I had to shift some furniture earlier today when I got a sharp twang that reminded me of an old 'war wound' I got riding 18 months ago.

For my efforts, I received a busted and dislocated left shoulder from when I tackled a see-saw that see'd, but didn't saw :eek: Took me out of action for three months and it still plays up every now and then.

So let us know the worst of your injuries. Do you still have the scars? Let's see the full colour photo's :D

Sam.

Nothing major so far, touch wood. Heaps of shin and forearm scars though, chicks dig them dont they?

Nothing major here either. A lot of bruising and lost skin but thats it. Nothing exciting really. Hopefully it stays that way too.

Smashed collarbone (it was in four pieces) - five weeks ago, still recovering

Suppose you want to see the x-ray, nasty bruise I had and the big lump of bone pushing against the skin I now have?

Suppose you want to see the x-ray, nasty bruise I had and the big lump of bone pushing against the skin I now have?

Yeah... go on then :)

4 Stitches in my right knee - Thats it... In that same fall I think I came very close to breaking my collar bone, because I was in some pain for a good deal of time, and couldn't drive, but I got over it...

Been lucky thus far...

Sam. do you want the messiest or the most painful?

Messiest: ~dozen stiches, a jigger of blood lost, buggered helmet, lost parts of the headset?, pinched my favourite tube, 1 month without riding to prevent infection, 2 weeks at home not doing much besides so MTBR hovering, 2 weeks no work, mid-30s of antibiotic capsules.

Most painful: Half of the wang-chungs that do happen. (Not funny for me, but to the observer...?)

--------------------------
Yeah go on nickobec, X-ray of the FUBARed collarbone. Four places... ouch!

had a few cracked ribs [ both sides in different accidents ]
broken finger in altercation with cab on cleveland st in Sydney.
major concussion / abrasions and very nearly did collarbone in collision with car in Adelaide.

have yet to have a really bad one on the trail......touch wood.

Only a few cuts and knocks to the knees and legs so far, and a bit of gravel rash on the elbows and hands. Nothing major so far!!

Oh, and I got winded when some prick decided to play hero on his first lap in a 12 hour a while back. More damage to my bike then anything.

Cheers, Dave

Only a few cuts and knocks to the knees and legs so far, and a bit of gravel rash on the elbows and hands. Nothing major so far!!


my first really decent stack. I had a total of about a month's worth of MTB'ing experience under my belt, and I was starting to get a bit too confident. I think there is a medical term for it ("Wade Simmons Disorder" :D)

I spent half an hour pushing my bunky old K-Mart special to the top of a local DH trail (the surface was so loose and rocky, you could barely walk it let alone than ride it!) Standing at the precipice, I launched myself off the edge (feet not locked in, body position nicely over the handlebars :rolleyes:, I made it all of about 10 metres before I went over the handlebars. The amazing thing was, that after I bit the dust, my body seemed to accelerate as it slid along the ground.

The left hand side of my body resembled one big crusty scab for a month after that - it certainly gave me something to do when there wasn't much on TV :D

And so came into being, my first (personal) golden rule of MTB'ing - "If you can't even walk it, don't try to ride it" :D

Never did go back to that trail.

Sam.

Three broken ribs after crashing and hitting a rock edge-on. The walk out was very painful and breathing was a nightmare.

Finally got home after a long solo ordeal of pain and the missus said.. "you're late for dinner!".. :mad:

I remember having to use a rope tied to the foot of the bed to help me sit up in the mornings while I was healing.

Very painful... lol.

R.

MTB'ing (so far) = minor cuts & scratches to the legs, versus karate = broken ribs, broken nose, broken toes (& one almost torn off) and frequent significant bruising to various parts of the body.
I wouldn't give up either though!!

Yeah go on nickobec, X-ray of the FUBARed collarbone. Four places... ouch!

Ok here is the X-Ray, could not find the photos of my whole shoulder in various shades of purple and yellow and the current photos do not clearly show the lump.

Nothing much to report here.
Two dinner plate size bruises on my left hip on two seperate occasions. One from getting a little too confident on a table top style jump at Whistler in October and another from a seemingly simple bunny hop off a small drop on a trail in Brisbane. Managed to land in some loose sand on the side of the trail and was catapulted head first toward a tree about a foot off the trail. I can remember wondering how big that tree was as I flew through the air towards it. Still got a lump on my hip from that after 4 weeks.

One from getting a little too confident on a table top style jump at Whistler

aaahhhh Whistler. I think I can relate to that story. I had been riding in Vancouver for about 2 1/2 months, mostly on the trails on Mt Fromme on the Nth Shore. I had only ever ridden XC in and around Canberra before arriving in Vancouver, so it was quite a step up to say the least.

Anyway, I got to Whistler and was very excited. I had been riding ok and feeling pretty chuffed. I was getting the hang of A line, and decided to give "Dirt MErchant" a go.

I was riding pretty smoothly (for me) and saw the sign saying "gap ahead". Stupidly, I thought it meant a double jump, and figured I could just ride through the jump.

It was actually a drop off from a rock maybe 4-5 foot - maybe less but I never did go back to check. Suffice to say, I landed on my front wheel due to indecision.

results - 2 broken ribs, a broken wrist, and a grade 2 tear of AC joint. Did not ride again for 3 months...

Not happy Jan, but god bless armour and full face helmets!

Once I didn't see a tree branch and it scratched my arm, no blood though.
It's not that I don't ride hard, I'm too skilled to fall off!

8 weeks ago I flipped over the bars off a steep wooden ramp onto my collarbone + smashed it pretty well.I had a plate put on it + have been back riding for 2-3 weeks nothing heroic yet. Will use body armor for anything serious .

MTB'ing (so far) = minor cuts & scratches to the legs
Not any more!! Went up to have a look at the first two days of the Wildside race last week. Took our bikes (of course), got to some of the stages early and rode parts of them. Coming down to the finish of the Montezuma Falls stage I hit a branch lying at an angle across the track, the front wheel slid along the branch and then slid out to the right. The bike then flicked back to the left and slid out from under me - I hit the ground at about 40km/h resulting in a cracked helmet, gravel rashed arm & leg, torn shirt & shorts and a shredded back pack.
Apart from that the Wildside was awesome, might have a go next year if I have a bike again! Washed them last Sunday morning & left them in the diveway to dry - about 3m from our front door. In the space of 30 minutes some bogan kids pinched them - we know who they are but the police haven't been able to catch them yet. Hopefully we will get them back in one piece!!

