Ouch

[bike4ever]

I took a yukky spill today. I was scoping a paved trail that I plan on taking some new women cyclists next week. I was on my way back, feeling strong so I picked up my speed. Slid down on a corner covered with a thin layer of mud & wet leaves. We had some strong storms through here last night.

My outcome was quite lucky - just a lot of road rash and soft tissue damage. I have a nice swollen left cheek & a pretty black eye. Both forearms are wrapped in gauze for the road rash. Very sore left wrist & hand - not broken, just terribly bruised. (Definitely harder to type one handed:( ) Also a bruised hip - at least there is extra padding there.:D

Don't think my Buenos Aires is too damaged. Need to true the front wheel and clean it up from the mud. I did find a nice crack in my Bell Sweep helmet!:eek: :eek: I pretty much landed on my face sideways.

So the moral of this story --- always wear your helmet. My 3 boys each asked me about the helmet when they saw me all bandaged up.

Ride safe.

[DeniseGoldberg]

Healing wishes are heading your way...
And I'm glad you were wearing your helmet too!

--- Denise

[Lise]

Whew, boy. Thank goodness for the helmet. It is amazing how a little water + a bit of leaves or mud + a slight turn of the wheel can = disaster for a bike. I am sorry to hear of your injuries, and so glad they're not worse. Take your time to heal up well. All best wishes, Lise

