Four weeks in and lessons learned

[Karenanywild]

My husband has been a road biker in the past. Not me. We recently bought a set of FUJI bikes and are having fun together.

Here's what we've learned so far:

1. Don't ride fast over wet train tracks.
2. If you do ride fast over wet train tracks there is a miracle cream called DuoDerm. You can't generally buy it in your local Walgreens or CVS; try a specialty pharmacy or medical supply store. You can buy cream or 'bandaids' that have it on it. I don't know why they don't market this to mom's of little boys. Sure it's a bit pricey, but Wow! it really is a miracle cream. You can almost watch the road rash heal. And, ahhhh, so soothing.
3. If you do ride fast over wet train tracks hope that you are wearing your Louis Garneau gear. Yep, that's right. You might think I'm crazy to suggest that you should be wearing some of your most expensive gear when you fall, but after a little party with the pavement not a single tear or rub in the fabric. A rumble in the Tide and it's as good as new. The wounds will heal; a torn shirt is a torn shirt.
4. Always! Always! Always! wear a helmet. No helment. No ride.
5. Buy a new helmet after yours meets the pavement. We thought it was hardly scratched. A trip to the LBS and he showed us where it had compressed and even cracked. It did it's job; let it retire. And get it out of the house; it looks good enough to use in a pinch. Don't be tempted.
6. Buy the darn shorts! It's worth it. Better than watching your beautiful bike age while you wonder when you'll be 'not too sore to ride' again.
7. When you realize it's too late to unclip; tuck and roll. Don't fight it. Go down in grace. Take the shoulder scratch vs. reaching out to shake hands with a broken wrist.
8. Don't give up after not unclipping successfully; it's a great story and not much damage.
9. Don't unclip the right if you're going to look down hill to the left for traffic. Look downhill to the left and that unclipped right foot isn't going to do you any good. Tuck and roll.
10. Brand new shorts with blue chamois give a whole new meaning to blue !#$!#. My poor husband, I couldn't stop laughing.

Having fun and not giving up. :)

[mariacycle]

+1 for number 4!! The great thing about riding in pairs/groups is holding everyone accountable to that. Sounds like you've had an incredible month of riding!

[Karenanywild]

The DuoDerm sounds worth putting a sticky to!

If you send your helmet back to the manufacturer post-crash, they may replace it for free, or at least give a discount on the next. They use the helmets for research, plus, this builds customer loyalty. But I suppose you don't have yours anymore?

Thanks! Our LBS did mention this, but in this case they didn't want it back. We gave it to the LBS as a testament to buying a good helmet. So, it's getting some good use.

[Caren]

I'll have to look into that DuoDerm, I have 3 boys and they are constantly in various stages of damaged. I haven't had a run in with wet tracks yet, but I banged my self up pretty good when a gust caught me clipped in at stop sign, ouch! I've always wondered if anyone would tuck and roll instinctively or not, good thing you did! Good reminder about wearing a helmet, I really need to go get a new one. I'm awful about wearing mine. I get migraines from pressure anywhere on my head, I can't even ponytail my hair most days so I'm guilty of almost never wearing it.

[Karenanywild]

I'll have to look into that DuoDerm.

It's not cheap, a knee bandage was $5. But, you put it on and leave it on for up to 7 days. You can wear it in the shower with no problems. And you can watch the active ingredient literally pull the 'gook' out of the wound. Here's a picture of the bandage that he had on his hip; that's my ring on top of it so you can see how big it is. And they are flexible so it stuck on and molded the shape of his body. This covered the road rash on his hip. He had no problem sleeping, wearing clothes or showering. He left it on for 7 days and after 7 days he was completely healed. This bandage was about $15. But he said it was worth the cost in how it soothed the wound and made it so he could still dress for work and travel.

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We got the tube of gel for the smaller wounds. On his face we just put the gel on and left it. It was cleared up in 2 days. For other smaller leg scrapes we put the gel on and just put a regular old bandaid on top and that worked fine. The gel comes in a small tube but it goes a long way. It expands when you squeeze the tube. Here's a picture of the tube too.

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Our local specialty pharmacy let us by a single bandage rather than the expensive box. But, really, a box of these around the house would be handy. I wouldn't use them for everyday scrapes because of the cost. But, at the right time they are awesome.

And, please DO wear the helmet. It saved a serious injury in this case. He was riding again in two days thanks to DuoDerm and that helmet. With a serious head injury he might still be laid up in bed.

[colorisnt]

Always go with the tuck and roll! You learned right there :)

I grew up riding horses and am really good at falling well. It serves me well on the bike.

I am going to make a mental note of this duo derm. At some point, I may need it.