Montezuma is an awesome stage - I think I know that exact stick that you're talking about too - I jumped it a few weeks back and though then that it would be nasty if it got damp...... You can fair fly down that DH hey!! You don't think it's all that steep, but it's plenty long enough to make a go of it.

Sorry to hear about your bikes!! :mad:

Send your details of the bikes and someones contact details to me either via PM or email

djrayner(at)postoffice.utas.edu(dot)au

and I'll get in sent out through a tassie MTB email list I can get access to. Will get a message put up at the CBCC website too. http://www.cbcc.community.net.au

The list is state-wide, so it'll get some coverage.

I had a friend who had a (new) bike stolen on the coast, and it wound up in hobart, freshly washed, polished - and had a new pair of grips and nice new tires installed!! Talk about service!! :D

I hope you get them back soon,

Dave.

just got my new bike. third ride out testing the limits of the suspension i found it and came off and broke my rib.i think it hurts more waiting till it heals so i can go riding again.This particular section of trail has caught a few people out of late so the hosipital tells me.Before that stiches in right knee.Concussion from clipping a tree at speed and dislocating right shoulder.

More frequent than serious. Scratches & bruises etc. I'm much better now than I used to be. When I first got into riding early last year I used to come off on most rides. The kids developed the habit every time I'd get back home they would ask "Did you hurt yourself this time dad?" :)

I've just been diagnosed with my worst injury from cycling - skin cancer!

I trained on the road 6-8 hours a day for over ten years, never wore a helmet, never wore a hat, never used sunscreen, and now at the age of 34 I've got the type of skin cancer found in people in their sixties. I've got no one to blame but myself.

I'm yet to have an operation to remove the cancer, but as it is on the tip of my nose a chunk of my nose will be going with the cancer, and then skingrafts and surgery to replace what is taken off.

Well I have had a few stacks in my 8 or so years as an MTB rider... A Majority of them have been recentish too, as I seem to take my riding more seriously, and take on alot more technical terrain...


Chapter One:
The air was cool, and the big freshly preped for this days ride, the bikes first ride! :) Well it started out well but went sourish, big fire road slog which generally involves granny gear- appon beginigh the ascent I realize my bike wont shift onto the granny ring so I crank and pant, grunt and stomp my way up the hill using the 32/30 gearing combo that god desided to make me use :rolleyes:

Up top of the hilL I met a riding partner, if you could call her that- our first time riding together. The bike felt soo good at the time- we soon headed down one of my favorite pieces of single track...

Well there is a rather large boulder, down this trail, I know I have riden over it, riden around it etc... a Dozen or so times. Well this time I went straight over the top, nosedived- the front bit in hard and over I go: I do actually remember looking up while in the air and seeing my bike coming down on top of me :eek: Thud!!! I landed flat on my back, but only after smashing my wrist on a rock on the way down; the bike just missed me (thank god!). After composing myself I got up, with a nice squashed backpack on now :p Eventially went home after riding back to the botom of the trail and seeing the medics that were at the Local DH race that day.


What I got:
1x Fractured Distal Radius
1X Serverly Muscle damaged Hand (which is still stuffed I might add)
1X Fractured Big Toe
1x Now Problematic Ankle
Verious Bruses and Cuts...

4 weeks of work :p

Previous Injuries:
1x Broken Right Elbow
2X Broken Left Elbow (yes seperate times)
1X Broken Toe (also bike related, same area actually though 5 years prior)
Cartlidge Damaged Knee.


As you can see loads of injuries, Non of them have kept me from being incredably stupid though :rolleyes: I still enjoy life as it comes though I am starting to settle down a little, I'll always be a kid with my toys :p

What I got:
1x Fractured Distal Radius
1X Serverly Muscle damaged Hand (which is still stuffed I might add)
1X Fractured Big Toe
1x Now Problematic Ankle
Verious Bruses and Cuts...

4 weeks of work :p

Previous Injuries:
1x Broken Right Elbow
2X Broken Left Elbow (yes seperate times)
1X Broken Toe (also bike related, same area actually though 5 years prior)
Cartlidge Damaged Knee.


Holy crap! Huge effort Culbaire - most impressive!!! With all of these injuries, I reckon you must 'creak' when you walk! :D :D

Cheers,

Sam.

Looks like I have a torn shoulder with Bursitis..

Here's another strange injury I got the same day.. Heading back through the trail, saw a larger diameter branch sticking out into the trail. They say you go where your eyes go. Even though consciously I was wanting to move to the right to avoid, the damn thing, sharp end and all, drove into my left thigh leaving a swollen, purple, softball sized mark. Now I have a permanent indenture in my thigh that is very visible, almost as though I was impaled, yet the outer skin was not punctured.

Cracked a coupla ribs when I endo'ed into a kurb and slapped myself around a few other times. I've broken 2 helmets now so my advice is wear one! ;)

going to big on a huge gap and missing the entire landing to hit the flats led to an extremely long day of riding.

it hurt more on a mountain bike than it did on a snowmobile.

I've wiped going so fast that I was nearly skinless.

broke a rib that didn't really bother me until I rebroke it a half year later.

following fellow rider to closely when we hit a big drop and my foot slid out of my toeclip so I landed on the peddle with my leg. Horrible Infection!

ummm ive got 9 stiches i my right knee right now after yesterday and i wont be riding or playing sport 4 anoter 3 weeks or so , probably even more. And this happened 2 days b4 the school holidays started... damn i had so much riding planned and was going 2 build and make a video with my mates.

*touch wood* I haven't been involved in too many nasty MTB accidents - I do however own a lovely cyclist's "tattoo" on my right calf from my chainrings . . . I think I did this last year at a 12-hour race. It was quite a deep wound and it hurt like hell!!!

As I said, I slid down a rocky hill and took the skin off my left outer calf and about 5mm of underlying tissue as well! It hurts, but I'm still riding with it as the riding action of the muscles pumping helps keep the swelling down. The only thing I hate is the weekly debreedment(Scraping of necrotic tissue from my leg) as it HURTS! Actually, it hurts worse than the original injury! :( *touch wood* I haven't been involved in too many nasty MTB accidents - I do however own a lovely cyclist's "tattoo" on my right calf from my chainrings . . . I think I did this last year at a 12-hour race. It was quite a deep wound and it hurt like hell!!!

