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Strava hero.
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Also, I can say you would've 100% not hit your head of you were not wearing a helmet, probably wouldn't have even crashed and would now have that KOM. Heal up fast.
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Please repeat without a helmet to verify your polystyrene lid saved your life. Otherwise helmet thread >>>>>>>
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Had to happen sooner or later I guess, had my first fall today. I was taking it pretty easy, going around the roundabout at Turnford college (if anyone knows it). All of a sudden both wheels squealed (!) as they started letting go, I got my right foot unclipped and slid sideways but upright for a few feet before being deposited unceremoniously in a heap atop my bike.
My left palm hurts a bit, my right arm's a little grazed, my right thigh has a huge red road rash patch AND bruise in the same place but my bibs are somehow unblemished (luckily, as I had another 20 miles of commute post-fall). Also definitely clonked my head on the road but helmet was in between head and road so just a little bit of neck pain.
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sounds like you clonked your helmet on the floor, not your head. if you had not been wearing the helmet your head would have had a smaller circumference and may not have even touched the ground.
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Yes, my head would've likely miraculously stopped millimetres from the ground rather than continuing on its inexorable path to the ground like the rest of me and my bike. :)
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http://cyclehelmets.org/1209.html
How cycle helmets work
The principal protection mechanism in a cycle helmet is the polystyrene foam, or styrofoam, that covers the head. When this receives a direct impact force, the styrofoam is intended to compress and in this way spread and reduce the force that is passed onto the skull, thus reducing linear accleration of the brain.
However, it is common for helmets to break without the polystyrene foam compressing at all. A major helmet manufacturer collected damaged childrens' helmets for investigation over several months. According to their senior engineer, in that time they did not see any helmet showing signs of crushing on the inside (Sundahl, 1998). Helmet foam does not 'rebound' after compression to any significant extent. If the styrofoam does not compress, it cannot reduce linear acceleration of the brain. The most protection that it can give to the wearer is to prevent focal damage of the skull and prevent minor wounds to the scalp. It is not likely to prevent serious brain injury.
This helmet has split along the ventilation slots, which is common. However, the thickness of the styrofoam has not been compressed.
It most likely gave no more than superficial protection.Some dissipation of impact force might occur from the action of a helmet breaking, but in most cases this is likely to be small. Helmet standards require the foam to start to compress at a level of force less than that which might be expected to lead to brain injury. While it is known that many helmets do not actually meet the standards to which they are supposed to be accredited (BHRF, 1081), it follows that if the styrofoam does not compress at all, the direct linear force on the helmet was minimal and it's quite possible that the cyclist would not have received any injury if the helmet had not been worn.
If the styrofoam is compressed, it still doesn't prove that a helmet had a protective effect. This can be demonstrated with a fist and a brick wall.
If you 'shadow box' at the wall but carefully stop your fist about 50 mm before it reaches the wall (be sure it's limited by your arm's length), no harm will come to your fist. If, without changing your position, you slip a 75 mm thick piece of styrofoam against the wall and repeat the punch, you'll get compressed (and cracked) styrofoam and false 'evidence' that it saved you from harm. In other words, many impacts of helmets would be near misses with bare heads.
In high impact crashes, such as most that involve motor vehicles or fixed objects like concrete barriers and lamp posts, the forces can be so great that a helmet will compress and break in around 1/1000th of a second. The absorption of the initial forces during this very short period of time is unlikely to make a sufficient difference to the likelihood of serious injury or death. It is for this reason that helmets contain stickers noting that no helmet can prevent all head injuries.
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@veganjoseph @TurtleRecall I have in over 40 years of cycling never worn a helmet & never hit my head. Personally I believe the laws of physics mean these two facts are connected. If you make your head bigger by wearing a helmet you are more likely to hit your head if you crash. Simples.
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We should probably leave all this this for the helmet thread. >>>>>>>>
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Yep, no minds are going to be changed. As it were.
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I came to grief a couple of weeks ago. Got doored, broke right index finger. It currently has 2x /k-wires embedded in it and I'm off the bike until November I think. I have a physio appointment this Thursday and an appointment with my consultant next Tuesday when I hope they will at least down-size the bandage - looks like I have a boxing glove on at the moment. Full and very long write up of my experience (5k+ words), including pictures, will eventually make it onto the forum.
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Got bumped by a car behind today from behind while making a right, which scared the hell out of me and reminded me that plunging from a commute in light to one in darkness is a recipe for disaster. I don't know if this is the right thread, but my brain went straight to the statistical side - accidents last Thursday v. accidents this Thursday. Does anyone have any info, or could point me to something which will I can push around and hopefully help less people get killed?
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Forum Rider Down and/or notification of minor incidents
Posted by
@Object
Had a pretty silly crash on Friday. On my way to work I took a new different 'long cut' to attempt a KOM. The segment started just round a corner on quiet streets. No traffic, no peds. Anyway, I come round the corner (knew there wouldn't be any car traffic) and scan the peripherals just to fully confirm no traffic or peds for safety. Last thing I focus on is actual the road in front of me which to my horror has a big steel barrier across to stop vehicle access. Whoops! About 5 metres away from impact and at 25+ mph I try and brake and resist the pedals but didn't help much...
The gate was at head tube/drop bar height which stopped the bike immediately. My feet unclipped and I was thrown from the bike. I went flying over the barrier in a stupendous front flip. My knee caught the barrier on the way over. I landed on the very top of my head and then onto my back/butt. The road the other side of the barrier was that weird very compacted gravel which has some loose gravel on top. I lay there for a few seconds writhing in pain and shock then assessed visible injuries. There was absolutely no one around for about a minute until one passerby asked if I was okay. I said I'd be fine and didn't need an ambulance. I thought it was a shame no one witnessed such a stupid accident. Must have looked pretty impressive. After a few minutes I got up and cycled the few miles back home possibly the slowest I have ever ridden.
Multiple cuts & scrapes on my right knee, couple more on my left elbow with a nice bump and a chunk taken out of my left hand which I believe was from a piece of gravel (luckily I was wearing gloves so could have been a lot worse). Been in bed resting up since then (now Monday). Knee got pretty damn swollen and still is but I can now fully extend and almost fully contract it again.
Wearing my helmet possibly saved my life here - at the very least my consciousness! Bike survived, although the stem got budged a few degrees off-centre which was easily fixed by loosening off the stem bolts and realigning. Hoping to be riding again tomorrow, albeit it very slowly!
Moral of the story: Don't be an idiot on roads you don't know (and always wear a helmet)!