Your worst cycling injury

kakee

Hey all just wondering what kind of injuries you've got from cycling, on the road or on mountain biking. Photographs would be good.
By the way I am new to cycling and have no injuries to report yet but it is only a matter of time I reckon lol

drogdub

kakee wrote: »

Hey all just wondering what kind of injuries you've got from cycling, on the road or on mountain biking. Photographs would be good.
By the way I am new to cycling and have no injuries to report yet but it is only a matter of time I reckon lol

Broken collar bone. Which i heard is the most common injury.

kakee

Broken collar bone. Which i heard is the most common injury

I saw a guy in the tour de france broke his collar bone during the week. He did look to be in a lot of pain alright.

trad

Broke left wrist and head to toe gravel rash, beware of opening car doors.

kakee

head to toe gravel rash

Jesus you just brought back a childhood memory there. Me and my mate got the wheelnuts in our bmx's caught up and i went over the handlebars. I was head to toe in sudacream for at least a week:D

monkeyslayer

Once veered into a deep roadside gutter coming down a hill whilst checking over my shoulder for traffic at the rear... front wheel locked and I flew about 20 feet, hands, then head first into the road... broke two wrists, smashed up one hand, a massive rock lodged into the palm of the other, chipped my knee bone and lots of rash on my side, face and nose from the slide... tho i didn't feel any pain for about twelve hours. Just pure shock. Helmet was broken into about 5 separate pieces... a lady in a car behind who saw the whole thing, did a great job veering around me i must say (!) pulled up and helped me out thankfully. Was a little shaken by it after but defiantly made me appreciate how quickly an otherwise routine bike ride on a beautiful sunny sunday morning can quite instantly go very very wrong. I wonder sometimes tho how the crash would have gone if i'd spd's at the time, use them all the time now but still not entirely certain i could unclip in time...

uberwolf

round of the Leinster XC league, down off a monster drop off in Ballinscorney straight into a tree in front of all the camera's that had gathered to capture such a moment.
Continued for one more lap before being drawn to the ambulance parked. They dismissed me saying that the wrist was swollen enough to be in trouble but by the time I'd got back out the wrist had doubled in size having been compressed until the glove came off.
Fractured scaffoid. Nothing dramatic.

Still bear the scars from my first ever race where I ended up suspended upside down in barbed wire by one of my legs. Finished 5th though :P (also MTB)

The other scars I carry are from making a meal of a jump up in 3 rock. landed on my side and slid on the closest surface to sandpaper I've ever encountered. It wept for at least a week.

Nothing serious though

uberpixie

Aged 4: cycling beside an external wall of my aunts house, cycle too close, drag the little finger on my right hand back along the wall which was nice sharp fine concrete. All I can remember is lots of blood, tears and sudacream :-) Still have the scar on my little finger.


Aged 16: late for school, find my front tire is a bit flat, get the genius idea to pump the tire up as hard as I can and cycle on it in the wet.
Of course at some stage the front wheel slips under my as I am peddaling along and a get a bit of a slide all while not wearing a helmet. Managed to land ok and kept my head well above road level.
Lesson learned: cycling on a flat tire in the wet results in a lightly swollen right hand, minor road rash and a tetinus shot.

Aged 24: On the way back form a little MTBing, decide to hop up and cycle on a wall, well chuffed (I was and am still a noob at MTB) until I realised the drop at the end of the wall in MUCH bigger than the point I hopped up along the wall.

Result: an epic face-plant, pretty much landing on my front teeth. Got off lightly, no teeth lost, no stitches required, just a few nasty scrapes, everyone at work thought I had been in a fight and didn't believe me when I said I fell off my bike :-) Oddily enough the sunburn I got that day was far worse :pac:.
After that I have managed to fall off my bike once, funnily enough one of the few times I wasn't wearing a helmet on the bike, again very low speed and I manage to land keeping my head well above road level.
All in all I have very luck so far, all have been little bumps at low speed (usually down to something stupid I did!) with no real damage. Hope to keep it this way :-)

t4k30

Scratched my knee !

Caroline_ie

Broke my wrist on black ice during a boards spin on Nov 30 2008. I had broke my thumb during another boards spin a few weeks previous to that too. I had my wrist cast for over 8 weeks ...
The other injury is in my bank account ... very painful and doesn't seem to go away.

