Whys of Falls
-
In almost twenty-one thousand Onewheel miles I have visited Urgent Care three times, and was taken to the ER once.
.
.
--Broken wrist-- Onewheeling blithely through a patch of wet autumn leaves which concealed a chunk of tree branch. The slick Vega tire spun, caught, spun caught -- roughly rocking me, then throwing me backwards. Foolishly I tried to break my fall.
.
.
--Shoulder Slam-- About a half mile from the car I checked my battery level on the app -- it was 4%. But the day before I had ridden down to zero -- so I figured I was good. NOT true! I pushed to 20mph and surprise! Home-adapted shoulder armor saved my clavicle, humerus, and shoulder joint.
.
.
--Two Fractured Ribs-- I used brittle ebay XT60 to XT90 adapters in my EGO battery wire harness to my board's sole power source. A routine fall on the board's side must have cracked the solder joint, then going over a root-ridge bump on the trail separated it -- sudden power loss! I fell backwards landing on the 10ah EGO battery I was carrying in a shoulder bag.
.
.
--Hard Concussion-- Near the end of a fifteen mile ride the battery wire harness to the EGO batteries strapped on the fender fell loosely out of the battery bag, dragged on the ground, got caught under the wheel, shredded and broke! Again, sudden loss of power, compounded by the added powerful jerk on the wires. That's the first and only time I whacked my head -- with resulting hard concussion even wearing a full face motorcycle helmet. -
@s-leon said in Whys of Falls:
In almost twenty-one thousand Onewheel miles ....
What a great way to set the context!
WOW -- and thank you for the play-by-play on each incident. -
i think a lot of new riders fall bc the ease at which one can start navigating lulls many into a false sense of security.
those of us with significant prior board sport experience can rely on those experiences to avoid a ton of problems.
surfing on water is soft, snowboarding on snow is inclined, ablative, and glancing (u slide when u fall on snow rather than grind n tumble). skateboarders necessarily learn how to take a hit.
just my take.
-
As I was gearing up to head out Onewheeling today I had a thought that I had not mentioned above. Each of those injurious falls happened completely and totally unexpectedly -- out of nowhere I was down! That is why it has become habit to gear up well, even for just a stroll in the park.
-
@s-leon said in Whys of Falls:
Home-adapted shoulder armor saved my clavicle
Didn't have that luck. Can you share photos of your device armor? Thanks
-
@ed_co -- These are professional American baseball umpire knee/shin/ankle guards that I found at a thrift store. I figured that if these pads were designed to take a hit from a 90mph fastball, they should work for a Onewheel fall. From a previous shoulder slamming experience into soft damp ground I knew that I land squarely on my upper arm and shoulder. So, I measured my upper arm, marked the shin guard, took it to my table saw and cut it off.
Then, since it was cold, early spring, I stuffed it into my jacket sleeve, holding it in place (kind of) with Velcro.
The tears in the outside of the sleeve came from its first (unplanned) test on pavement. Onewheeling in the wet rain and continuous puddles of early spring, my year-old Badgering did not hold up, and the BMS cut out due to a breach of wetness. This time I was only traveling at about 12mph, and landed square on the armor -- without so much as a bruise!
Over the summer then I just used the cut-off top of an elastic sock to hold the armor in place without the jacket. Nobody even batted an eye at the sight of it. But my next fall came again in early spring due to pushing the board too hard on too little battery (4%). Wham! At about 20mph I hit hard! I admit my shoulder was sore -- sore enough to have a doctor look at it -- but NO break, and NO dislocation. Since then I also tuck some D3o motorcycle jacket pads into the shoulder cup -- held in with patches of Gorilla tape. -
!@#$%&**&%$#@! -- A string of explicatives!!! My home-adapted shoulder armor (above) DID NOT save my clavicle! -- Back to the drawing board with that one.
The whys of this fall are embarrassingly preventable -- going over a bumpy stretch the ratchet strap holding the battery and the fender popped loose. Disconnect! Sudden loss of power! On this forum I have even talked about using double strapping. Another lesson -- follow through on safe ideas!
Mad at myself, I Onewheeled the three miles back to the car, drove home, and went for the X-rays.
Surprisingly with the broken clavicle I am not in a whole lot of pain -- not at all as much as with the fractured ribs.
-
@s-leon OUCH!
Hope that heals up well, not a pleasant one to bust when it comes to movement. -
@s-leon Sorry to hear this! Man that sucks.
Had a full sideways splat on the asphalt 2 weeks ago. Shoulder, elbow and hip took the hit. Nosedive at 25mph. Battery 70% , headwind, bearings due to replacement (done now) adjusting rear foot to push it further and maybe, just maybe i messed up my footing on the front while carving it into speed disconnecting from the sensor....first ND after 6000+ km that i could not recover or roll out. I TARFU'ed the whole situation in a couple of sec timeframe.Anyway had some Zen hours stitching up my flanel moto jacket yesterday.
