In 2011 I was hit head on by a pickup truck, got to ride the helicopter med flight...

I had a Life Flight in 2014. It was about 30km to the hospital and the cost was $25,000. It was by far my most expensive flight (by about $23,500), too bad I wasn't conscious to remember.

$17K and I was awake, so I could see all the previous occupant's blood on the ceiling. Those things are cramped.

There are more expensive. Here's what a $499,900 flight looks like:

http://modocharlie.com/...crash-Cheltenham.jpg

I crashed twice in one mountain bike race, so it didn't take long to get back on the saddle. When i crashed on the road and broke my elbow it took a while but hat was because i physically couldn't ride, once i healed i was back outdoors.

It's kind of like surfing and bodyboarding, the longer you go without a big wipeout, the more nervous you get about it, wondering if you'll get smashed. When you wipeout and come out fine you think "that wasn't the end of the world" and get back into it.


Damn, we have a free helicopter service in my region.

Lol!!!! I'll engage when I'm %*%# good and ready!!!!

After a crash, get up (assuming you can), pick up your bike, check it's ridable. Get on it and ride home.

IF you can't get up, or the bike isn't ridable, call your insurance company and get a new bike. when you get the new bike, ride it.

Life is easy, comedy is hard

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

This is EXACTLY what I did, after I put my bike down riding home after a local sprint tri a few years ago.

Hit a greasy spot on a short, steep downhill, and the F wheel washed right out while braking - I was down before I knew it.
After a LOUD F-bomb (that scared a homeowner who saw the whole thing happen, and was kind enough to ask if I was OK or needed help), I picked the bike up, and rode it home, despite a buggered R der. that mis-shifted the entire ride home.
I was so pissed off about the whole thing, I rode it home anyway, rather than call Mrs. ML for a lift.

I had some nasty road rash, and it turned out that in addition to the bent der hanger, the P4 also had a problem w/ the R brake, which ended up in a warranty replacement to the P5 that I'm currently riding.

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float , hammer , and jog

My experience is a little different.
My crash was bad. 9.5 out 10. Broken bones, smashed helmet, broken glasses.. No blood, bike never left the road.
Somebody on my team broke one of the cardinal rules of braking in a decent and that person was directly in my line.
It was either gonna be a 2 person crash, or I try to avoid hitting said person and came right off and landed point blank on a large boulder on the side of the road.
Broken, I was. 10 days in the hospital. Another 3 months of rehab.
I sold my bike convinced the mojo in it was gone. There wasn't a mark on it !
I bought a new bike. The next spring as I was still rehabbing from another surgical procedure, I started riding the new rocket.
Gun shy ? Hellz yeah. I was afraid to take my hands off the bar to change gears at one point.
But after a couple of rides I was ok. By summer I was back to racing and all was good.

I'll echo the other replies and say that it is OK to feel a bit gun shy the first time back out on the roads after a crash, but the confidence does come back. I got hit by a car 16 years ago and was fortunate to walk away with just some bruises, mild scrapes and general soreness (went across the hood TJ Hooker-style) and was able to ride again (a little nervously at first) the following weekend. 10 years ago I had a bad one which resulted in multiple broken bones, collapsed lung and surgery and was off the roads for about six months. That one happened during the fall so I had the winter to get back on the trainer while I recovered, but it was still tough the first time going back on the roads the following spring.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

After a crash, get up (assuming you can), pick up your bike, check it's ridable. Get on it and ride home. [/b]

IF you can't get up, or the bike isn't ridable, call your insurance company and get a new bike. when you get the new bike, ride it.

Life is easy, comedy is hard[/quote]

1) 2009 crash at age 59, pace line at 24mph, clipped rear tire, down left side slid to center of 2 lanes my direction of 55mph highway. Thoughts before hitting pavement.....me dead, wife widow, hope guys behind don't crash. Slid to stop facing oncoming traffic of 2 lanes of cars, GOT UP GRABBED BIKE RAN TO SIDE OF ROAD!!!!! LUCKY, the cars didn't even slow down when they passed us.

