I ride about 7,500 miles a year. I've not had a crash is many, many years. And I've never gone down on a low slide. However, 5 days ago I went down on a steep mountain descent (the details are below if any cares). The short version is that I'm fine, except for a nasty case of road rash on my left hip. The pain is brutal. Nights are the worst, because I just can't find a position that is not painful.
Since those of us that ride enough know that getting off happens from time-to-time, is anyone aware of bibs that have some sort of reinforcement material in the hip area that would protect against road rash a little better? Obviously, I wouldn't want a bib short that was made entirely of a heavier fabric, but putting in in the hip area seems like a good idea.
If anyone is aware of a bib short that has any sort of road rash protection, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
Here are the details of my crash:
Well, I guess there's a first time for everything . . . and I experienced just such an event when I had my front tire lose grip and I went down and slide across the asphalt while descending Mt. Diablo at 27 mph on my road bike.
I left my house with my HID light blazing at 6:00 am. My plan was to ride up to the Junction of Mt. Diablo, then down the north side and then all the way around Mt. Diablo by way of a desolate, hilly road called Morgan Territory (that would take me into Livermore and from there it's mostly flat all the way back home). It's a 60 mile ride with lots of climbing that takes a little under 4 hrs. I've not done a long rides since last year, and if I'm going to seriously consider the Devil Mtn Double (I'm flirting with the idea), I need to get in a few long, slow rides.
By the time I started climbing up Diablo it was about 6:10 am and pitch dark. About 500 ft. up the climb, it started to get foggy. By 1,000 ft., it was really foggy. My HID light revealed little droplets of moisture. It wasn't raining, it was just thick, soupy fog. I got to the Junction and rolled over the top and began the descent. I took my hands off the handle bars and zipped up my vest and jacket as I begin the descent. Fortunately, the fog was not as thick as it had been. And, it was it just starting to get light out. Now all zipped up, I was ready for a relatively fun downhill ride which would take me down into Walnut Creek in about 15 minutes. I got a quick drink of fluids
and I was back in my normal position with both hands on the brake hoods.
Just the 3rd turn from the top is a left hander that should be taken at about 20 mph. As I approached the turn I was doing 29 mph (I pulled the data from my PowerTap bike computer later that day). I thought everything was going good and that I'd just scrub off some speed and go through the turn. As I began breaking, I noticed that applying both brakes didn't do a whole lot. So I immediately thought, "okay, the wheels must be wet from all of the wet fog." No problem, I'll just apply some more brake pressure to the levers. After my rear wheel went around a few revolutions with the rear brake applied, it must have gotten rid of much of the moisture because when I applied more rear brake, the rear wheel started to slide out on me. I quickly
backed off the rear braking and regained control. Sliding the rear wheel on any road bike is always anxiety producing. Regaining control was a relief, but I knew that I wasn't out of the woods yet because I was now entering the left hand turn going 27 mph, which is a bit too fast given the damp road conditions. Had the road been dry, the turn would have been no problem at all. Knowing that the road was too damp to try any braking during the turn, I instinctively abandoned any more braking and just tried to rail through the turn. My computer later confirmed that I was going 27 mph. I still thought, "this is too fast, but I can make it."
I got about 5/8 of the way through the turn when I heard and felt the front tire starting to give way. Unfortunately, there was no more room to go wider on the turn, so I had to keep trying to corner through it despite the front end drama. The next thing I knew, I was down and sliding across a rough asphalt pavement. I slide for about 20 feet and then hit a dirt berm on the side of the road.
Fortunately, I never hit my head. I scooted out of the dirt and onto the road and sat there for about 20 seconds. Good, my arms and legs worked and my back and neck felt fine. My left hip area hurt from sliding, but everything seemed to be working okay. So I stood up and re-assessed my situation. I knew I was fine, but I also knew that I had some good road rash. My bib shorts were shredded on the left side, my left leg warmer was ripped up in 3 places, and my jacket was torn in two places along my left arm.
The bike sustained some damage, but with some banging and tweaking I could limp it home. My right brake/shift lever was destroyed and the carbon fiber handlebars were tweaked. But it got me home. When I took off my clothes, my left leg was scraped and banged up pretty good, the finger nail of the middle finger on my right hand was damaged, my left shoulder lost some skin, and there was a nice sized scrape on my left elbow. But by far the worst is the road rash on my left hip area.
When my wife Sabrina saw it she looked like she'd a monster, her face cringed and she said, "OH MY GOSH!" There's about a 4" x 5" area that was
totally ground down by the asphalt. And it's seeping blood and other gooey
stuff. Showering and washing it hurt big time. Once I got it clean, I applied some antibiotic cream and then taped some gauze over the area. Walking and sitting are really painful. I read that the best treatment is to clean the site daily, then apply new cream and tape on a fresh guaze. The gauze becomes soaked by the drainage and my clothes get blood and disgusting goop on them. Worse yet, the gauze sometimes sticks to the site (I made the mistake one time of not putting the antibiotic cream on), which makes it's removal frightening. My eyes were watering this morning as I removed the old gauze and cleaned the area.