[Running Mommy]

~~~~~~ warm fuzzy healing vibes from sunny AZ~~~~~~~~

heal up quick! OUCH! I hurt just reading about it!!:(

[allabouteva]

Ouch! I sympathise. :o

Hope your wounds heal very quickly. But, I bet your boys are pretty proud of their mom who's TOUGH!

Take care.

e

[mtkitchn]

Double warm fuzzy healing vibes from Arizona!
Glad you're not seriously hurt! Get well soon!
Sue

[bikerz]

Hey Bikemom - Owiee!

Take very good care! Glad you had the helmet on!

It seems to me there were some good detailed threads here about treating road rash ...

[Grog]

Oh sorry about that!! Glad nothing's broken.

There is a return policy on the Sweep. If you don't have the papers anymore send me a private message and I'll try to dig them out for you, there's an address in just about every country and the details to send it back and get a new one at a discounted price.

I'm glad you had it on. I hate it when people say 'I'm just riding the bike path/trail, I don't need a helmet'...

Take care, heal well!

[bikergal]

I'm glad things weren't more serious. Sending you happy healing thoughts!

Shelley

[JLD]

SO glad you had the 'brain bucket' on! Here's hoping you heal up fast and well, too!

[DirtDiva]

Speedy healing to you.

[DrBee]

Yeesh! Glad to hear you didn't break anything. I'm sending you quick healing vibes. You're a great example of why you should wear a helmet. :) Good job on that! Must be scary to see the crack in it, though. Good luck with the healing.

[bike4ever]

Well, very sore this morning. Slept OK - shower really hurt. I will go back through the threads about road rash. I still have the supplies I was sent hom from the hospital with for today.

Grog - thanks for the info on the helmet. I am the manager of a bike shop, so I won't have any issues getting a new one. Actually there is a very good chance my shop will get me one since I was scouting for a shop sponsored ride when it happened.

The helmet will go to the shop as a display now to prevent head injuries:eek:

Thanks to everyone for their wishes - time to slowly heal.

[Bad JuJu]

Wow, glad to hear you're basically OK--sending out good thoughts for your speedy recovery.

I was thinking, "Oh too bad she cracked her helmet," then realized that's what is SUPPOSED to happen--better a cracked helmet than a cracked head.:)

[Hammer]

My boyfriend wont wear a helmet... even on a motorcycle. I find it discouraging... but it's one that I wont win. :( Though win I'm just riding to work (less than a mile and I never get going very fast) I must admit that I'm not a poster child... I should change that.

The other day I saw a man riding his bike with a 7 yr old ish girl riding behind him on a pull behind bike thing... like a piccolo or something. They were on the street as per usual... my town's not too congested... but neither had helmets on... cringe... Children really should have helmets on, no questions asked.

[doc]

Quick healing to you.

One of my ride leaders (road) always says "wet leaves are as slick as snot". I avoid them like the plague. Of course you can't avoid them on the trail...

[Waverly]

I think here in Georgia it is illegal to ride without a helmet. I thought it was everywhere. I am glad to hear nothing was broken! The cracked helmet would have scared me. :( I have never experienced road rash but have seen it and it looks painful!!!!

Feel better,

Jessica

[Aggie_Ama]

Speedy healing to you! A cracked helmet makes you realize how much the little things protect. Great idea about putting the helmet on display, should sober up some customers.

At least a manager of a bike shop could call in and say they have a bad case of road rash and no one would wonder what the heck they were talking about.

[maillotpois]

Wishing you a very speedy recovery! And a new helmet...

[bike4ever]

One of the more difficult times was having my shorts taken off in the ER. Of course I was commando, sweaty and dirty. These things are normally hard to get off when sweaty, try having someone else take them off. At least they let me keep my sports bra on under the "beautiful gown". When I was done, it was hard getting them back on! I also had to explain to the nurses why I don't wear underware. They understood all of my reasons.

Aggie_Ama - yes everyone at work is aware of road rash. One of the more painful spots is on my left knee.

[Waverly]

Bikemom that is awful, and so humiliating! I can just see you explaining away because you were embarrassed and meanwhile hurting badly. I hope you feel better very soon! Is road rash like a really huge skinned knee?

Jessica

[DeniseGoldberg]

One of the more difficult times was having my shorts taken off in the ER.
Uh, at least they took them off nicely instead of cutting them off! When I crashed (http://denise2004crash.crazyguyonabike.com) they cut everything off - and amazingly enough they returned some of the cut off bits of clothes to me...

--- Denise

[bike4ever]

Road rash is a very, very large skinned knee. My right forearem has about 5" X 3" taken off deeply. My left forearm is about as large, just not as deep.

[Jo-n-NY]

Sending you well wishes also....you are so lucky did not break anything. When I got road rash after my crash, I felt I was now initiated as a real cyclist (just the way my brain works).

Take care through your healing process.

~ JoAnn

[bikerchick68]

OW...OW...OW! :eek: Yikes....so sorry to hear that you crashed... was someone with you who called an ambulance? How did you get to the ER? Oh man, I think road rash looks more painful than about anything... so much surface area and all those nerve endings...:(

I hope you recover quickly and that they gave you some good pain stuff!

[corrine]

OWW!
I think everyone has already voiced my well wishes, but wish to add mine to the list. Heal well and quick. So very glad you were wearing a helmet!

[bike4ever]

I actually made if back to my car. Once in the car, I tried calling my doctor since I have to have preauthorization to go to the ER. I got stuck on hold forever and gave up. One of our employees is an EMT. I called work, and he was in so I had him check me over. He did the first clean of my road rash, verified that I needed to get x-rays then drove me to the hospital.

Thanks bunches for everyone's well wishes.

[Cici_Ryder]

Well, all I can say is BRAVE SOLDIER!!!! It is the best ointment to heal your road rash! I took a pretty bad spill a year ago this past March, and pretty much broke the fall with my face! I had road rash down both arms and mostly one leg, and some bruised ribs BUT no broken bones .... but the best news.... nothing happened to my Trek! And if I hadn't taken pictures, no one would believe me now! This ointment REALLY works! I have near invisible scarring. And try to keep your wounds aired out as much as possible.... as pretty as they might look. ;) As far as your helmet goes, try calling the manufacturer.... some offer replacements at a fraction of the cost when you return the helmet. Hope your road to recovery is speedy.... Allez!

[slinkedog]

I hope you feel better VERY SOON! Road rash is nasty, nasty, nasty. Be careful with yourself. I'm so glad you weren't more seriously hurt.

[bike4ever]

CiCi_Ryder - Are you speaking of "Brave Soldier Antiseptic Healing Ointment"? Any suggestion as to where to purchase?

My kids brought up a scary thought this afternoon. They asked where they would go if I hadn't had my helmet (hubby is out of town this week). I knew friends would take care of them; however, I realized that I hadn't put my RoadID back on my new shoes. I definitely need to find that now.

[fatbottomedgurl]

[QUOTE=bikemom]

My kids brought up a scary thought this afternoon. They asked where they would go if I hadn't had my helmet (hubby is out of town this week).

Also a reminder to everyone to have designated guardians, trust, advanced health care directive, and power of attorney assigned.

Get better...

[Cici_Ryder]

Yes, that's the one. Brave Soldier.... you can buy it at most bike shops. Brave Soldier even carries an emergency pack kit you can buy with the essential first aid stuff, and it's small & light enough for the back jersey pockets. Good to have on longer rides. Hope you are feeling better!

Allez!

[bike4ever]

One week out and I'm definitely on the mend. I already have my new helmet, and my bike only needed the wheels trued. This was easy for me to get fixed since I am the manager of bike shop!

I was still having great difficulty with my wrist/hand. I returned to my primary on Tuesday - of course more x-rays. They came back negative so off to an Orthopedic specialist. He took one more shot this morning and found a break on the Hamate bone (one of the two Carpal tunnel area bones). At least now I know why it is still bruised, swollen & hurting.

I still have our first woman's ride scheduled Saturday. Since it is only a leisurely ride (geared to beginners) fo 8 miles, I will probably ride my frankenstein bike (very ugly, commuter bike). This would probably be more comfortable one handed since it is a little more of an upright position.

Ride safe.