Chances of breaking something? (bones)

camshaft

Hey everyone,

I haven't even began cycling yet, but I just started college and the guy down the hall from me is the captain of the road racing team. He's gotten me pretty interested, so I've been browsing the forums, and looking at affordable bikes (how do you tell your mom who knows nothing about bike racing that a $500 bike is considered an affordable one? lol). He'd also like me to join because their team is somewhat small, and I thought since I'm skinny that might also help (5'10.5", 128 lbs, about 7% fat ratio).

Here's my concern though, even if I'm only in cat 5 or cat 4 am I eventually going to break something? I can take road rash and that kind of stuff, but I just have this vision of like breaking my arm in half with the bone sticking out and doing permanent damage to me. I also don't know what it feels like to break something, so that isn't helping me.

What do you guys think?
Thanks,
Austin

2LAP

Depends on the dicipline, RR pretty slim, BMX dead cert.

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flyinghatchet

who cares, just ride like hell and have some fun, eh?

camshaft

I care because I'm young and just getting interested in cycling. If I knew that there was a high chance of doing permanent damage to myself I'd reconsider going into road racing. The guy who got me interested has already been hit by a car, and permanently messed up his wrist. He has the choice of either getting surgery on a tendon which will limit the movement of his wrist, or letting it go but getting severe arthritis when he gets older. If I knew something like that was likely to happen to me, as I said, I'd reconsider road racing.

Austin

Gustaf

Just out of curiosity, what School are you at? I my self just got into the collegiate racing scene.

camshaft

University of Penn. How about you?

Austin

Gustaf

Western Washington University.

flyinghatchet

It is a complete waste of time to worry about getting hurt. Yes, there is always a chance of getting hurt, but you just have to be careful. I also have quite a bit of time ahead of me, I'm 14.

Graison

byron27

I think your risk of being injured in a car accident would be greater than your risk of being injured in a bike accident.

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holli

I've raced road seriously for eight years and I've never broken a single bone. I've crashed many times but I've only got some roadrashes but nothing bad. Ofcourse there's a risk of having a bad crash and I know riders who have had serious crashes. Road racing is quite safe sport and I think you should just go for it and learn how to ride in group and avoid crashes.

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treebound

I was almost hit by two (2!) cars while walking in a cross walk at a busy university as both cars were passing school busses dropping off and picking up students at rush hour. I was in the crosswalk in daylight well before both cars started to pass the busses in the oncoming lane with traffic coming head-on at them. The first witch got away without my hand hitting her rear fendor, the second b-tard had to stop hard because I'd had enough and just stood there staring him down, after a few words through his open window he gassed it out of there after I pointed out to him that it is illegal to run over pedestrians, he did get a hand to the quarter panel on his way past as a memento and a reminder that he also nearly ran over my toes when he gassed it out of there.

The bottom line is that life is dangerous. Use reasonable precautions and common sense and don't be overly stupid. For example, when on a training ride if you get behind the pack and they go through an intersection as the light turns yellow and then red, stop for the stupid light because a training ride on public roadways isn't worth dieing over like a SoCal cyclist did several years ago on a training ride.

How dangerous a race is will to some extent depend on you, on the other competitors, the course conditions, and on variables out of your control (dogs, kids, cars, rain, hail, sleet, ice, so forth). You can die on the swim team if you're doing the backstroke and don't keep track of where you are in the pool and slam your head into the wall at full stroke.

The higher your intensity the potentially higher the risks will be. Learn to fall properly, learn proper crash avoidance maneuvers, learn proper ancilliary damage maneuvers if you go down and the following racers don't react in time. Read and study whatever you can find, but apply everything to personally and adjust as necessary.

Your statement "haven't even began cycling yet" causes me some wonderings. Is that "this year" or "ever"? If "ever" then perhaps give it a year before you start racing. Your physical stature and physique may or may not mean anything as to how competitive you are. Perhaps the best question to ask is why is the captain interested in getting you to join? Hopefully not to just use you as pack meat.

Words to ponder, or ignore, at your choosing.

camshaft

Thanks for the responses guys.

Treebound, I use to ride quite a bit on my $200 "toy store" bike, but I haven't in the past couple of years. The kid who's the captain is a friend of mine and didn't try to push me into it or anything, so I doubt he just wants me as pack meat. I have read that you should wait about a year before racing. I asked him about that to, and he said that it shouldn't really be a problem because a couple of the guys on the team started without any riding experience, and there's not really any competitive pressure, because there's only 12 people on the team total and we rarely win anything anyway. We can't come close to PennState, and the fact that a Princeton Alumni holds a high position at Fuji and gets them all their bikes for free doesn't bode well for us either (its alot easier to get a good team together when they hand you the bike, lol). So it becomes more like an activity. You can practice with them and race with them whenever you feel like it. Either way though, I figured I'd wait to see what training with them is like before I try to decide whether I'm going to race this year or next.

Austin

treebound

In that case then I'd say dive right in and give it a shot. Enter a few early races for experience and to get your certification record started as you get sort of ceded based partly on the number of races entered regardless of placings. Also, has the team manager looked into picking up last year's bikes from the other local teams that do have sponsorship? If your team is not seen as a competitive threat then they may see it as a way to generate some goodwill that may pay off for them in a race or two if they need a hand in a pull during some big event. It never hurts to ask, usually anyway.
And as far as getting hurt in a race in the upcomming season, stay to the perimeter inside or outside depending in the course and avoid the squirrely sprints at the end and you should be fine. Once you get some exposure you'll get a better feel for what actually happens in a race. It's not a blood sucking gorry as some make it out to be and not nearly as cutthroat as some would like to believe. With what you've added you should have a good time and probably some good race experience to grow from. And who knows, you might even sneak in a podium finish or two during the season, and that's always cool to do.

Nicko71

Just crashed last week. YEp - much harder and Im sure Id have broken something. BUT the reason was a flat tyre- hey what could I do about that?

Ive been riding since 1996. Had one tip over on a wet painted line travelling at 10km/ph. Had one crash into a ditch in a triathlon, where people seem to lack concentration anyway.

3 crashes in 6 years. None serious - raced in big fast and aggressive bunches - am amazed at how safe cycling is considering whats involved.

Dont think about it - BIKE RACING is safer than football - or even maybe running (if you take injuries into account).

Cycling is a great sport , be defensive on the road. Look for the eyes of motorists - know they've seen you before you trust what they are going to do - then dont trust it anyway (thats my philosophy)

good luck

Nick