English Bob

Left half of my front tooth in the top of a car after hitting the back and landing on the bonnet!! Still can feel the injections into the gums even still after 25years!!
Few slides and plenty of road rash from getting bored on turbo trainer and reckoning the ice wasn't too bad!! So far no serious injuries though.

mikemac

Six stitches on my knee and one weeks on antibotics after a pedestrain walked from their parked car onto the Phoneix Park cylcle lane with their back to me, possibly my own fault, wasn't expecting them to do that and I was belting down the lane.
He got barely touched, I came off far worse.
And stupidly I never got his name or anything so I was out of pocket for well over one hundred euro

Broken finger, doored in a cycle lane by an SUV. Driver was a gentleman, we got that sorted, his son in the passenger seat did it.

TinyExplosions

Not much for me... Two front teeth are now fake after a slippery roundabout, and a concussion/gash in my forehead from a handlebar locking incident in Beistol

cdaly_

Ooh lemme see...

There was the time oh, about a thousand years ago when I was young and cycling to the swimming pool. Had my togs and towel in a string bag stuffed into the angle of top and down tubes. In full flight the bag slipped into the fork. Front wheel stopped, I didn't...

Then there was the time as a teenager when I was descending off something near Enniskerry and started going wider and wider on a left hand bend. Saw the car coming towards me and pulled my hand off the bars just before the bike glanced off the side of the car...

Worst injury was prolly the front tyre blowout on the Clontarf seafront at 35kph. Weave all over, met opposite kerb and went flying. About 10x1cm of forearm skin ripped off and about 3 months for it to heal...

madrabui

Fainted off my bike in front of a bus. The bruise to my ego still hurts.

ullu

Broke my arm when I was seven after falling from my friend's Raleigh Wildcat. It was caused by a mixture of the bike being too big for me and being distracted by the console.

ROK ON

I was aged three or so. Sitting in a child seat behind my mother who was cycling. I tried to get out and ended up jamming my ankle between the rear sproket and chain. Bike came to a juddering halt as my ankle broke.

I found out about it aged 17 after a persistent rugby injury to my ankle. After scans the doc told me my ankel was weak due to the break. I told him that I never broke my ankle. He suggested otherwise.

ednwireland

broken little finger and fractured cheekbone after i fell off trying a bike out from a shop :eek:

amgelec

ROK ON wrote: »

I was aged three or so. Sitting in a child seat behind my mother who was cycling. I tried to get out and ended up jamming my ankle between the rear sproket and chain. Bike came to a juddering halt as my ankle broke.

I found out about it aged 17 after a persistent rugby injury to my ankle. After scans the doc told me my ankel was weak due to the break. I told him that I never broke my ankle. He suggested otherwise.

:O the exact same thing happened my brother!!! not a pleasant experience

Hail 2 Da Thief

Fell off my mountain bike once cycling home from school & broke my wrist.
It was quite a nasty break so I needed an operation & a cast up to the underside of my armpitt.

Traumadoc

Personally facial lacerations and a fractured humerus.
Work wise I have seen every thing from minor abrasions to fractured pelvis to severe head injuries and a few deaths.

Beasty

My "Big Crash" was last year when I went over the handlebars suffering concussion and major lacerations around my face which required a skin graft, with road rash on both shoulders, both forearms and one knee (no broken bones though). Fortunately I was wearing a helmet. As the OP asked for pictures, here is the pre-facelift one (taken the day after the accident):

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz195/BeastyofNCD/preop.jpg

And here is the post-facelift one:

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz195/BeastyofNCD/postop.jpg

I also suffered a broken wrist and took a large chunk of skin off my thigh when falling on ice earlier this year.

My first bicycle trauma was when I was 5 years old. I was actually crossing a road when a girl on a bike (she was rather large, and probably needed the exercise) ran me over, and I suffered a compound fracture (3 breaks) to my leg, which required surgery and a full length plaster for about 8 weeks - missed a half-term of school with that one:)

DualFrontDiscs

1. Carrying my 10 speed (2*5) 'Diplomat' over a railway bridge. Lost footing, face met brake hoods bouncing back up, incision above upper lip, clear through.

2. Sheared pedal off spindle. Didn't crash. Didn't avoid spindle either. Deep incision to calf.

3. Road crash, 'jarred leg', went to hospital a few days later. Fractured above the ankle.

4. Chipped elbow. Went on mtb holiday anyway. Elbow doesn't straighten now. Married the girl though.

5. 10 surgical biopsy scars from a kinesiology experiment. Not an injury as such, but it happened on the bike, it hurt and I've the scars to prove it

DFD.

