First accident

[Travelbugblues]

Hey Everyone,
Well, haven't had my Como long and experienced my first bad accident. Bike is okay. A guy on the path with dog on a leash was coming towards me. Dog was wild. Moved over to give some extra room. Got onto the grass a little and when coming back to the sidewalk my tire got caught between grass and sidewalk. I needed to come at it more perpendicularly. Had to take an ambulance ride for a head injury. Had a helmet on but ended up wacking head in some way above the eye. My vision is still impaired. Concussion. Bloody arm with road rash, huge bruise from him through the thigh. I'm okay. No more sense than before the accident I'm sure. The bike has some scrapes, but I took the brunt of the impact.

Do any of you ride wearing anti-abrasive clothing? I might like to do that until next year when it's hot again. This road rash is not fun.

 

[Sierratim]

Well, at least the bike's OK. Seriously, it's surprising how banged up you can get in a one bike crash. I trust that you're continuing to see your doctor for your vision?

No abrasive clothing here but I do wear padded cycling gloves and a MIPS helmet. Others report wearing full face helmets to minimize injuries to the face. I've cracked 3 helmets in the past 5 years hitting the back of my helmet on the trail each time. Maybe I'm just lucky?

Be well.

 

[Travelbugblues]

That's so right about the bike! lol. Oh man, you are lucky! Too many wheelies! Guess I'm lucky too for that matter. The doc said if I hadn't had my helmet on we would have been going through something entirely different. I had goggles on too which broke. It won't stop me from riding even at 56 BUT I am going to wait until this bump on my head goes down. Can't imagine having a helmet on with it. lol. The Ophthalmology Clinic is watching me for another month. I'm at risk for full retinal detachment with the injury and symptoms. So gotta heal up a bit before I get out there again. I almost said before I, "hit the road again" but then thought better of it.

Stay on the bike!
Amy

 

[Sierratim]

56, ahhh to be young again...

 

[Travelbugblues]

LOL thanks. I don't feel very young today!

 

[FlatSix911]

Hey Everyone,
Well, haven't had my Como long and experienced my first bad accident. Bike is okay. A guy on the path with dog on a leash was coming towards me. Dog was wild. Moved over to give some extra room. Got onto the grass a little and when coming back to the sidewalk my tire got caught between grass and sidewalk. I needed to come at it more perpendicularly. Had to take an ambulance ride for a head injury. Had a helmet on but ended up wacking head in some way above the eye. My vision is still impaired. Concussion. Bloody arm with road rash, huge bruise from him through the thigh. I'm okay. No more sense than before the accident I'm sure. The bike has some scrapes, but I took the brunt of the impact.

Do any of you ride wearing anti-abrasive clothing? I might like to do that until next year when it's hot again. This road rash is not fun.

Glad to hear that you will be OK... take care of that eye!

Regarding protective gear... I have now started riding with flexible knee and elbow pads in addition to a MIPS helmet and gloves.

 

[misteracng]

Sorry about the accident, I hope you recover quickly. It reminds me, that small changes in the road and path can cause big issues

 

[Travelbugblues]

Yes, I should have been more perpendicular. The Como has bigger tires but still wasn't enough to handle the change. I have to say it has sort of scared me some. I know when my helmet comes I'll get back out again, but my mood is a little dampened about the whole thing.

 

[Dallant]

Very sorry to hear this. I know exactly how you feel as I had my first minor (as far as speed and damage) crash a month or so ago. I also went into the grass and the front tire skidded at an angle and I went down pretty hard but only at about 5-10 mph. The edge of the sidewalk where my tire hit was about a 3” rise and you can see the big chunk out of the sidewalk by my bike in the picture. Thank goodness I had my helmet on or I’d have been in big trouble. You can see the scrapes and other helmet damage In the photos. I landed hard on the left side of my head, shoulder, and ribs. Was convinced I had cracked rib or two but x-rays showed nothing yet I was in serious pain in ribs and shoulder. Had a tough time sleeping for about 3 weeks.
Make sure you get your new helmet picked out before your next ride!

 

[Dallant]

Yes, I should have been more perpendicular. The Como has bigger tires but still wasn't enough to handle the change. I have to say it has sort of scared me some. I know when my helmet comes I'll get back out again, but my mood is a little dampened about the whole thing.

Gotta get back on the horse ya know! Just need to take a lesson on not going off the path and, if you must, carefully hit the brakes so you can walk the bike back on the path. Best of luck!

 

[Latitude]

Travelbugblues, your post is a good heads-up for anyone riding an e bike. I had a crash in my first week of riding... slow speed, just fell over, but jammed my finger into the corner of a concrete post base. Bled like crazy, but I think I narrowly missed a sprain or break and had just put a first aid kit in my trunk bag. My wife took my new bike for a spin around the block the first day, and fell over on her return... cracked an older helmet that needed to be discarded, lots of bruises. We’re in our mid 60’s. I am now ultra-safety conscious and equipped.

 

[TOOSLOW]

Do them como things have skinny ass tires? Chaulk one up for us fat tire ass guys.
Glad your okay, I run across these pet owners all the time who think off leash means, you don't need to have control of you pet at all times.

 

[Sierratim]

Do them como things have skinny ass tires? Chaulk one up for us fat tire ass guys.
Glad your okay, I run across these pet owners all the time who think off leash means, you don't need to have control of you pet at all times.

