Whys of Falls
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@hanahsdax gnarly
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@hanahsdax -- Oh! Painful! -- and another fall, too?!!! Darn it!!!
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@hanahsdax Big ouch! Palm scrapes suck but that elbow must really bite.
Hope it heals up quick and doesn't cause too much pain on the day to day things. -
Haven't really fallen for over 9k miles until today. Luckily, it was a low speed crash (< 10 mph).
Was just after my turnaround point after 11 miles of riding where I like to hit this quarter mile gravel road. You basically have to ride in one of the wheel tracks to avoid being in too much gravel. So I get near the end and this HUGE mowing tractor, bigger than most trucks, was parked right in the middle blocking both wheel tracks. The operator was sitting on the side having lunch. I "should've" gotten off and carried around it, but it looked like a clear path just outside the left wheel track, so I went for it. I got past the tractor fine, but then coming back into the road, I think I hit some deep loose gravel and the board just slipped away to the right and I went down, sliding in the 1 inch gravel. Really not even time to think about jumping off and since the board was gone so fast, really just tried to tuck in my arms and land.
Results are my left forearm scraped from elbow to my wrist guard, but not as bad as
@S-Leon@HanahsDax's pic above. Somehow my right thumb got split right in front of my nail and dirt got inside. Very minor scrapes on my left leg and some scrapes on my left side near the ribs. Left wrist guard did some saving as it's a bit scratched up. The GT carbon fiber fender got some pretty big scratches from all the rocks, so now it has some character.Worst part was, I had to ride the 11 miles home with no way to clean up or bandage my wounds. I think I'll put together a small med kit and start carrying that with some water so I can at least do some triage next time. :)
Edit: gnarly pic owner corrected!
GT-S > GT > Pint X > XR > +
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@onedangt -- Gravel rashes are painful! But it was not me in the photo above -- that's the elbow of HanahsDax! Personally, I wear Fox Titan Pro Elbow guards complete with forearm coverage, too. Doesn't it happen that falls occur unexpectedly! Heal well!!! -- Good idea on the medical kit.
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i broke my smith forefront helmet yesterday. i took the fang minis off my xr cause they keep twisting around with the bang bumpers, and i took a corner too fast on the local singletrack. i guess the nose digged in, and somehow i flew off the board and managed to roll backwards on my back, and then bonk my helmet on the trails from the back. earbuds went flying out, and my helmet cracked pretty big time, though my head did not. i guess i needed a new helmet anyways :)
i put the fangs back on, turns out they are super useful even on dirty trails.
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@swinefeaster -- Oh! Much better a cracked helmet than a damaged head. How is the rest of you?
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@swinefeaster I had been thinking of taking off my mini fangs but they gave me that split second of deceleration before watching the pavement approaching my face, think I'll keep'em on. My 30 year old rollerblade wrist guards kicked ass, but I'll be looking for better elbow pads that stay put, maybe the forearm ones. neglected the knee pads lately and paid the price.
admittedly past my "3 beer zone" accelerated too much on a deceiving uphill. kinda shot my weekend. -
Today I avoided the same mistake I made last week. Some poor workmanship on some trenching across an otherwise smooth path led to me nosedive and have to run it out. Spotted it last minute and managed to slow down a little from the 15mph but regardless the tire got eaten by the crater. For some reason these trenched sections have been done every 100m on a path I take to get to my former village and then off to the neighbouring town. Some worse than others but this one was the killer.
I didn't take a pic then as I was both mad and hyped I recovered however I remembered it this ride and took the pics to share.
Glad I didn't forget this time as I wasn't dressed for the fall. All dolled up and wouldn't appreciate busting the outfit.
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I type from bed having just got back riding over an hour home (14km) after a fall that dinged up both knees, hip, wrist and bonked my head real good. Treating hour old grazes burns a lot more than fresh one… neighbours must have thought I was giving birth from the sounds I was making, hurt more than the fall. Maybe pics later, going to sleep for a bit. No concussion thankfully… probably 🤔
The moral however… if you’re in a new area, scout it first before trying to get some nice clips incase the terrain falls apart mid shot.
You’d have thought I’d have learnt my lesson from last time. At least I got this on video like last time 😎 -
@lia -- I am very sorry to read of your fall. Personally, I fear the pain and scabbing of skin scapes worse than I fear broken bones. And to have to ride for an hour back home -- oh, my! Take it easy and heal well.
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@lia said in Whys of Falls:
Treating hour old grazes burns a lot more than fresh one
Agreed! My last fall was an almost 45 min ride home as well. Problem is, the wounds are dirty and all you can do is try to hurry home, which is really challenging after falling. I keep saying I need to bring water and a first aid kit, but I don't have a decent backpack . . . guess I need to look into that.
Also, points I thought were only bruises turned out to be scrapes as well, but I didn't really notice until later as they weren't in plain view, ie lower back and the side of my leg below the knee.
Hope you heal quickly! Though I never do, LOL.
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I'm incapable of resting when injured so I'm at the desk again.
@S-Leon Thank you. I still would hate to break a bone, I'd probably just die D: I wasn't sure I would make it, adrenaline wore off real quick which admittedly gave me clarity of thought again.
@OneDanGT Thankfully this wasn't my worst graze, that goes to a few years back the day before my wrist guards showed up. Still burns.
Bruising has showed up and my knees have grown in size from the swelling, would post pics but... well I'll avoid drawing attention to my bare legs. Hard to take pics that don't look like I'm setting up an OnlyFans. Instead have some screensnips from the GoPro that watched me slam into the ground.
Slushy is okay too, dinged the rear pad somehow and scuffed the fins but she's fine. Slowed me down I guess since the VnR lead got tangled and didn't rip out at the XT90.
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@lia Oh god! Are you fine??
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@ed_co Both knees are swollen like I have supersized kneecaps and a few grazes. Other than that I'm good :) Rode over an hour home so clearly nothing serious. I'm indestructible now ;)
Still sore AF though
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@lia I am sorry to hear. Please take care of yourself.
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Will be away for a bit. I'll check in now and then but I'm not in a good place rn. Not the injury although it's giving me trouble.
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@Lia Damn, sorry to hear. It was tough to continue scrolling down after that 2nd image. Hope you start feeling better soon. Really wish I had some footage of my last tumble which I still need to post about…part 2.
@OneDanGT After my last two spills and watching my neighbor go down after a rock got lodged between his rail and tire which caused the motor to completely lock up, I’ve been packing what I call a “OW Trauma Kit.” The trauma kit includes a couple large gauze pads, a roll of gauze, 3 large bandages, 3 regular sized bandages, a couple antiseptic cleansing wipes and a couple latex gloves in case I have to give aid to a fellow rider or vice versa. I’m already the “pack mule” being the lightest rider so adding another half pound of supplies won’t be a deal breaker. I got lucky my shop was less than a mile away with a first aid kit when I took the fall that I posted a pic of.
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@lia What, you got my attention with OnlyFans.... ;D
I'm just going to take that as really a subtle way of saying "needs to shave legs" though. But really... Is the helmet ok? We'd hate it if it had to come off, and you lose your veil of anonymity and confirmation that you do have a face! :P
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@lia damn i hope you heal quickly. i'm still suspiscious of my wheels after being ejected from the xr from error 16 onto pavement last week. it's one thing to crash because of the terrain; another to crash because the board turned off unexpectedly.... always a challenge to trust again after you get dumped ;P