BeepBeep67

Many moons ago came off my MTB in Devil's Glen, crazy thing was we were finished the spin and just messing about with some technical stuff - anyhoo front wheel jammed throwing me onto the car park, resulting in a short concusion, broken wrist, 2 fractures in my right arm and 1 in the left. All this 5 days before going to stay in a golf resort in Alvor - I couldn't wipe me arse let alone swing a club. The OH had to carry the suitcases so there was a little benefit :rolleyes:

cython

This break to my left humerus a little over a year ago, in which I also damaged the radial nerve, causing palsy in my hand for a few months. I wish I could say it had happened in something cool like a race or something, but unfortunately it was killing a bit of time before football, taking a spin around the block!

Podgoricka

I wanna apologize to the other cyclist i cycled head into outside the plaza in UL about 3 months ago.. Remember.. you landed in the flower bed thing.. i flew over the handle bars and into the big pillar supporting the roof... sorry...

BostonB

kakee wrote: »

Hey all just wondering what kind of injuries you've got from cycling, on the road or on mountain biking. Photographs would be good.
By the way I am new to cycling and have no injuries to report yet but it is only a matter of time I reckon lol

Why?

CramCycle

I have no worst one as I've had to many to remember and, more often than I'd like, I don't

Most recently, I tried to stop my forward momentum by putting my elbow through the back of a Renault Megane, scratches along my forearm as the glass shattered (very easily) and scratched ribs on my left side as it took the remainder of the forward momentum out by landing on the broken shards still in the window frame. I also have a weird bump behind my ear now but can't figure out what it hit. My left leg also seized a bit and I had pain in my left knee for most of the day. My bike wheels on the other hand only got minorly buckled in the collision.

Not me, but I remember years ago when I was about 12 or 13, we used to race around the neighbourhood on our mountain bikes and we'd make ramps to jump on.

The ramps would be made of s piece of wood leaned up against a few bricks.

One time a friend was going to cycle around the block and upon approaching the ramp, cycle as fast as he could to try and get high into the air. Well, it took about 30 seconds to cycle around the houses and such, so while he was gone, a few of the guys decided to add a few more bricks to the ramp to make it higher. It was practically a vertical ramp.

so he came flying around the corner, cycling his balls off, and *whoomph*, into the "ramp" he goes, the piece of wood broke in two, he hit the wall of bricks, flipped straight over onto his face and the bike came down on top of him. His body practically bent the wrong way in the process. Looked really vicious.

He ran home in tears crying, but at the end of it all, aside from a scratch to his face, he didn't seem hurt. No broken bones or blood loss or anything.


Personally, I fell off my bike once going down a hill. Wet surface and crap brakes. Fell to the side and kinda slid down the hill on my ass, as my bike, also on it's side, passed by me. Tore the knee of my pants a tiny bit (barely noticeable) and my laptop took a small crack to the side (also barely noticeable).

That's pretty much it for me. I've been lucky, and Beast's pictures will ensure I keep my wits about me when cycling. Looks awfully painful.

gaffmaster

cython wrote: »

This break to my left humerus a little over a year ago, in which I also damaged the radial nerve, causing palsy in my hand for a few months. I wish I could say it had happened in something cool like a race or something, but unfortunately it was killing a bit of time before football, taking a spin around the block!

I'd be slightly more concerned with the house living in my left shoulder if I were you!

My worst injury so far is a cracked rib and very minor road rash. Lucky really.

Alanstrainor

trad wrote: »

beware of opening car doors.

My worst injury was as a result of the above.

Got doored in the face, upper lip to be precise, and shoulder. Needed 14 stitches in my shoulder because the top corner of the door punctured a hole in it. I have to say, it looked pretty god damn bitchin at the time!

After reading this thread though, i think i've been very lucky, i've had a couple of "flip over the handle bars" spills, where i landed on my bag on my back(It was like a cushion!), but no major injuries.

DirkVoodoo

I've been pretty fortunate too, all of mine have been slow speed incidents:

First boards spin on my Ridley I came off on a patch of gravel as we were slowing for lights. Bike slid out from under me and I took Caroline down too (which was the worst part, don't like injuring other people!). A few cuts and a puncture in my ankle that was pumping blood, cycling home through tallaght with blood all over my leg drew some looks.

