuit clad blokey come dashing out the huts right accross my path, I managed a garbled "Oigetoutatheway" He stopped dead - I will never ever forget the look of sheer horror in his eyes! I slammed on my brakes only for the back cable to promptly snap & catapult me head first over the bars!
I remember hitting the shingles on my shoulder, doing a sort of flop & whcaking my legs down - completing winding me, then it was all blurry for a few mins!
Opened my eyes, to see faces staring down at me, someone telling me an ambulance was on it's way, tried to sit up... Not a good move - a few mins later heard the sirens & finaly managed to get to my feet, asking what had happened to the bloke..
Poor chap... Turns out as i'd gone over the bars he'd tried to dodge out the way only to get clobbered round the head by the legs & slammed to the ground - He spent 24 hours in hospital & still insisted on paying for repairs to my bikes as it was all his fault - What a gent!!
 

jackm

Active Member
My big one happened about 35 years ago!

A friend and I were out for the day, about 20 miles from home, belting down this lovely little lane. The only problem was the loose gravel in the middle of the lane which my mate got a bit loose on!! He went left, into the nettles, the bike went sort of right, cartwheeling its way across the road.

Muggins spent the next half a second or so staring at his bike, just before my bike and I launched off it at about 30 mph.

I landed in the nettles on the right hand side of the road first, quickly followed by both the bikes....

Plenty of gravel rash and nettle rash for both of us, a couple of buckled wheels and one set of bent forks.

Hobbled to the farm just down the road , so that he could phone his dad to collect us and the wreckage.

Was about 13 at the time.

Happy days!!!!!!
 

gaz

Cycle Camera TV
Location
South Croydon
Doing a dirt jump i got some pretty big air and went to do a trick, didn't quite do it right and the rear tyre ended up coming through my legs and rubbing on my crotch. That was veeeeeery painful!
 

Matthames

Über Member
Location
East Sussex
Running late getting to the papershop to start my paper round one morning, I go belting down this trackway which I used as a short cut. The front wheel then bounces into a pothole and stops dead sending me over the handlebars. The result was a lot of gravel rash on my knees and the skin of my right hand palm coming detached.

Another cycling accident I had was riding home from college when I miss judged an illegally parked van. The result was I just rode into the back of it, spraining my shoulder and pringling my front wheel. It resulted in me also missing out in rehearsals for doing a puppet show I was supposed to be a part of, thanks to being unable to lift my arm above a certain angle.
 

Angelfishsolo

A Velocipedian
Riding W2 at Afan Argoed. I came off on the energy trail. Flung over the bars into the trees on a very steep bank. Managed to miss facial contact with said trees and somehow ended up on my back with my right foot hooked around the bottom of a small tree. As I had a rucksack on I was turtle-backed and had a nightmare getting on my feet. My knee was mullered but still had to walk bike up hill (about 1.5/1) and finish of the course. Was off for about a week (ignoring the advice to rest for a month). Had some great bruises and broke my stem (sheared bolts!).
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Well other than those I probably had as a kid (my memory is poor), September 2009, foolishly went off bike path to avoid a schoolgirl, all went horribly wrong when I tried to get back onto path, lip higher than I feared, was going too fast, front wheel caught edge and I went flying...

Scraped elbow, bruises all down right leg and nasty damage to left knee - torn meniscus, extensive femur bone bruising and worst a 1.5cm2 piece of articular cartilage knocked off bottom of femur. 2 keyhole ops since and a 3rd bigger realignment op possible as I also have extensive softening to tibia cartilage now.

The mad thing was I got back on, rode home, cup of tea and ciggie (now quit :blush: ) and got in car to work. They sent me home and went to A&E...saga continues, seemed like such an innocuous fall as no cars involved or whatever. Think I was just very unlucky!:wacko:
 
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