Herzog
Swinglish Mountain Goat
- Location
- Bern, Switzerland
I was in England visiting friends last week and whilst there I borrowed a friends bike to keep to my training schedule. However, besides potholes and more traffic than I'm used to, the riding was going well and I was managing to balance a family holiday and some good sessions (Ditchling Beacon Hill repeats were one of the best).
However, the last session did not go as planned (is there an award for understatement of the year on CC?). After completing an AE interval session around the South Downs, I was returning home (Saddlecoombe/Devils Dyke Road) when I had a pretty big off!! On a slight decent, suddenlyI couldn't turn the cranks. As I was starting to brake, the rear wheel locked and I started to fishtail. The inevitable happened and down I went with a sickening thud. Knowing instantly that I wasn't getting up from this one, the hand went up and some choice expletives shouted!! Femur was broken, taking a trip 3 inches inwards, attempting to say hello to my naval. Amazingly, no road rash and not even a mark on my cycling shorts etc.
Fortunately, there was an off-duty A&E nurse in one of the cars behind and she managed the scene very well. I won't go into the pain (apparently the femur is the most painful bone to break…worse than childbirth…), but I'm interested in hearing opinions on what could have caused the accident.
I've included pictures of the bike after the accident. As is shown, the rear mech did not go into the spokes, but has shifted to the biggest cog (as I was going downhill, I was in the smallest at the time, therefore no reason to shift in this direction). Could it be a simple case of the chain shifting too far and getting trapped between the cassette and hub and therefore locking the wheel? As mentioned, I was in the smallest cog at the time going downhill, so presumably something failed in the rear mech causing it to shift towards the hub (I didn't change gear!).
After a rather shocking experience in an NHS hospital (surgery great, aftercare terrible - left to my own devices in bed with little physio/support), I was flown by private jet back to Switzerland (health insurance is a wonderful thing) and am in great hands here.
I'm interested to hear any opinions on the cause of the accident (guesswork I know).
However, the last session did not go as planned (is there an award for understatement of the year on CC?). After completing an AE interval session around the South Downs, I was returning home (Saddlecoombe/Devils Dyke Road) when I had a pretty big off!! On a slight decent, suddenlyI couldn't turn the cranks. As I was starting to brake, the rear wheel locked and I started to fishtail. The inevitable happened and down I went with a sickening thud. Knowing instantly that I wasn't getting up from this one, the hand went up and some choice expletives shouted!! Femur was broken, taking a trip 3 inches inwards, attempting to say hello to my naval. Amazingly, no road rash and not even a mark on my cycling shorts etc.
Fortunately, there was an off-duty A&E nurse in one of the cars behind and she managed the scene very well. I won't go into the pain (apparently the femur is the most painful bone to break…worse than childbirth…), but I'm interested in hearing opinions on what could have caused the accident.
I've included pictures of the bike after the accident. As is shown, the rear mech did not go into the spokes, but has shifted to the biggest cog (as I was going downhill, I was in the smallest at the time, therefore no reason to shift in this direction). Could it be a simple case of the chain shifting too far and getting trapped between the cassette and hub and therefore locking the wheel? As mentioned, I was in the smallest cog at the time going downhill, so presumably something failed in the rear mech causing it to shift towards the hub (I didn't change gear!).
After a rather shocking experience in an NHS hospital (surgery great, aftercare terrible - left to my own devices in bed with little physio/support), I was flown by private jet back to Switzerland (health insurance is a wonderful thing) and am in great hands here.










I'm interested to hear any opinions on the cause of the accident (guesswork I know).