Came off my bike in UCD on a greasy road, fell awkwardly and ended up with the hoods digging into my chest, breathing for the next few weeks was painful.

Most recently I came off on a patch of ice, which was nice as I just slid across the tarmac.

Creamy Goodness

was coming up to a set of traffic lights today grand time to unclip left pedal as normal. left pedal doesn't unclip.

cue the slo-motion "i'm going down but can't do anything about it fall". slightly grazed knee but what really hurt was my pride and that will never heal :pac:

thebouldwhacker

Face plant into a stone when I was learning how to cycle.
I was about 5 or 6. I'll never forget the blood. Funny thing was after a few days I got back on the bike and could cycle from that day on.

darksharkster

Hit a post outside within the apartment complex last Wednesday, was resetting the speedometer at the time. Was going at about walking pace. Went flying over the bars and the right wrist took the brunt. Had a screw inserted into the top of the radius last Friday.

No cycling for the next two months

Zipp101

Happened yesterday...Junior Tour - Hit a parked car while in a line-out (on the wrong side of the road),doing 24 mph,scared me sh*tless. Knee took 90% of the impact. 10 stitches and a fair bit of road rash to the side. Bike grand.

When does the pain ease,maneuverability improve etc. anyone?

uberwolf

darksharkster wrote: »

No cycling for the next two months

ugh

Zipp101 wrote: »

When does the pain ease,maneuverability improve etc. anyone?

very individual thing. Bruised / swollen or just cut? In fact it may yet swell if it hasn't already.

TheVoodoo

Ruptured Achilles tendon, two broken arms, dislocated knee, 12 stitches above my eye, broken nose and took a chunk out of my arm, all at the same time.

Was MTN biking, foot slipped off pedal and went into spokes at lowest point, foot got dragged around untill it hit the fork, where it got wedged i went over the handle bars with my foot and leg still caught, put out my arms to brake my fall, and both arms went. Wacked my face off the ground and got dragged along it too. Fun times!!

I have a pic of my ankle somewhere, i'll upload it when i find it.

kakee

Ruptured Achilles tendon, two broken arms, dislocated knee, 12 stitches above my eye, broken nose and took a chunk out of my arm, all at the same time.

Jaysus that sounds seriously sore

Columbia

Been lucky in this regard, in 7 years I've never had any real serious injuries.

My worst crash was 3-4 years ago, my chain snapped while I was in the middle of a tailwind-assisted sprint in training, so we're talking probably over 65kph. It was equivalent to pushing against a door that suddently gives way, all my weight went flying and there was no way of controlling it. I skidded along for what felt like an age, although realistically could only have been a few seconds. The chain somehow ended up digging into my right knee (still have the scar), the rounded part of my left shoulder got badly hurt (basically 'sanded down' by the road surface, lost about half a centimeter in skin depth there), burns on my back, backside, right arm, gash on my elbow. There were very few areas of my body not affected by it, I had great difficulty sleeping for the next week, because there was no way of mying down where I wasn't applying my weight to some scar or gash somewhere.

BryanL

Broke both bones in my shin after being hit by a car, stumbled along to check my bike was okay, when i noticed i was walking on my shoe!

Bones out through my skin, 8 hours to get the bone fragments out and everything else together and 16 stitches to make it look nice:D

Hauk

Broke my left wrist about two wednesdays ago.

skint my left knee off the road(i was wearing shorts), needed 5 stitches in my chin, and lots of bumps and scrapes.

Starting to hate casts.

Moflojo

TheVoodoo wrote: »

I have a pic of my ankle somewhere, i'll upload it when i find it.

I'm not surprised that you can't find your ankle after that ordeal.

cython

gaffmaster wrote: »

I'd be slightly more concerned with the house living in my left shoulder if I were you!

My worst injury so far is a cracked rib and very minor road rash. Lucky really.

LOL, if I had an x-ray viewer convenient at home, I'd have used it, but at the time the kitchen window was the easiest way of backlighting the films. A mate of mine had insisted on me getting the x-rays, after he heard the description of it from a paramedic friend of his that brought me into the hospital, so once I had it, picture message was the handiest way to get the images to him.

monument

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3135/2480718171_d7853ce6b7.jpg

Hit my upper leg hard and fast off one of these barriers. Was in shock without knowing it after a bus nearly hitting me about 5-10 mins before hand. Did not hurt much at the time, but put my leg out of action for a month or two. Front wheel was mangled between me and the barrier.