I hope you heal well and fast!
-
@s-leon said :
... the ratchet strap holding the battery and the fender popped loose. Disconnect! Sudden loss of power! ...
Wow. Sounds like your wiring power connectors need to be thumb-screw attach supported instead of push-to-place & click-fix types. Don't know how to achieve this, but just a guess.
Get well soon! -
@MacIak -- Wow! that is fast! No serious injuries?!! That is good news! I bet you have been sore and bruised from it. You too, heal well and fast!
@Sirgu -- The XT90 anti spark connectors I use are tough to separate. What I really need is to make sure the battery and fender stay in place regardless of terrain.
-
The orthopedic-doctor-in-training was a very nice, easy-to-talk-to young woman who is enthusiastic about and has ridden skateboards and a Onewheel. Her opinion on the breakage to the clavicle is that the stress/force transmitted up the locked outstretched arm is the culprit, rather than a slam directly on the shoulder.
If that indeed is the case, then tuck and roll would be best. And I think the best passive armor then for this type of situation would be a leash or loose tether on the arm or jacket sleeve that would not allow that outstretched and locked motion.
Of course, the loose tether... AND my regular impact energy-dispersing safety gear.
-
@s-leon said in Whys of Falls:
If that indeed is the case, then tuck and roll would be best. And I think the best passive armor then for this type of situation would be...
https://youtu.be/i6eNK1O-RWw?t=228
go ahead... click it.
it's thorough...XR's got what plants crave!
-
@notsure said in Whys of Falls:
https://youtu.be/i6eNK1O-RWw?t=228
go ahead... click it.
it's thorough...sooo?
who watched it?
just 10 mins into this masterpiece n ur in for keeps!
XR's got what plants crave!
-
@notsure I flicked through bits of it, watching the dude get utterly bonked by the car in that gear and be fine with it.
-
Still bored, I thought I would relate a question the Lia's age orthopedic doctor in training asked me. After some discussion where we talked about the injury and the fall, and after she shared her personal enthusiasm for board sports, she paused -- looked at this retired old man, with his retired RN wife, and asked probably out of genuine curiosity, "How did you happen to come get involved with Onewheels?"
I looked at her and smiled; it's a fair question. When I retired I was having trouble walking. Plantar fasciitis had me in a foot brace at night, and even walking next door and back would cripple me come nightfall. So, I was looking at options to get around. E-bikes, scooters, golf carts, walkers, mobility chairs, and Onewheels were considered. The Onewheel won out because it was most portable.
Being so much fun to ride, I was on my V1 a lot! And it acted as therapy for my plantar fasciitis -- when I ran out of battery (fairly often as the weather got colder, and as I pushed faster) I was able to walk for miles with no problems!
Oh! And I did tell her I have logged now over 21,000 Onewheel miles.
-
@s-leon I never considered Onewheeling to be beneficial to improving walking but I'm happy to hear that's the case and more importantly gives you an amazing and thrilling way to keep healthy.
Can agree with the portability. Before I used an eBike that by the time I got the XR it looked like a lightweight electric dirtbike from mods whilst remaining "street legal". However it was bulky, heavy and worse yet had to be stored away from me in most situations meaning it could get pinched without me knowing. XR I can and have brought everywhere from shopping to my doctors appointments. Nothing compares to it's portability and range.
21,000 miles is astonishing. Lets hope you're back on it soon to keep that number rolling :)
-
@s-leon I 100% relate. I also had plantar fasciitis and I had all these different kinds of shoe inserts (Dr. Scholes, PowerStep, ..., was considering being fit for orthodics) that were used to help me manage it. A couple times per year, my arches would seize up in the middle of the night and the pain was excruciating, and I would have to hop on one foot out to the couch (to avoid disturbing my wife) and writhe in pain until it would go away.
Fast forward to about a year after I got my Plus. I had to rip all those inserts out, and I feel most comfortable in flat soled shoes, like Vans. I can walk forever and I never have pain. My arches no longer feel like they have fallen, I never have that early morning pain as my feet warm up. And, they don't feel tired all day, like I am overworking them. The Onewheel absolutely fixed my feet.
-
@biell -- Another testimonial! We -- and I have heard of other former sufferers for whom Onewheeling was therapy -- ought to be published in a medical journal!
Glad to hear of your welcome relief!
-
@s-leon said in Whys of Falls:
for whom Onewheeling was therapy -- ought to be published in a medical journal!
it is already. its called low impact exercise. outside of aggressive trail n trick riding, its very yoga-like if u make a habit of stretching beforehand. it's good for developing core strength and improving circulation. the resulting neurochemistry is also healthier. lowers blood pressure, increases blood oxygen, plus provides a steady dose of vitamin d.
its yoga without the excruciating boredom.
