On tuesday morning i was on a short ride and about 8 miles in i was hit from behind by a Ford Bronco. The driver was answering a phone call at the time. I got thrown off my bike and landed in a ditch. Nothing broken except my bike but I tore muscles in my left leg and was in a lot of instant pain. I happened to be wearing my heart rate monitor during this ride and when i later looked at my data i was surprised to find instead of an increase in heart rate a sudden drop from approx 140bpm to 95bpm in about 4 seconds. and then down to approx 70bpm over the next 15 seconds. That's a 70bpm drop in 20 seconds. I think that my body was in a mild stage of shock but any reading i found about shock states increase in heart rate. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this? Here's a link to the ride data http://connect.garmin.com/activity/119202619
Sudden heart rate drop?
- Thread starter Mace450
- Start date
Physical shock is entirely different than psychological shock. Physical shock is a condition in which perfusion is handicapped such that the body decompensates (perfusion is the delivery of of oxygenated blood to the body's cells). You were not in physical shock. Psychological shock (prepare for sub-optimal decision) is a case wherein the mind shuts down a bit or a lot (can manifest in a bunch o' ways) in response to a high stress situation.
It's hard to say why your HRM reported the values it did, but I wouldn't consider the HRM data to be an accurate recording of your actual state after the accident. The HRM could have moved a bit, or something else could have disrupted or corrupted the readings.
Thanks for your input. As far as the data goes i feel pretty confident its accurate. The chest strap sensor was securely under my bib straps and the gps stayed attached to my bike which only ended up about 5 ft away from me. Even though the bike was destroyed the gps was untouched.
That's the point, the GPS was located on the bike and now it was 5 feet or so away, that distance could have screwed with it's ability to transmit back and forth properly thus the sudden decrease. Or if you suffered any pain, or hit your head (even with a helmet on) the sudden increase pressure on the brain could cause that. OR; the sudden and rapid movement screwed with your body fluids gravity and momentarily dropped the heart rate while the blood circulation was returning to normal...similar to a change in G force on the body. More then likely though you suffered neurogenic shock due to the strong sensory or emotional stimulus trauma brought on by severe or even sometimes trivial shock, in your case it was severe.
Yeah there's definitely many factors to consider and those hrm's are finicky to begin with. I wouldn't consider the readings to be absolute, but it's kind of a cool graph to consider. I thought i would have for sure broken a personal max heart rate after something like that. Here's a couple phone pics if anyone cares. 2 month old Caad 10 /img/vbsmilies/smilies/nonono2.gif
Sorry to hear of your ordeal. I was similarly hit from behind by the side mirror. The lady driver confessed to going 100km/hr in a 35km./hr zone. I was going less than 25 as it was an inter-section. The side mirror hit me in the butt, sending me flying. I was knocked cold for at least two minutes. One of our group riders said he was nervous when he approached me. When he got close, he was relieved to hear me breathing hard from the ride. Never ride without a good helmet! So my heart rate wasn't disturbed like in your case. When I reagined my conciousness, was I pumped. My adrenalin must have over flooded.
Fortunately you weren't hurt and your body doesn't look like your bike! Looks like your going to be getting another new bike. I don't know how stiff you are, but if you basically ok, I would try to get the insurance company to pay for a completely new bike considering it was new less then 3 months ago. Due to closeout sales now you might even be able to get a better bike then you had! I had a bike destroyed once too in an accident and the bike retailer told the insurance company (they spoke to the insurance adjuster) the bike retailed for higher price then it actually did, then they used that money to step me up into a way better frame and transferred any undamaged components to the new frame instead of buy a complete bike which would have gotten me only one step up instead of two steps up for the same money. Discuss this option with the LBS. Tell the insurance company you need a bike ASAP, they may need to see a copy of the bill of sale on the bike before releasing funds. Also check on the model you had in the store for price. But if the insurance company starts playing games then you need to see an attorney right away, but if you're not hurt then most insurance companies will pay for property damage and even send you a small good will gesture medical injury check without attorney involvement all that requires to receive that is complain of soreness an stiffness to the claims adjuster. Make sure you get the name of the adjuster you speak to and the claim number of course.
Thanks, that's good info to know. My components are surprisingly in working order. The only thing as far as i could see is the right brifter and hood was ground down a bit but seems to be only cosmetic. I've got my eye on a used supersix hi mod that someone is selling. So that was one idea, to swap my ultegras onto that, then all i need is a front wheel and some bars. I'll see what insurance says though.
I'd suggest going to your LBS and having them write an estimate for the replacement of your bike. I've found that LBS can be quite generous in that estimate. Remember you don't have to continue to use something that's even scuffed, so given that a lot of components can't be rebuilt, scuffed stuff can easily be written off as needing to be completely replaced. Also consider that anything CF might be compromised. The values given should be replacement values, not depreciated values. I think it's the rare case when an insurance company will want to do their own estimate.
Also, I'd suggest not being in a hurry to get everything wrapped up. First, give yourself some time to be sure that you are indeed okay physically. I'm not suggesting that you overplay any injury or fake anything, but I am saying that you want to be sure you are okay. Once the settlement is done, there's no going back and saying, "Wait. I hurt here, and it needs fixed." The last time I was hit by a car driver, I thought I was okay. The pain I did have was neck pain, and that was cleared by an ER doc. Later however, I started having issues with the shoulder that was the point of impact/dragging on the ground. That shoulder 6 months later had to be surgically repaired, preceded and followed by many months of physical therapy. The driver's insurance company may want to do a complete settlement, i.e. a quickee for your bike, pain, and suffering. That's to their advantage, not yours. Specifically, their adjuster's job is to finish everything at the lowest cost possible to the insurance company. Fairness to you is not their concern.
I know it sucks to be without a bike, but taking time to be sure that you're okay and that you actually get fair compensation for your bike kit (frame, components, clothes, helmet, and etc) can be well worth the wait.
Your helmet definitely needs replacing. Thankfully your are not seriously injured from the looks of the damage this was quite an accident. Hopefully you have a police report to submit with your estimate and pictures. IMO your bike is totaled and you deserve to have a complete replacement.Originally Posted by Mace450 .
Thanks for the story wheelin. And to think i contemplated not wearing a helmet cause it was just a short ride. My head hit his mirror hard but strangely enough not a scratch on helmet.