After 4 weeks or so of getting into this MTB'ing caper (in 1998) I had a little stack. On the 1st day of a 4 day long weekend I was messing about on a small jump just before a disused bridge. Cut a long story short, after a number of jumps all was going well..... until the last go. Just b4 hitting the ramp the front wheel got outta shape but I was committed. Over I went and landed bad on th bridge. I was heading for the edge of the bridge. A 4m drop into real shallow water so I dropped it before sliding off. Got up and all seemed well, until I got back to camp which was only 50 mtrs away. checked over the bike and no dramas but then noticed a huge amount of blood on my shorts. Looked aorund and couldn't find anything til I spied my elbow....Oh Oh. I must have landed on a rock. I had a chunk out of my arm 2" long x 1 wide in the perfect shape of a love heart.... to the bone. Nasty. Had to spend a night in hospital for surgery to clean the gravel out. Ended up with some 17 needles in 24 hours for local anesthetic, morphine, tetnus, holes for drips. Completely ballsed up a perfectly good long weekend.

Ended up with some 17 needles in 24 hours for local anesthetic, morphine, tetnus, holes for drips

Not to mention a cool heart-shaped scar on your elbow :D

Unfortunately no heart shaped scar :( . Just a butcherd mess.....that's public hosptials for ya. Actually they looked after me real well, just not very good surgeons :D .

Broke my leg (upper part of femur) on gooseberry last fall. Didn't know it was broken until I got up and tried to put weight on it. Really didn't hurt until it started to swell, then the 'take your breath away pain' was only a slight movement away. Had to get flown off the mountain into St. George. Luckily, the area is big retirement community so they have a nice hospital and lots of expertise fixing hips. Now I have $3000 worth of steel holding things together in there. Gooseberry was sweet though, what a nice day it was.

http://home.comcast.net/~donbogardus/femur.jpg

As mountain bikers we all take chances... sometimes we pay the price. What is the worst you have ever injured your self. For me it would be 3 years ago. Over the bars, hands extended, shattered the heads of the two arm bones into about 12 pieces. Three surgeries, a staff infection, and 5 months later I was almost back to normal.

First pics shows half of the external fixiture that basically held the bones in place after the surgery. Second pics is after the staff infection the docs had to back in and "excavate" out the infected tissue and re-drill the bone where the pins were. It was then left to heal from the inside out.

My wife was pretty pissed off to say the least. I was a helpless SOB. We do not always realize that we hurt more than ourselves.
Chris

Aaahhhh

hand cooter


My worst was a broken leg and torn acl.

This one looked cooler though. Couple of torn ligaments and broken footsie bones.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y263/justclas/crankle.jpg

Nothing more than a few abrasions, pain that lingers a few days after the incident (or ride in general).......

Been riding for 10+ years now, never seen the inside of a ER room....... :D

Nothing more than a few abrasions, pain that lingers a few days after the incident (or ride in general).......

Been riding for 10+ years now, never seen the inside of a ER room....... :D

Good thing you just said that.

You are sooooo fvcked.
:D

As mountain bikers we all take chances... sometimes we pay the price. What is the worst you have ever injured your self. For me it would be 3 years ago. Over the bars, hands extended, shattered the heads of the two arm bones into about 12 pieces. Three surgeries, a staff infection, and 5 months later I was almost back to normal.

First pics shows half of the external fixiture that basically held the bones in place after the surgery. Second pics is after the staff infection the docs had to back in and "excavate" out the infected tissue and re-drill the bone where the pins were. It was then left to heal from the inside out.

My wife was pretty pissed off to say the least. I was a helpless SOB. We do not always realize that we hurt more than ourselves.
Chris


My pic speaks for itself, although not as dramatic looking as yours.

I told my wife this never would have happened had I had my spot then.

She didn't buy! But it was worth a shot!

I'm a member of the 'Clav Club'. Broke my collarbone about 11 1/2 years ago. Bad enough to require a surgeon to go put the bone and connecting tissue back together.

I'ce had a couple of concussions along the way too. Makes me wonder what would have happened if I hadn't been wearing a helmet.

Compound fracture of my right femur. Yep, right through my shorts. I was in such a state of shock I tried to get up afterwards and shake it off. Bad idea. 2 months in a hospital bed in traction, then 6 weeks in a body cast....mmmmm....fun! :rolleyes: When I think back on it I'm very lucky it wasn't worse. Much worse.

This was a road riding incident (hit by a car), which explains why I hardly ride road anymore. I'll take my chances with the rocks and trees. If I "F" up it's my own damn fault.

No pretty pictures from mine (no idea how to post an MRI) I had my Subscapularis?? ( the muscle that runs from the inside of the shoulder blade to the upper part of the humerous) pull out of the Humerous:( The surgeon had to dig deep to find the end of the tendon that had retracted up into my armpit and sew it to 4 anchors drilled into my humerous, which hurt far worse for far longer than the injury itself. Now it's stronger than the other side.

Not exactly mountain biking, but I was on a mountain bike. Went over the bars on the Lakeshore Drive bike path - well, near it anyway. Going fast down a small knoll and hopped a curb at the bottom, blew my front tire on impact. Faceplant in the parking lot with no helmet. I didn't have time to put my hands down it happened so fast - I scraped the skin off of my knuckles on both hands. I drove my sunglasses into my nose, folded over the septum, sent gravel through my top lip and into the tip of my nose, scraped off skin to the bone on my cheek and very nearly lost my left eye.

I asked the surgeon who sewed me up how many stitches it took, and he said "That's like asking how many nails it takes to build a house". The most painful part was having my nose re-broken with some midevil needle-nose pliers while under a "local anesthetic". I freaked when after having 10 novacaine shots to my face I could feel the pliers up in my nose. Too late - CRACK!

Not really a major deal in the perspective of a spinal injury, so I consider myself lucky.

Good thing you just said that.

You are sooooo fvcked.
:D

Shhhhhhhh

Im going to Moab in a week........dont wanna jinx it........ :D

I'm here nursing some bruised (maybe cracked?) ribs from a boxing day ride learning DJ's. I feel very lucky compared to some of the horror stories above.

