Ouch!

[Freewheeler]

Had a nasty off this morning. There was ice on my car, but I thought that since it was gone 9am the roads would be clear and so decided to ride into work. About 1/2 a mile from home there's a right turn on an untreated side road. The road surface was a bit damp, but I took the turn as normal and was banked over when bam!, a patch of black ice saw the bike just disappear from under me.

I had no time to break my fall, hit the road hard with my right hip and spent about a minute howling in pain. It felt like the mother of dead legs. I crawled to the kerb and sat there with leg outstretched rubbing the muscle waiting for the pain to die down. It eased a bit, so I hobbled over to the bike and tried to remount; no joy, it was too painful to swing my leg over the top tube. I hobbled back to the top of my road using the bike as a crutch, managed to remount the bike and rolled down the slope back home.

I popped a 400mg Ibuprofen and went to the local A&E; since I could walk with difficulty, I expected the diagnosis to be bad bruising. The doctor got me to move my leg in various ways, all were ok except for rotating the leg which was agony. Two X-Rays, a CT Scan and a boring couple of hours on a trolley later it turns out I have chipped one of the small projections on my pelvis. I think it's a tendon anchor point or something.

They let me come home this evening and I'm now on crutches. It will take 6 - 12 weeks to heal, so at least the ice will all be gone by the time I'm back on the bike. I'm gonna miss riding though, and will probably be about as fit as a lump of lard by spring.

Oh, and the bike? Nothing more than a bent rear mech; it had quite a lot of play so was probably due for replacement anyway.

 

[hackbike 666]

Hope you get better quick mate,sorry about your fall.Horrible bloody ice.

 

[Joe]

Ouch indeed! Not much you can do about ice, sadly. I've come off a couple of times this winter but have been lucky with injuries (a total lack of).
Hope you mend quickly!

 

[threefingerjoe]

Oh, MAN! I'm sorry to hear about this! I hope you recover, soon. If not for studded tyres, I'd never ride if it is icy. And that blackice is the worst! Even in bright sunlight, you may encounter it in shaded areas.

 

[snapper_37]

Hope you recover quickly freewheeler. Black ice everywhere this morning. Had to walk nearly a mile to get to a main road that wasn't a death wish!! Must be mad.

 

[Wolf04]

Ouch! Unlucky, hope the recovery is swift and complete. Have come off a few times in the past so invested in Nokian studded tyres. They work wonders as soon as I fit them the ice vanishes!!!!

 

[beanzontoast]

Ow ow ow! Bad luck!

People must react differently when their bike goes from under them on ice. When it happened to me a few weeks ago on a left bend, I stayed in the riding position on the bike, both hands on the drops, and slide gracefully along the road on my side. Pannier stayed on too. When the bike came to rest, I felt so foolish lying there still in the riding position!

 

[HLaB]

Ouch indeed; I hope you heal as fast as the ice melts.

 

[HLaB]

People must react differently when their bike goes from under them on ice. When it happened to me a few weeks ago on a left bend, I stayed in the riding position on the bike, both hands on the drops, and slide gracefully along the road on my side. Pannier stayed on too. When the bike came to rest, I felt so foolish lying there still in the riding position!

I've not had anything as impressive in recent times but I think I stay more or less in a riding position too, my panniers/ pedals and or bars have saved me a few times and I've escaped with just bruising. I fitted narrower drop bars to my winter bike and I doubt they'd give me the same protection

 

[saty]

ahhhhhhhh man... sorry to hear that.. hope you get better soon and back on the bike before 12 weeks.

 

[magnatom]

Ouch! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

 

[BentMikey]

Ooooh blast, much sympathy from me. And there is me unhappy about my Achilles, much smaller issue than your fall.

 

[hackbike 666]

How did you get your injury BM?

 

[fossyant]

Ouch - 6 to 12 weeks argh.....

I've been walking to the main road the last couple of days - sheet ice on side roads - slipping about in my MTB shoes.....

Bad luck fella - any time off work....?

 

[Freewheeler]

People must react differently when their bike goes from under them on ice. When it happened to me a few weeks ago on a left bend, I stayed in the riding position on the bike, both hands on the drops, and slide gracefully along the road on my side.

That's exactly what I did too, kept hold of the bars and went down with the bike. I guess it's because the bike was already banked for the turn and the wheels just slid out from under it. Sadly the pannier was on the wrong side to break the fall.

I've fallen off in the past and sort of rolled, my shoulder taking the impact. Maybe crashing when riding along causes the front wheel to turn, throwing the rider forwards and downwards whereas losing grip in a corner sees bike and rider just flip over sideways.