Bad fall

One of the things that scares me about cycling is my vision of heading over the handlebars and smashing my teeth.

Today that happened to a friend of mine. As near as we can tell, she hit a pothole going at a good clip. She didn't go over the handlebars, but she fell on the side of her face and broke two teeth and took off a lot of skin. :( It could have been much worse. I saw her fall out of the corner of my eye, and then tried to get over to the side of the road to stop and help her, so I can't say exactly what happened, but I definitely saw her start to go down. she was fortunate that it was at a time in the ride where all the other riders were spread out and nobody else went down with her. And since it was a big organized ride, there were medical personnel very close.

I've always been hesitant to get into cycling because of my own nightmares of this happening. I'm usually near the back of the group because I feel I have more control going slower. With running if you fall, you might scrape up hands or knees, but with cycling you can really end up battered.

Scary day.

Falls are definitely scary. I hope your friend is OK. Yikes.

Ouch. That sucks. Hope your friend heals up and feels better soon. It's scary to see someone get hurt like that.

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I've always been hesitant to get into cycling because of my own nightmares of this happening. I'm usually near the back of the group because I feel I have more control going slower. With running if you fall, you might scrape up hands or knees, but with cycling you can really end up battered.

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That is true. Everyone has a different risk tolerance. Personally, the fun I get from riding outweighs the scary factory - unless I'm going down steep hills. That, to me, is pretty frightening. I still do it, but eeek.

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Originally Posted by tangentgirl

That is true. Everyone has a different risk tolerance. Personally, the fun I get from riding outweighs the scary factory - unless I'm going down steep hills. That, to me, is pretty frightening. I still do it, but eeek.

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They really do. I also have a friend in Kona this week because her husband is doing the Ironman. He went down in a pile during a training ride a few days ago. She posted pics of him on Facebook all ready for the event completely covered in bandages, scrapes and KT tape. The poor guy looked like he was a victim of a child gone nuts with stickers and red sharpies! I told her someone is going to think she's abusing him! LOL. Big week for bike accidents. Yeesh!

But you're right. Everyone has different areas of caution and comfort.

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The poor guy looked like he was a victim of a child gone nuts with stickers and red sharpies! I told her someone is going to think she's abusing him!

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It'll be ok, he can just tell the doctor that he fell off his bike.

Funny aside, I had a friend who got in a minor bike wreck and took a cab to the emergency room. They sent in a social worker who grilled him about whether he had been domestically abused. He was in bike clothes, had his bike with him, didn't matter. I suppose it's good that they're looking out for that kind of thing, but a little common sense could have ruled that out pretty quickly.

There's always a chance for an accident. I figure if I wanted to be totally safe, I'd stay home and order food. Even then, I'd probably trip over something.

Hope your friend is OK. Once I went down because my front wheel hit a big rock in the path. I wasn't paying attention (obviously) because I was checking out construction workers. Oh, and I'm married. I think it was karma.

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

There's always a chance for an accident. I figure if I wanted to be totally safe, I'd stay home and order food. Even then, I'd probably trip over something.

Hope your friend is OK. Once I went down because my front wheel hit a big rock in the path. I wasn't paying attention (obviously) because I was checking out construction workers. Oh, and I'm married. I think it was karma.

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I hate to laugh because you could've got hurt, but I love your excuse for not paying attention ;)

There are some big risks in cycling, but you can arm yourself against some of the risks by riding smart. Stay loose on the bike and believe it or not, it's much safer to ride toward the front of a paceline. If there's a crash, you're more likely to avoid it if you're in the first third of the pack. If you're still nervous, grab some friends and practice skill drills on a field. Lightly bump into one another and practice putting out a hand to keep someone out of your line. Things like knowing how to bunnyhop and ride on rough pavement (you can practice on dirt roads) also pay off big time.