Got in my first serious wreck

Yesterday there was a race here in Western PA called the Tour de Strongland. Got there at 7:30 am and registered, went on a 10 mile ride with my dad and then i strecthed and listened to some Thrice. Finally we went on our way at about 15 min after 10am. I was in the Road Race 2 (intermediate), there was 65 racers in this category and we all stayed together for about the first 7 miles of the ride. Then we hit the "wall" which was a pretty steep hill. The race got split but i moved to the top. Finally about 10 miles down the road there is a group of about 6 riders in the lead, and then there is a second group with about 5 riders including myself. We put on the pressure and about 5 miles later we catch the lead group. But since we put on such a strong ride none of us could hang with the lead group so we got split again but this time there was 3 other guys including myself. We come into Leechburg and i know that there is only about 2 miles left to race so we all pick up the pace. Coming out of town we go around a bend and find out that there has been a wreck in the road, 3 guys were down and there was blood all over the road. By this time everyone is split and riding on there own to the finish line. So here i come to the finish line, i am going all out cause i want to catch the guy in front of me. Everyone is cheering and i hear the announcer calling us out. The finish line was right after a 90 degree left hand turn, so i enter the turn and then BOOM! The next thing i know i am on the ground and in severe pain, i crawl to the side of the road and the paramedics rush over. Ended up that my rear tire blew as i was going about 25-30 mph and threw me over my handel bars. I was taken to Allegheney General where i was treated to cuts and bruises. Yea, once again a DNF! My knee, shoulder, elbow, and the entire right side of my back is cut, bloody, and bruised.

So yea, it was no fun and i have some bruises and road rash to prove it! But as we were coming down that final road i checked my avg. speed at it was 21.8 which was incredible considering all the climbs. I would of finished top 10 had i not wrecked but o well.....scars build character

-Sam

 

oooooooooooooooooooouch dude that hurts.... awesome job on the race though! How much was the entry fee? Hopefully it'll heal fast.

 

entry fee was $15

 

You didnt try to crawl across the line? lol

 

Can you post some pictures of your road rash?

 

this picture was taken after i got out of the shower and got some of the blood cleaned up. The worst was my hip/ass which all the skin is taken off but i don't think they want me posting up those pics, my elbow is also really swollen but you really can't tell in the pic, and my knee is also not looking to good.

 

Cycle crash eh? Likely story. Looks like the girlfriend has been treating ya rough in the sack!

 

seems like wrecks always happen on a good day, eh? My worst crash so far happened when I was in the winning break of a crit! There were four juniors in the break (including me) and I pedaled through a corner and clipped my inside foot on the road like an idiot -very, very stupid mistake. Learn from me and never EVER pedal through a corner, especially through the apex.

Anyway, I hit the pavement and slid for a good 5-10 feet. My entire forearm was skinned and it was so deep in one spot that the nerves were ripped out and I had no feeling there (only a small spot though). My shorts got ripped up and my hip took a nice beating also. It was mostly the skin though, only a bruised hip and no broken bones. Turns out I was basically guaranteed a top four finish.

Why can't the crashes ever happen on bad days??

 

I know! I had raced VERY smart and i was feeling good to, it was the first time that i wasn't close to a bonk

 

I got in a crash yesterday too, but it is very embaressing. I had been messing around with the tension in the pedals previous to the ride. At a stop light i couldn't clip out in time so i just toppled over. i ended up laughing at myself when i was on the ground just thinking of how stupid i must have looked.

 

And then after getting up you started pretending to examine the pedals as if it was your bike's fault that you fell over, even though you know that nothing's wrong with them? Yeah, I believe we've all been through that. Consider it a rite of passage.

I'd be surprised if anyone reading your message wasn't nodding their head while reading it and recalling that time when they did it themselves.

 

my worst crash was going down a hill, as i was, the heavens opened and rain came bouncing down, my visibility was down to a minimum, but i did notice a stone wall speeding towards me, after hitting the brakes with no reduction in speed, i attempted pressing my foot hard on the back of the tyre, still no stopping, this is when i decided that my best course of action was to bail from the bike before i was to hit the wall.

i was doing around 30-35mph when i dismounted from my bike, i was left with 1 large stone tucked under the skin on my left side, a large amount of cuts scrapes and bruises to my hip and thigh, plus a broken collar bone, i spent some 10-15minutes at the side of the road, attempting to push the stone from under myskin before i set off on a 20mile ride home. I love my scars, i have gathered quite a collection... plus! it brings a whole new meaning to the term body building, i break it, the doctors put it back together

but the most scaryest has to be doing around 40-45 not being quite balanced and the bike began to vibrate violently, throwing me to the floor, yip you guessed it plenty more cuts and bruises and a sprained wrist. i like to think that now i have perfected the art of falling (1 arm out, roll to back, pull chin into chest and try to slide remaining at all times on your back)

 

Heh...crashes!I crashed in every second race in first half of my first season (this year)! But that`s normal, it happened to a lot of beginners! I mostly crashed because bad balance when I was in the middle of the peloton and one or two hit me laterally! Afterwards, it was very annoying because I was afraid when driving in the middle of the group again..

 

Crashes are fun, its not the fall that hurts, so riding in the middle of a peleton or travelling at speed down rediculous slopes on my mtb. falling is a doozy and nothing to fear, i hope you agree. However, its the sudden stop at the bottom of the fall that has me worried, so its best to try and perfect the art of landing......

so landing is realy the worrying factor, not falling??????

 

You agree with who?

 

sorry! i had 2 post's open i didn't realise i'd slipped that in there.

 

My first wreck was in the State Crit of Iowa!

I was in third place, and a friend of mine was in second. He had been making jumps the entire race to wear out the other guy with us. So we were coming up on turn 3 (of 4), which was right before a hill. We were going slow (18 mph) to see what was going to happen next. My friend motioned for me to make a sprint, to see if we could bonk the other racer.

So I stood up, and sprinted off. Rounded the corner (still standing mind you), went up the hill about a third of the way still standing, and then I turned my head to see what kind of a gap I had created. As I turned, my right foot unclipped, and I went down hard. I was going at about 28 mph!

Somehow, during the wreck, my body was turned 180 degrees, and I was laying on the ground, and looking at the racers flying towards me!

The worst part of all...the race's format was 30 min.+2 laps...if I hadn't crashed, the finish line was the end of the 30 min.! I only had two laps (.6 mile per lap) to the finish! I know that I could have held my gap! I would have been the State Champ!!!!!!!!! Oh well, my friend took first, so at least one of us got it.