2)crash at age 61, 3rd in pace line only at 22mph, oncoming car comes in our lane while passing mail delivery truck, rider in front of me jams brakes, I linked my bike to his flying up off mine. Broken neck, clavicle, nerve damage, did not move until I composed myself since I HEARD the bones cracking. Took some breaths and wiggled toes/fingers so not parallelized and waited for ambulance to ER. 4 months later the neurosurgeon said I could ride so I did.

3)crash at age 62, mile 10 of 56 in a 70.3 tri at 25.2mph entering a round about, slid to stop, picked up bike, hopped back on, finished tri. Stopped at mile 25 medical for injury dressing-lots of bleeding, finished 13.1 was helped by 2 volunteers to medical tent for attention.

Some times you can get right on, some times injury to body or bike prevents you from getting right on, some times the mental trauma prevents you from getting right on. Just have to go with the flow and be comfortable AND SAFE with your decision.

1) 2009 crash at age 59, pace line at 24mph, clipped rear tire, down left side slid to center of 2 lanes my direction of 55mph highway. Thoughts before hitting pavement.....me dead, wife widow, hope guys behind don't crash. Slid to stop facing oncoming traffic of 2 lanes of cars, GOT UP GRABBED BIKE RAN TO SIDE OF ROAD!!!!! LUCKY, the cars didn't even slow down when they passed us.

2)crash at age 61, 3rd in pace line only at 22mph, oncoming car comes in our lane while passing mail delivery truck, rider in front of me jams brakes, I linked my bike to his flying up off mine. Broken neck, clavicle, nerve damage, did not move until I composed myself since I HEARD the bones cracking. Took some breaths and wiggled toes/fingers so not parallelized and waited for ambulance to ER. 4 months later the neurosurgeon said I could ride so I did.

3)crash at age 62, mile 10 of 56 in a 70.3 tri at 25.2mph entering a round about, slid to stop, picked up bike, hopped back on, finished tri. Stopped at mile 25 medical for injury dressing-lots of bleeding, finished 13.1 was helped by 2 volunteers to medical tent for attention.

Some times you can get right on, some times injury to body or bike prevents you from getting right on, some times the mental trauma prevents you from getting right on. Just have to go with the flow and be comfortable AND SAFE with your decision.[/quote]
Wow, am 59 now and your experiences just keep telling me why I continue to do 100% of my bike training on my trainer. I would not have the luck you did.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I've been racing since 99 and have had far too many crashes too remember. Only a few that didn't allow me to ride the next day (albeit with $30 worth of bandages).

When you crash hard enough that you can't ride for a while, you realize you miss your bike alot more than you fear crashing.

The question I ask myself is, "if this were my last day I could physically ride, would I still get on the bike?" The answer is pretty much always yes.

Side note, I've always wondered what it would be like to be a runner or swimmer and know 100% that you were going to get home in 1 piece. That's just not a guarantee that cyclists have.

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-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels

It is pretty bad for triathletes when we crash bikes. Biking is typically what comes back first! Running with injuries is not advised. And swimming with road rash in chlorinated pools hurts like hell.

That said I've been riding since I was 10. Crashed less than 10 times total with just road rash and cuts and bruises. Only had one serious crash with broken bones, and that was last year at age 40+ (which sucks). Prior to that last crash of any kind was 2010.

Younger people bounce up faster of course. In high school I bombed down a grassy hill on a BMX. (80s BMX not what passes as a BMX today WTF are those things?!) It was a hell of a way to find out that the bottom half of that hill used to be a farm and it was plowed rows perpendicular to the hillside before the farm was abandoned. Bike bounced like a bull before throwing me off. Just cuts and bruises.

This thread has done more harm than good, haha. I never was worried about not getting on the bike again. I've been hit by a car before (riding a friend's motor scooter to get to class in college) and spent my night in the hospital. I know there are dangers on the road and dealing get with cars. The VERY small crash I had this weekend more left me rattled about handling abilities. Took me a while to do things like drinkingdrinking from a bottle while in my aero bars, or other things that made me feel a little squirreley on a tri bike. My situation was slow speed, in a turn, back tire just gave out and I ended up down fast (not the hardest ever, but faster than I could brace myself). I'll be riding again by next week. Just know I won't have that confidence I had built up over the last 2 years. This thread turned into a horror story that makes me not want to get off my trainer, haha.