Bottom line is that deep road rash is way over-rated.
Since those of us that ride enough know that getting off happens from time-to-time, is anyone aware of bibs that have some sort of reinforcement material in the hip area that would protect against road rash a little better? Obviously, I wouldn't want a bib short that was made entirely of a heavier fabric, but putting in in the hip area seems like a good idea.
If anyone is aware of a bib short that has any sort of road rash protection, I'd appreciate hearing from you.
Here are the details of my crash:
Well, I guess there's a first time for everything . . . and I experienced just such an event when I had my front tire lose grip and I went down and slide across the asphalt while descending Mt. Diablo at 27 mph on my road bike.
I left my house with my HID light blazing at 6:00 am. My plan was to ride up to the Junction of Mt. Diablo, then down the north side and then all the way around Mt. Diablo by way of a desolate, hilly road called Morgan Territory (that would take me into Livermore and from there it's mostly flat all the way back home). It's a 60 mile ride with lots of climbing that takes a little under 4 hrs. I've not done a long rides since last year, and if I'm going to seriously consider the Devil Mtn Double (I'm flirting with the idea), I need to get in a few long, slow rides.
By the time I started climbing up Diablo it was about 6:10 am and pitch dark. About 500 ft. up the climb, it started to get foggy. By 1,000 ft., it was really foggy. My HID light revealed little droplets of moisture. It wasn't raining, it was just thick, soupy fog. I got to the Junction and rolled over the top and began the descent. I took my hands off the handle bars and zipped up my vest and jacket as I begin the descent. Fortunately, the fog was not as thick as it had been. And, it was it just starting to get light out. Now all zipped up, I was ready for a relatively fun downhill ride which would take me down into Walnut Creek in about 15 minutes. I got a quick drink of fluids
and I was back in my normal position with both hands on the brake hoods.
Just the 3rd turn from the top is a left hander that should be taken at about 20 mph. As I approached the turn I was doing 29 mph (I pulled the data from my PowerTap bike computer later that day). I thought everything was going good and that I'd just scrub off some speed and go through the turn. As I began breaking, I noticed that applying both brakes didn't do a whole lot. So I immediately thought, "okay, the wheels must be wet from all of the wet fog." No problem, I'll just apply some more brake pressure to the levers. After my rear wheel went around a few revolutions with the rear brake applied, it must have gotten rid of much of the moisture because when I applied more rear brake, the rear wheel started to slide out on me. I quickly
backed off the rear braking and regained control. Sliding the rear wheel on any road bike is always anxiety producing. Regaining control was a relief, but I knew that I wasn't out of the woods yet because I was now entering the left hand turn going 27 mph, which is a bit too fast given the damp road conditions. Had the road been dry, the turn would have been no problem at all. Knowing that the road was too damp to try any braking during the turn, I instinctively abandoned any more braking and just tried to rail through the turn. My computer later confirmed that I was going 27 mph. I still thought, "this is too fast, but I can make it."
I got about 5/8 of the way through the turn when I heard and felt the front tire starting to give way. Unfortunately, there was no more room to go wider on the turn, so I had to keep trying to corner through it despite the front end drama. The next thing I knew, I was down and sliding across a rough asphalt pavement. I slide for about 20 feet and then hit a dirt berm on the side of the road.
Fortunately, I never hit my head. I scooted out of the dirt and onto the road and sat there for about 20 seconds. Good, my arms and legs worked and my back and neck felt fine. My left hip area hurt from sliding, but everything seemed to be working okay. So I stood up and re-assessed my situation. I knew I was fine, but I also knew that I had some good road rash. My bib shorts were shredded on the left side, my left leg warmer was ripped up in 3 places, and my jacket was torn in two places along my left arm.
The bike sustained some damage, but with some banging and tweaking I could limp it home. My right brake/shift lever was destroyed and the carbon fiber handlebars were tweaked. But it got me home. When I took off my clothes, my left leg was scraped and banged up pretty good, the finger nail of the middle finger on my right hand was damaged, my left shoulder lost some skin, and there was a nice sized scrape on my left elbow. But by far the worst is the road rash on my left hip area.
When my wife Sabrina saw it she looked like she'd a monster, her face cringed and she said, "OH MY GOSH!" There's about a 4" x 5" area that was
totally ground down by the asphalt. And it's seeping blood and other gooey
stuff. Showering and washing it hurt big time. Once I got it clean, I applied some antibiotic cream and then taped some gauze over the area. Walking and sitting are really painful. I read that the best treatment is to clean the site daily, then apply new cream and tape on a fresh guaze. The gauze becomes soaked by the drainage and my clothes get blood and disgusting goop on them. Worse yet, the gauze sometimes sticks to the site (I made the mistake one time of not putting the antibiotic cream on), which makes it's removal frightening. My eyes were watering this morning as I removed the old gauze and cleaned the area.
Bottom line is that deep road rash is way over-rated.