If I come up on a dog, even on a leash, I slow until the owner acknowledges me. If the dog is off leash, I brake with the intent to stop, unless the owner demonstrates voice command control. Too may close calls...

BTW - Comos have 650b x 2.3" tires.

 

[Travelbugblues]

Yeah, the Como has bigger tires. I

Glad to hear that you will be OK... take care of that eye!

Regarding protective gear... I have now started riding with flexible knee and elbow pads in addition to a MIPS helmet and gloves.

Not a bad idea. Thanks for sharing that. I may be looking into some padding also. at least until I'm more confident again.

 

[Travelbugblues]

Travelbugblues, your post is a good heads-up for anyone riding an e bike. I had a crash in my first week of riding... slow speed, just fell over, but jammed my finger into the corner of a concrete post base. Bled like crazy, but I think I narrowly missed a sprain or break and had just put a first aid kit in my trunk bag. My wife took my new bike for a spin around the block the first day, and fell over on her return... cracked an older helmet that needed to be discarded, lots of bruises. We’re in our mid 60’s. I am now ultra-safety conscious and equipped.

Man, so not fun!!! I need to get a rack and some kind of storage thing. I have been unable to decide what to get for my Como. So many options. I need to carry a few things though, so I need to just pick something already.

 

[Travelbugblues]

If I come up on a dog, even on a leash, I slow until the owner acknowledges me. If the dog is off leash, I brake with the intent to stop, unless the owner demonstrates voice command control. Too may close calls...

BTW - Comos have 650b x 2.3" tires.

Thanks, good advice. I imagine I will be ultra-careful now too. I thought I was before! I just need to stay on the path, even if I have to stop completely.

Gotta get back on the horse ya know! Just need to take a lesson on not going off the path and, if you must, carefully hit the brakes so you can walk the bike back on the path. Best of luck!

The lesson was from the school of hard knocks! I pitched the helmet. I definitely will ride again! I don't give up that easily. Still, I haven't been on my bike yet. It's been a week. I still have a pretty good bump on the head. I'll post some photos later. You banged yourself up good didn't ya?! Sorry about the ribs. That can be pretty awful.

Be careful out there everyone!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Travelbugblues, so sorry to hear about your accident! Get on well!

These damn dogs... I was lucky enough to not to ride over two of them (unleashed) recently. Yet I had an ugly accident (not that bad as yours though) in my first e-biking days, about a year ago. I tried to overtake a quite fast cyclist on a bike path. To do that, I had to ride onto the "sidewalk" part of the multi-use-path. There was a little curb (onto which I should ride more perpendicularly as you should). It was a bad fall at some 19 mph. The bike fell together with me and was sliding down the sidewalk to the standstill. When I opened my eyes, I could see a concrete post just few inches in front of my forehead. It was the single situation I wore no helmet! A wound in the forearm was quickly bandaged at local health centre, and taken better care of at a hospital on the next day.

More and more I ride, the more I'm concerned with the ride safety. However stupid I may look like, I now wear a full face, MIPS helmet on my rides (Bell Air-R):

The helmet is pretty lightweight as for a full-face one. The long visor is for controlling the ventilation but also protects your eyebrows. (In the wintertime, I wear a snowboarding helmet).

I started using the full-face helmet after I learned about my brother's accident. He was riding e-bike and made a mistake on cornering. The worst hit he got was the one in the chin (it could end up far worse). After I heard about it, I re-attached the chin protector to the helmet...

 

[Dallant]

I’ve thought about a full-face, especially considering I hit 35 a few times going downhill on my normal workout route.
As you may recall I had a recent situation where a large Doberman was completely off leash and running at least 200 feet ahead of its owner when my wife and I came upon it. It ran past us without incident and I suggested my wife continue on. I stopped and had ‘words’ with the owner about leash laws on the path wherein she attempted to bs me that her dog had “special permission from the police department”! I explained that her “special level of bullshit” was just that and that she would be reported ASAP and proceeded to get on my cell phone. She corralled her dog, got in her car (parked illegally along the path) and left. I would have gotten her license number but her front plate was missing.

 

[Dallant]

Do any of you ride wearing anti-abrasive clothing? I might like to do that until next year when it's hot again. This road rash is not fun.

As for “anti-abrasive clothing”, it’s always a good idea to wear good bike gloves in case you need to break a fall with your hands. I suppose elbow and knee pads could work but I’ve never worn them. I really don’t know of any specifically anti-abrasive clothing. A concern is clothing fibers getting into bad cuts/abrasions and making it just that much harder to clean the wound. That said, it’s getting colder here in the Midwest so longer clothing is gonna become the norm very soon.
I did find this site that could help..
This one starts at $475!

Tuff-N-Lite®

Tuff-N-Lite® is the innovative leader in cut, slash, and abrasion-resistant apparel for the safety, sports, motorcycle, and defense industries.

tuffnlite.com

 

[Travelbugblues]

I'd spring for the helmet. I mean the most important thing is I feel confident when I ride. I'm not too vain at this point. I mean if you could see me now you'd laugh that I said that. I look a mess! No way on the clothing! That is really expensive! I've been considering elbow pads. Maybe I'll just strap a bunch of pillows to my vulnerable places! hahahaaha