I’ve been cycling since about July 2017. I did some in high school before that but nothing consistent (aside from biking to the neighborhood pool).
Right now I primarily race road bikes. I’m riding ~10k miles per year, intervals, racing, etc. I’m racing maybe 15-20 days a year as a Cat 2 and competing decently as I’m part of my way to my Cat 1. I’m saying that to point out that I’m not riding solo off the back of the field, I’m in the mix in the ‘most dangerous’ parts of the race.
The worst injuries I’ve had were some pretty extensive road rash on my shoulder and hip from crossing wheels in a 30mph sprint finish in a crit. Other than that I’ve had some more minor slide outs, mtb OTB type crashes, etc. Though all those have resulted in just minor abrasions and bruises. Never broken a bone or anything like that.
To recover I used tegaderm for a while. Keeping it moist and preventing scabbing reduced scarring a ton. It was more annoying because you have an open would for longer so you have to be more careful keeping it clean and keeping it from sticking to clothes but it heals better and faster.
I’ll add that I came from ~6 years of heavy olympic lifting and have continued to lift heavy 1-2 times a week throughout my cycling ‘career’. I truly think lifting has both reduced the injuries I might have otherwise had from these crashes and allowed me to prevent many crashes. The extra muscle mass is extra padding on impact, the increased bone density makes fractures less likely, and the strength allows me to maintain control when I might have otherwise lost it (mostly in mountain bike scenarios). There have been scenarios where I used so much strength to prevent a crash on a mountain bike that I hurt my shoulder but that prevented me from tumbling head over heels down a rocky descent.
Fractured my left humerus back in 2018 coming of the mountain bike. Took almost a year to be fully recovered and I still have some limitation in my should mobility.
MTB race yesterday on a steep descent with very bad terrain I looked for the best path and picked the left side near the pine trees and Im sure one of those trees moved and my steering toutched it and off I went. I wasnt going fast only some minor scratches on my right elbow and shoulder but my left hand middle finger now looks like this.
I've been cycling for about 8 years now, mostly road cycling with some mountain biking on the side. Over the years, I've had my fair share of spills, I mean nothing too crazy, but a couple of memorable ones. The worst was a crash during a group ride where I hit a patch of gravel going downhill. Ended up with a fractured collarbone and some serious back pain that stuck around for months.
Eventually, I went to Dr. Michael Wheeler’s clinic in Dallas, and that’s what finally helped me get back to normal. His team really knew what they were doing, and the recovery plan they set me up with made a huge difference.
Another time, I went over the handlebars on a mountain trail and ended up with a sprained wrist and some bruised ribs, but thankfully nothing broken that time. I’d say the biggest lesson has been learning when to back off. Resting properly and sticking to physio exercises made a big difference in bouncing back
If anyone’s still dealing with pain or injuries that just won’t go away, I’d say give Dr. Wheeler’s clinic a look. I don’t think I’d be back on the bike without their help
Been cycling since 2005. One fracture of the fifth metacarpal (boxer’s fracture) while bicycle commuting (got my bag caught in the front tire and went over the handlebars at low speed). One LC1 pelvic ring fracture when I hit pothole at speed. The broken pinky was inconvenient and required hand therapy, but it healed completely. The LC1 was pretty awful and I couldn’t walk for 12 weeks. Needed PT. I still have pain on that side but I’ve done so much else to it (arthritis in the knee and a labral tear, neither due to biking) I can’t say what it’s from. No surgery in either case.
1st in 2021 - came off in wet turning a corner on to a bridge, small hole in the road,. hit the bridge 3 ribs, concussion
2nd - in 2022 have no memory of accident or getting to hospital. 4 broken ribs some flailed, broken pelvis, collarbone, concussion. Ribs and collarbone operated. Came off in cold greasy conditions last thing remember had descended a big hill and was a rise which I went to give it some beans over. Bad concussion and discomfort, no walking for some time, had to sleep downstairs etc.
3rd - this year switched to tubeless and had a front puncture on a twisty quick bit of road tyre was instantly flat, 12mm sidewall gash. Ridden road hundreds of times.
This last one taken some getting my head round, nothing I could do. Hit a bank, 9 broken ribs, same collarbone again, broken by the neck where the plate ends, broken shoulder blade. Suspected broken back L1. Slight concussion. This one gave me the most pain discharged after a night then readmitted the next morning due to the pain. Lying flat in bed next to impossible for weeks.
Feel embarrassed writing all that, all pretty stupid for a dad of 51. I justify it by remembering I was 15kg heavier when the kids were born and I started cycling.
Dang @Michael_D - you’ve had quite the go of it. Keeping those orthos in business! Hope you keep the rubber side down this year.
I was t-boned by an SUV back in 2006. Blasted my tib/fib into bits. Had a rod installed from my knee to ankle. It didn’t heal, so I had it removed, had a bone graft, a larger rod installed, a plate added, and about 40 screws put in. That eventually fixed it. I don’t recommend getting hit by a truck.
Collarbone as a kid on a bmx which wasn’t too bad as I was a kid and it healed well. Worst part was getting stuck in the bath and having to ask my Dad to help get me out.
As an adult I got ran over by a car and landed on my hip bad. Nothing was broken but it has not been the same since (5 years now). Every time I bang it the whole leg goes weak for days and is really painful. I do loads of gym stuff and single leg work on it (even got pretty strong) and it has never fully healed which is the scary part. Think I would have preferred a broken bone in the end.
Various street riding and BMX as a kid from about 3 years old up to 19 years old but never had any real injuries. Got into motorbikes after that for a few years till picking up bikes again in 2013, been riding road, MTB and DJ ever since…
Road - None.
DJ - Ribs in 2022
MTB - Left Collarbone - plated 2015, Broken tibia in 2016, OTB - torn rotator cuff 2019, Right Collarbone healed naturally 2021, big OTB with hip taking the brunt 2022 (still giving me gip to this day), big OTB a couple of weeks ago shoulder and head took the brunt, not broken but something up with shoulder, bruised like mild collarbone and still stiff.
A paper was recently published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Reports which details Egan Bernal’s injuries, treatment, and recovery from his January 2022 crash. It’s incredible what he went through and pretty amazing what a recovery Egan’s made thanks to modern medicine and his determination and attitude.
Only a couple in 140,000km, 2018. They were T2, T3 and a rib though. Car turned in front of me without looking when I was 50kph down a small hill. I was pretty lucky and am very glad to be riding again. The worst was the concussion and not realising I wasn’t quite back to normal for almost a year.
Gosh!
Since last summer I almost stopped ridding on roads. Keeping TR workouts inside and MTB rides on sundays.
Got some stupid drivers thinking they own the road here and others that are just too absort in themselves that they dont even care to go to the other lane when no one is coming and just go by cyclist with only a few inches apart.
I havent had an accident with a motor veihcle yet and I dont intend to so road cycling is the minimum for me right now.
and my steering toutched it and off I went. I wasnt going fast only some minor scratches on my right elbow and shoulder but my left hand middle finger now looks like this.