Rockgarden has a good selection of armour. Anybody make any recomendations for upper body protection? I have Roach leg and arm but my chest and spine could probably do with something as well.

My wife was pretty pissed off to say the least. I was a helpless SOB. We do not always realize that we hurt more than ourselves.
Chris

How true those words are, even more so if she witnessed the accident.

Mine didn't happen on my bike. I lost my footing on the stairs. Bounced half way
down on my arse only to have my feet catch and launch me in to somersault
impacting my right shoulder on the bottom step, crushing the top of the clavicle
breaking it in three places. The pic is from three months after the surgery.
The main break is almost filled in. The other two you can't see any more.

Last year (2004) I crashed my road bike breaking my pelvis in two places.
A crack through the right hip socket and a fracture in the bottom lobe.
No surgery required, just lots of rest.

What's interesting is that bothhave taken about the same amount of time to heal.
Though the clavicle is/was the most annoying. For 2 to 3 months I was one handed
with the wrong hand. Shaving became a dangerous endeaver.

michael

I'd bet some of you guys have trouble getting through the airport metal detectors.

I've been lucky, my worst crash was an endo on the road bike. Just a bunch of road rash and the ire of the riders in the paceline that I managed to knock down :D

On the bike in 2000 I was coming around a sweeping right hand curve on hard pack with a dusting of sand over it at about 25mph and the front wheel washed out on me and I pile drove my right knee into the ground which ended up grinding about a 3 inch diameter area off my knee and severly bruising the fluid sack under my knee cap. I couldn walk normal (couldn't bend my knee) for almost 8 weeks.

Off the bike, make sure you are sitting down for this.......

on 4-5-05 I was returning from my GFs place up north and I hit black ice at 45mph in my Ford Explorer and rolled 3 times. My injuries consisted of: Right side 1 broken rib, and severly bruised lung. Left side: Broken and dislocated Clavical, 4 broken ribs 2 of which punctured and collapsed my left lung, ruptured spleen (I was not stable enough for it to be removed it finaly stoped bleeding on its own) and a concusion with severe bruising to the left side of my head/face. I was airlifted down to the valley and spent a week in a medicaly induced coma which no one knew if I was going to live or wakeup from.


Quote of the day...."Every day you are alive is a good day, some days are better than others but every day is still a good day to be alive"

but he can still drink like a champ! cant ya freek? i was with him on his 1st ride back and even then hes no slouch.

me? i once got my feelings hurt real bad. other than that:

'72: cut my sack on the stem durrin a otb. thought it was a good idea to use a band aid. i was wrong.

'77: busted out my teeth in a fight, which i won, days after gettin my braces. you shoulda seen the other guy. no, really. ya shoulda. we became friends later.

'77: busted my teeth out again jumpin my bmx bike into a wooden pole. and no, that wasnt the plan. im dumb as a box of rocks but common people.

'94: 1st xc race; busted clavacal, scapula, 2 ribs in 4 places, tooth, hip, substancial concusion and still dont remember much of that day. so much for not pre-ridin the course. i walked out a mile before the copter took me in. oh, and i got the flu 3 days later. ever sneeze with 4 busted ribs? its so much fun the memory itself brings back the tears and the sobbing.

'94: same trail, 2 more busted ribs. finished that ride as it was the last one before it went to the golfers. yeah, i can be a tough sob when i wanna be.

'95: dbl compound fracture of the ulna and radius. almost lost my right arm. 2 surguries, a bit on my old busted hip in my new arm and years of rehab. still a major issue to this day. another case of goin way too fast on a trail id never seen before. youve all seen the xrays right?

'97: ac sepperation in a bmx race. took a pedal to the back and that was with a full daneies suit

'98: full ac sepperation in another bmx race. cased my shoulder into the last tripple. cant teach a old coot new tricks can ya?

'03: busted ankle. twisted my toes up to my shin then around to my calf when i got a toe spike stuck in the ice at aprox 2 mph. you can imagine the damage im sure. more pain than i care to remember. weeks of it. total sucking. yet another surgury didnt help matters much but a good doc fixed me up once again and its almost right besides all the limping. thanx john.

the worst one? my feelings for sure. scarred me for life. ill never get over it jm. hehe. i kid. me thinks its time to offer him up a dt spoke shaped into the likeness of a flower and start fresh.

I came off the bike in a race when I thought I was going to jump up onto a tabletop kind of jump and it ended up being a drop. I fell 6-8 feet and bounced once straight down onto the rear wheel, then came off the bike and tore open a deep blood blister over my right butt cheek just to the outside of the muscle. It held 6 ounces of blood when they drained it the first time. I was also purple from my waist to my ankle.

The surgeon had to drain it a total of 10 times to keep the thing from becoming a permanent fluid filled pouch. I was off the bike for 10 weeks. The injury didn't hurt too much, what really hurt was not being able to ride for that much time.

I've also broken my wrist and a couple of ribs. I was hit by a car once, but all I got was some huge bruises from that. Oh, and I guess I've probably lost a couple dozen square inches of skin over the years.

I got really sick of FoSnitzzles BS one day and called him on it. It turned into a major scuffle and well, I had to take a little visit to the ER.

But, you should see what I did to him!

I had my hip Replaced,so I know your pain.I am a o.r. nurse and have fixed plenty of clavicals and had mine fixed to but the hip is a long lasting injury good luck!!!

I had my hip Replaced,so I know your pain.I am a o.r. nurse and have fixed plenty of clavicals and had mine fixed to but the hip is a long lasting injury good luck!!!

I did this on June 2, 2003. Was back on the bike end of Aug. Leg strength for cycling came back pretty quick. I'm still working on flexibility to this day, although not as much as I should. I was never a flexible person to begin with, so it's a PITA for me to do the stretches and exercises.

The Ortho-ped said the break was about 10mm away from having to have a hip replacement.
How's yours going? What kind of hip did they put in?

I still have my hardware in, the one long bolt that protrudes from the bone is starting to bother me, so I'm thinking of having them removed. They will make a nice wind chime hung from the chainring.

Later!

Here's my tibia from Chiapas, July 4th this year. Actually, didn't happen on the bike, this was "just walking along..."

