Great Post on Road Bike Rider Review...
"It may be the first thing I heard on one of my first group rides: It's not a question of if you will crash, but when.
I now call it The First Rule of Crashes.
And it's a maxim that I've seen realized numerous times over the years in my own neighborhood group, the Domestiques. Thankfully, only one of those crashes involved a car, and we've all lived to ride another day.
What all of the Domestiques' crashes illustrate is the banality of roadie wrecks -- they occur for just about every possible reason, and most often are not the fault of the rider.
I witnessed one friend hit an invisible sheen of thin mud left behind by a water-and-sewer crew on a 90-degree curve. His tires simply lost all traction and flew up from the road, leaving him to go down and skid along on his side -- including, barely, the side of his face.
Another buddy hit the far lip of an inadequately filled pothole and sprawled onto the sidewalk adjacent to the road.
Yet another friend -- a powerhouse of a guy -- snapped off a pedal at the axle mid-stroke and slid into the opposite lane of the two-lane road. Thank goodness there was no traffic at the time.
And then there was me.
I was finishing a lap on the dedicated bike path that circlesStone Mountain . Near the bottom of a short downhill, at about 26 mph (42kmh), a 10-year-old boy walking a dog darted off the sidewalk directly into my path. I managed to avoid both the boy and the dog, but the leash snagged my head tube, and I hit the pavement all along my right side.
I ended up with a deep thigh bruise, a scraped-up knee, elbow and top of the shoulder, and a separated shoulder. Only when I finally sat up and took off my helmet did I realize that my head had also hit the ground -- hard enough to split the helmet completely through at the temple. I remain amazed that I did not even have a headache from that impact.
In all the crashes just described, helmets did their job -- whether it was dispersing the force of a full-on impact with the pavement or keeping (most of) a face an inch off the road as a head skidded along. Without the helmet, each crash would have been far worse.
Crashes happen. Wearing a helmet helps. But you already knew that. Read on for confirmation, and continue to . . .
Enjoy your ride!
John Marsh
Editor & Publisher"
"It may be the first thing I heard on one of my first group rides: It's not a question of if you will crash, but when.
I now call it The First Rule of Crashes.
And it's a maxim that I've seen realized numerous times over the years in my own neighborhood group, the Domestiques. Thankfully, only one of those crashes involved a car, and we've all lived to ride another day.
What all of the Domestiques' crashes illustrate is the banality of roadie wrecks -- they occur for just about every possible reason, and most often are not the fault of the rider.
I witnessed one friend hit an invisible sheen of thin mud left behind by a water-and-sewer crew on a 90-degree curve. His tires simply lost all traction and flew up from the road, leaving him to go down and skid along on his side -- including, barely, the side of his face.
Another buddy hit the far lip of an inadequately filled pothole and sprawled onto the sidewalk adjacent to the road.
Yet another friend -- a powerhouse of a guy -- snapped off a pedal at the axle mid-stroke and slid into the opposite lane of the two-lane road. Thank goodness there was no traffic at the time.
And then there was me.
I was finishing a lap on the dedicated bike path that circles
I ended up with a deep thigh bruise, a scraped-up knee, elbow and top of the shoulder, and a separated shoulder. Only when I finally sat up and took off my helmet did I realize that my head had also hit the ground -- hard enough to split the helmet completely through at the temple. I remain amazed that I did not even have a headache from that impact.
In all the crashes just described, helmets did their job -- whether it was dispersing the force of a full-on impact with the pavement or keeping (most of) a face an inch off the road as a head skidded along. Without the helmet, each crash would have been far worse.
Crashes happen. Wearing a helmet helps. But you already knew that. Read on for confirmation, and continue to . . .
Enjoy your ride!
John Marsh
Editor & Publisher"
My Comment: I have had many a patient bring in their bike helmet or motorcycle helmet in post-crash. Many of them would not have walked in had they not worn their helmet. Wear your helmet!