I wish I had my head meets London asphalt pictures here. I've got a nice 3" scar on my forehead from that, and the right side of my cranium is still numb 7 years later. Couldn't open my eyes for 3 days, and it was the mother of all headaches. Wear a helmet kids!

[QUOTE=cactuscorn]but he can still drink like a champ! cant ya freek? i was with him on his 1st ride back and even then hes no slouch.QUOTE]



Hey keep it down will ya, this hangover is killin me ;) .

I have A DePuy S-Rom Hip metal on metal.
.

Good luck to both of you!

When I was in the ER and it came back that I had broken my pelvis a chill went through me!
It's the one bone that defines us a human. Its unique shape allows us to walk upright.
That and the hip placement. Hip repair and/or replacement is a life time injury. I got lucky.
No surgery required. Just let nature do her work. A year and a half later it's like it never
happened.

Oh...I forget to mention...
both accidents involved broken ribs...
they heal fast but, damn...
are they painful before they do.

michael

I got my first mtb in 1985 at age 30. Until 2001 the wheels stayed on the ground, and not a whole lot of bad stuff seemed to happen. Late 2001 I bought my first big travel bike and started really ramping it up. Late 2002 I crashed on a good sized jump and broke my collarbone, punctured a lung, broke 7 ribs and seperated a shoulder, ouch good start. Coming back from that injury in spring 2003 I was hucking off a sandy rock and the back of the bike slipped out and I landed hip first on a rock at the bottom and took out my pelvis. After 8 months of recovery time I was out DJing a nice little 6 pack of doubles and cranked my ACL. That was 1 year ago, and I still can't straighten that leg all the way.

Lots of other smaller injuries as well, but those are the ones that kept me off the bike for a long while. I made my goal of making it all the way through 2005 without any more major ouches. I didn't do one double digit huck this year.

BTW, as for the worst, it was the broken pelvis. Being in the center of your body, every move you make involves it, and it was super painful.

Fractured skull - got creamed by a guy in a van while riding to the trail. Broke a few teeth when I biffed a landing one time - tough walk out of the woods.

Not too serious… Endoed at about 15 mph into a pile of rocks and cactus. Got up and try to straighten the front wheel, disconnect front break and decide to visit bike shop first to get the bike fixed. Pass out and collapse in bike shop from loss of blood…

I was still picking cactus out of me in the ER.

- separated sternum/clavicle joint with some rotator cuff injury

- broken scapula

- fractured lumbar vertebra and massive muscle bruising in lower back

- dislocated finger... TWICE

- sprained ankles... many

First pics shows half of the external fixiture that basically held the bones in place after the surgery. Second pics is after the staff infection the docs had to back in and "excavate" out the infected tissue and re-drill the bone where the pins were. It was then left to heal from the inside out.

My wife was pretty pissed off to say the least. I was a helpless SOB. We do not always realize that we hurt more than ourselves.
Chris

Ahh, that first pic looks familiar! I had one just like it on my left hand. (Im left handed) I endoed and rolled right on my wrist after a epic ride - about 10 minutes from being back to the trailhead. Was tired and did not react in time. What sucked most was I had just spent a month off the bike with two broken fingers on the same hand and was just getting back into the groove. It was to be almost three months more before I was riding again.

Busted my pelvis in Moab. Was using a bed pan for a week, a walker for a week after that (was great to be able to use a toilet again), crutches for a week, a cane for about 3 weeks, a bike after 2 months.

Not being able to walk made me rethink what i wanted to do on a bike, been a lycra wearing XC guy ever since.

worst one was 8 weeks ago. just riding along the bike path at night following a buddy with the light. i didnt have the light. he yells something, i see a black thing on the path and ran into a bike placed in the middle of the path. i dont remember much. ended up with a fractured clavicle and three broken ribs. i'm pretty much back on the trail starting this past weekend. such a relief. the 5 spot came only some scratches on the rear D. truly a tough bike.

this was my third and hopefully last fractured clavicle from biking.

Spiral fracture of the 5th meta-carpal. The fix required 2 Ti screws.

I hit a tree w/o ever letting go of the bars - all the Dr.'s asked me who I punched!

I fell 6-8 feet and bounced once straight down onto the rear wheel, then came off the bike and tore open a deep blood blister over my right butt cheek just to the outside of the muscle.


that reminds me of the time riding no hands clipped in... my big ass broke the seatpost and i landed onto the rear wheel. taco'd the wheel.. my ass hurt bad.

Holy ****, there are some serious injuries here, it helps to stay upright in case you guys didn't know ;) I got splated by a car last July but walked away with a broken bone and a bad wound amazingly, besides that, a few broken bones here and there and a seperated shoulder.

cactus- dude, your a mess :D

Aqua- You know you look like that guy who played Herman Munster don't you?

Gravity ALWAYS wins.
Things you shouldn't do at age 45.

patrick

Third ride on my nice new 5 Spot. Combination of too much speed, spongy forks and a small jump led to a massive endo- you know the one where mid air you have time to think "**** this is going to hurt". Result 5 broken ribs and a broken collar bone.

Slipped on a now infamous flat cement mossy water crossing. Dislodged and rotated lunate bone in my left wrist. Bone was removed along with 5 other bones in that carpul row, to avoid permenant nerve damage in my hand. I now have 30% flexion and extension in that wrist. In other words, pushups on my fists for life.

Terminaut has pics.

[QUOTE=tigerdog]Here's my tibia from Chiapas, July 4th this year. Actually, didn't happen on the bike, this was "just walking along..."

I am on week 4, down to a walking cast (long leg off the other day)- (putting a little bit of weight on it), have the same injury but a double fracture but no surgery...how long before you were "healed" (i.e., bone union complete)?

Cheers,

[QUOTE=tigerdog]Here's my tibia from Chiapas, July 4th this year. Actually, didn't happen on the bike, this was "just walking along..."

I am on week 4, down to a walking cast (long leg off the other day)- (putting a little bit of weight on it), have the same injury but a double fracture but no surgery...how long before you were "healed" (i.e., bone union complete)?

Cheers,

4 months before the Doc gave me the all clear. My brother-in-law is an orthopaedic sports surgeon. He said the tibia is a slow healer, something to do with location and blood supply and stuff. Still hurts a little when I run, but otherwise it's great. Might have to get the plate removed next Christmas, though.

Mine was twisted so my foot was out 90 degrees and I broke the other smaller bone (can't remember what it's called). I consider myself really lucky that I was able to get it operated on where I was. It would have really sucked to have to be flown back to Mexico City for the op. Plus, they gave me a local so I got to watch the whole thing! :)

All the best with your recovery. The first month is definitely the worst.

[QUOTE=arandal]

4 months before the Doc gave me the all clear. My brother-in-law is an orthopaedic sports surgeon. He said the tibia is a slow healer, something to do with location and blood supply and stuff. Still hurts a little when I run, but otherwise it's great. Might have to get the plate removed next Christmas, though.

Mine was twisted so my foot was out 90 degrees and I broke the other smaller bone (can't remember what it's called). I consider myself really lucky that I was able to get it operated on where I was. It would have really sucked to have to be flown back to Mexico City for the op. Plus, they gave me a local so I got to watch the whole thing! :)

All the best with your recovery. The first month is definitely the worst.

tigerdog thanks...

but 4 months....SHEAT! Oh well, it appears to be healing alright. I wonder if I'll be divorced before then, Having a 14 month old who just started walking is a trial

so when did you go from crutches to walking a bit?....do you think recovery is quicker w/o surgery? I really hope so but patience is a virtue right?

Cheers,

so when did you go from crutches to walking a bit?....do you think recovery is quicker w/o surgery? I really hope so but patience is a virtue right?

Cheers,

Your mileage may vary. It might be quicker for you, I really don't know. I was on 2 crutches for 2 months, then one crutch, putting a little more weight on it each week. Later I was only using the crutch to negotiate stairs and stuff. Getting down to one crutch makes everything much easier.

Patience is definitely useful. I just kept reminding myself how lucky I was. It could have been much worse.:)

The sock shows how it happened!

Julee

I was with Nels last October, joining the Turner Homer gathering. As we drove from Boise to Utah, Nels and I rode Thunder Mountain, then proceeded to St. George to join the convoy. We rode with Team Sanchez and tscheezy at Gooseberry the next day, and had a fun ride. Then Nels, tscheezy and I were just getting started on the Slickrock Swamp trail and I took a spill over the bars. It was on a short descent, and I actually landed on my feet, thinking I could outrun a forward fall while high-stepping downhill, but something tripped me up. A freak incident really. I landed with all my weight on my right kneecap, and felt an immediate pain. I looked at my knee, and there was a rock about an inch cubed, lodged in my knee. I yanked it out pronto recognizing it as the source of my pain. Thinking there may be more foreign matter in the gash, I squeeze surrounding skin to force anything else out, when a white rounded rock appeared. I tried to remove it, but oops, that was the end of my femur, and isn't supposed to come out. This was such a bummer. I knew my trip was over, at the least I'd need some stitches, and there would be no way to continue with the gathering to Moab for another week.

I hobbled my way back to the trailhead and Nels' van, cleaned up my wound, iced it, popped an Ibuprofen, and waited for the guys to finish their ride so I could be driven to the St. George ER. Well,...it was much worse than anticipated, fractured patella. Whisked to surgery, a couple of pins installed, four days in the hospital, and then an excruciating flight home to return to Alaska. My wife even flew down to accompany me!

Nine weeks of physical therapy followed, in which I did more harm. In an attempt to regain my range of motion in my knee joint, I was unknowingly putting force on top of my patella, having the effect of widening my fractures. The gaps were growing, I wasn't making any gains, and a new strategy was needed. My doctor conferred with his associates to just remove the fragments, since I'd still have plenty of kneecap remaining. So with a second surgery they went in with basically a hammer and chisel, and tapped through a lengthy vertical fracture. In the process one of the wires broke, but the remainder I still will do no harm, just filling a drilled void and will eventually be encased in bone.

Another six weeks of therapy followed, and I could tell I was finally making gains without the severe pain associated with the first round. I'm just now starting to ride again, after almost six months! I have a ton of strength to regain, and have lost some endurance as well, but I'm determined.

I've tried to be brief here, but I wanted to tell my story as a lesson to all to wear their armor as a preventive measure to avoid incidents such as mine. I could handle the pain, the inconveniencing of family, loss of work, but what I missed the most was time off the bike and not being able to participate in another week with twenty other Turner riders in Moab. The guys were great though keeping me informed with pics.

I'll probably always have to protect this knee now, since I can't afford another injury to this kneecap. But that's okay, if it lets me ride.

I had a great time meeting CrashTheDOG, El Chingon, Can't Get Right, LycraFR, and BobtheWheelbuilder at the ER, but I missed out on meeting a ton of others and even more excellent rides. Don't let yourself have a story like this, I'll always be thinking of the consequences now.

Rando

Your mileage may vary. It might be quicker for you, I really don't know. I was on 2 crutches for 2 months, then one crutch, putting a little more weight on it each week. Later I was only using the crutch to negotiate stairs and stuff. Getting down to one crutch makes everything much easier.

Patience is definitely useful. I just kept reminding myself how lucky I was. It could have been much worse.:)

Yes absolutely...Mine could have been much, much worse..I was mtbiking by myself and hit a tree with my helmet, which knocked my balance off, put me off the trail into a creek..Had no cellphone coverage down in the creek, so hauled myself up, straightened leg against railway tie and called friend to call 911...about two hours later they found me and got me out on a backboard..then in a pickup truck and then to an ambulance...I have written and thanked those who helped me on the NorCAl forum about a month ago, ...

I am thankful I can drive and go to work. I would go bonkers at home...funny enough the weekends are the worst!!

Yeah, patience is that which I have to have indeed. But most of all I miss biking!!!.....so much BOO HOO HOO

ANYways, thanks for the info...

Yeah, patience is that which I have to have indeed. But most of all I miss biking!!!.....so much BOO HOO HOO

ANYways, thanks for the info...

Being off the bike was the worst part of it.The best part was getting a brand new Burner 2 weeks after returning to riding. :D

I mention this before on here, but since you asked. On my first Mountain bike ride I endu and somehow broke my foot and ankle. My ankle was broke on both sides and I had a jones fracture in my foot. I didn't have clippless pedals or clips. I was told the Jones fracture could take anywhere between 8 weeks and 6 months to heal. I was lucky, mine took 8 weeks to heal up.

Well the only thing I can say is never had more fun getting hurt in my life. Despite the injury I fell in love with sport. It only took one bad ride.

Fractured skull - got creamed by a guy in a van while riding to the trail. Broke a few teeth when I biffed a landing one time - tough walk out of the woods.
How do you assist the healing of a fractured skull? What's recovery like?

here's my recent. right radius. i was daydreaming and nailed a parked car. i feel like a dumbass.

This one looked cooler though. Couple of torn ligaments and broken footsie bones.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y263/justclas/crankle.jpg

you need to give back that gangrenous diabetic dude's leg.

+++++++++++++++++++++

3 different torso injuries, 3 different occasions.

-cracked lumbar vertebrae

-detached sternum/clavicle joint and some shoulder bursa injury

-fractured scapula

plenty of dislocated and broken fingers, jammed wrists, sprained ankles.

I don't have any pics [sorry!] but in 1993 I broke my femur; a spiral fracture, just below the head of the femur. Snapped it completely off. When doctors ask you what your pain level is on a scale of one to ten, I now can honestly say I know what a pain level of eleven is. The three hours before they eventually put me under for surgery was the longest three hours of my life. They pumped me full of morphine, but it didn't do jack. I use to think that I could handle pain, tough it out. That gets tough when your thigh muscles start involuntarily contracting, and move the broken ends of your femur around. The nurses in the hospital asked me to be quiet. I asked them some some real F*cking drugs!
Eleven screws and a bar of metal bolted the bone back together, the hardware was taken out a year later.
Don't ever brake a femur if you can avoid it!

Who has the worst injury out there? i've heard some pretty nasty stories.. I almost drowned once (no broken bones or anything), the day i got my clipless pedals i went out riding and fell down in a little creek about 6 inches deep and couldn't get out. thank god my friend was riding with my and was able to get me out of there.

hmmm...


2 knee reconstruction surgery, 1 shoulder reconstruction surgery, 1 broken elbow, 1 broken forearm, multiple broken ribs, and a concussion or 2, all in 10 years of riding.

the worst so far is the shoulder, hardest to come back from.

Broken collar bone. Been riding for 6 years.

most serious had to getting hit head-on by a cab that pulled out over the double yellow to pass. 1 fractured skull and 2 broken arms. had a blood clot on my brain and ended up with double vision for a week. the headaches the double vision caused were so bad as to keep me in bed the whole time.

most blood was when i went over the bars after clipping a jump with my front wheel when picking up for it in a bmx races. landed face first breaking my nose, 2 front teeth and biting my tongue off almost drowning in my own blood on the way to hospital.

hyper-extended knee was the most rehab. broken tibia, ACL removed, torn pletela tedon and menecus. two surgeries and 8 months of rehab later, back on the bike.

full list of injuries includes, 6 broken arms, a broken collar bone, broken femur, broken hip, broken tibia, 2 skull fracture

most serious had to getting hit head-on by a cab that pulled out over the double yellow to pass. 1 fractured skull and 2 broken arms. had a blood clot on my brain and ended up with double vision for a week. the headaches the double vision caused were so bad as to keep me in bed the whole time.

most blood was when i went over the bars after clipping a jump with my front wheel when picking up for it in a bmx races. landed face first breaking my nose, 2 front teeth and biting my tongue off almost drowning in my own blood on the way to hospital.

hyper-extended knee was the most rehab. broken tibia, ACL removed, torn pletela tedon and menecus. two surgeries and 8 months of rehab later, back on the bike.

full list of injuries includes, 6 broken arms, a broken collar bone, broken femur, broken hip, broken tibia, 2 skull fracture
We can never hang out.... I'm sorry!

My ego has been bruised hard a few times! :madman:

HUGH
:)

We can never hang out.... I'm sorry!

My ego has been bruised hard a few times! :madman:

HUGH
:)

me too

full list of injuries includes, 6 broken arms, a broken collar bone, broken femur, broken hip, broken tibia, 2 skull fracture

Ever considered a safer sport? Like skydiving? :D

Am currently rehabbing from a bad shoulder dislocation from a trip OTB. Broke my clavicle in two places a couple of years ago from a similar accident. I've been really lucky.

Ever considered a safer sport? Like skydiving? :D


no lie, i tried golf and ended up in the ER getting stitches. yes, GOLF.

broken colar bone, and then busted ribs, but nothing compared to ruptured calf muscle (painful) still not healed over a year :madman:

no lie, i tried golf and ended up in the ER getting stitches. yes, GOLF.

I think Chess is for you. One of those sets for kids with the big pieces that you can't choke on...

Who has the worst injury out there? i've heard some pretty nasty stories.. I almost drowned once (no broken bones or anything), the day i got my clipless pedals i went out riding and fell down in a little creek about 6 inches deep and couldn't get out. thank god my friend was riding with my and was able to get me out of there.

Some poster named Jewell of Denial (or something like that) broke her neck and has to wear a halo for many months. Then there's the guy who broke his face and skull on the edge of a curb and had to have a straw in his brain to drain fluids. There have been some others almost as nasty around here.

Worst I've done is got my bell rung and lots of bruising. (Knocking on wood)

Some poster named Jewell of Denial (or something like that) broke her neck and has to wear a halo for many months.

Wow - I had to look that person up to see if it was who I thought it was (it wasn't)

True story - I was a course marshal at a race this summer... one of the racers went OTB and had a similar injury... also broke her helmet in two, rapidly bleeding head wound... anyway, there was an EMT right there who stabilized the woman's head so they could package her and get her out - took something like three hours. She's going to be OK but is also wearing a halo and has a lot of PT to look forward to.

no lie, i tried golf and ended up in the ER getting stitches. yes, GOLF.

You're lucky. I got golf balls. Hurts a lot more than tennis elbow! :D

no lie, i tried golf and ended up in the ER getting stitches. yes, GOLF.

Might I suggest wearing armor and a full-face for playing chess?

well, assuming this is bike related injuries, wasn't sure cause you didn't state, then i haven't had anything too bad.

one broken knuckle, but hey... it just tought me to ride one handed wheelies!!

about 3 concusions and some road rash to the face and that is about it.

oh and one time i had the spike of my platforms go into my shin and it was really really deep. should have gotten stitches cause it actually bled for 4 days before it started to close up. it was about, uh, 5-6 months ago? now it is a nice dent in my shin along with a scar. took about 2 months to close up and quit oozing and all that. oh well. threw on some gauz*sp* then put some pre wrap and then taped it up and it was ready to ride!

I had the misfortune to snag the pointed end of some deadfall on one of the mountain biking trails in Steamboat Springs 2 weeks ago while riding downhill. Coming around a blind turn, it went right through my arm and “unhorsed” me quite abruptly and left me sitting in the middle of the trail dazed, confused, and bleeding.

I think I know now what it must have been like to be a knight in King Arthur's time - seeing one of those lance's coming right at you, hitting you and knocking you off your trusty steed - brutal.

Fortunately for me, I never ride alone or without a first aid kit. My riding partner that day also happened to be an EMT and quickly stabilized the situation with the assistance of three other riders. At first it looked like my arm was broken, but that was because a piece of the tree had broken off in my arm. Since the impalement of my arm was the only injury incurred, I thought I could walk out and down to my car and then go to the hospital. I could not; every attempt to stand up resulted in passing out and and it was not possible.

Ultimately, our local search and rescue took me off the mountain, to the ER, and then to the OR to clean out all of the crap in my arm. No broken bones - went right between the radius and the ulna bones and missed all major blood carriers and nerves - just massive tissue damage. The orthopod that operated on me said that the inside of my arm looked like a hand grenade went off - shredded meat.

Two weeks later I am riding again, but now I slide on the Roach armor - had I been wearing it, we wouldn't be reading this post.:thumbsup:

here's my worst... I went to a collegiate race in Kentucky. I'm an XC guy, but I decided to do the DS race too. Not a good idea.... I went off a jump, tried not to get air, got air, front wheel landed way before the back wheel, I landed on my face and broke my jaw. I went the local redneck hospitol to get it looked at. They confirmed that it was broken, gave me some morphine, and told me to get it looked at at home. That's a 7.5 hour drive home, with a broken, jaw, and an upset stomach from the morphine. 3 or 4 days later I finally got it wired shut and was stuck on a liquid diet for 6 weeks. Not fun. I haven't done a DS race since, but I'm getting more and more aggressive on my XC bike..... so you never know!

Oh and I'm pretty sure my helmet saved me from being a vegetable!

Worst and only riding related injury was from when a car pulled out in front of me while training on the road.
Seperated and shattered left collarbone. It wouldn't heal, so they removed it after 6 months.

I damaged a joint in the knuckle of my middle finger last fall and had to wear a brace for awhile, but it healed up so no surgery was needed. Know what did it? A thorn lol.

Other than that, nothing worse than road rash and a nice gash across my face, which actually went over my eye (slicing my eyelid) without touching anything vital.

Some of you guys have some pretty hardcore injuries though...

end of my first season mtb'ing (1998): endoed & shattered pelvis, broke wrist, tore rotator cuff (off the bike for 3 months)

spring 2001: swan dived off a log stunt in Whistler, BC - compression fracture in vertebra C-6 (off the bike for 5 months)

ouch.

rt

most serious had to getting hit head-on by a cab that pulled out over the double yellow to pass. 1 fractured skull and 2 broken arms. had a blood clot on my brain and ended up with double vision for a week. the headaches the double vision caused were so bad as to keep me in bed the whole time.

most blood was when i went over the bars after clipping a jump with my front wheel when picking up for it in a bmx races. landed face first breaking my nose, 2 front teeth and biting my tongue off almost drowning in my own blood on the way to hospital.

hyper-extended knee was the most rehab. broken tibia, ACL removed, torn pletela tedon and menecus. two surgeries and 8 months of rehab later, back on the bike.

full list of injuries includes, 6 broken arms, a broken collar bone, broken femur, broken hip, broken tibia, 2 skull fracture

have you every considered wrapping youiself in bubble wrap for protection?! :D

rt

Nothing major here as i have been lucky as a dog. But i did cause some problems for a kid once racing at the arenacross nationals. I was in 3rd place and the only spot i could catch the kid was by doing the dig double. 3rd lap and the time come for me to go for the pass. I hit the double and it shoots you up in the air about 30 feet and the landing was about 60 feet away. As I am in the air I was watching the poor kid and he suddenly disappears underneath me, I hurriedly looked on the otherside of my bike hopeing to see him come out from under me. No go. I left the bike at idle so I wouldn't chew him up so bad. I landed with my front wheel on his right collarbone/chest, my frame cased him in the lower back and my rear wheel was on the left side of his motorcycle. I landed totally crossed on top of him and smashed him between the 2 bikes. My front tire never even hit the ground and I was highsided off the bike landing on my left leg almost like stepping off the bike. Miracuously the kid stood back up and I could tell he was tore up, his right shoulder was about 6 inches lower than the left one. I apologized to him as the medics were takeing care of him and all the skin was ripped off from the front of the chest, up over his shoulder and all the way down his back disappearing into his pants. Boy oh boy did his mother chew me a new one. I told her I knew what was gonna happen and to minimalize the damage I landed with no power to the rear wheel. It was an accident that just happens. I forgot to wear my kidney belt that race(only time ever) and spent the next 14hrs. curled up in the front seat of the van on the way home from Denver in pure agony. It wasn't my worst but definately the most damage that I was involved in.

most serious had to getting hit head-on by a cab that pulled out over the double yellow to pass. 1 fractured skull and 2 broken arms. had a blood clot on my brain and ended up with double vision for a week. the headaches the double vision caused were so bad as to keep me in bed the whole time.

most blood was when i went over the bars after clipping a jump with my front wheel when picking up for it in a bmx races. landed face first breaking my nose, 2 front teeth and biting my tongue off almost drowning in my own blood on the way to hospital.

hyper-extended knee was the most rehab. broken tibia, ACL removed, torn pletela tedon and menecus. two surgeries and 8 months of rehab later, back on the bike.

full list of injuries includes, 6 broken arms, a broken collar bone, broken femur, broken hip, broken tibia, 2 skull fracture


Good grief - broken femur and two skull fractures! I guess you are OK.

Take care,
Terry

Grade 3 AC seperation left, torn what ever it's called in rt shoulder, broken wrist, broken femur, multiple broken/seperated ribs, multiple cuts scratches, gouges and bruses. Shoot,, I need to ease up. Don't heal as fast at 51 as at 16. :thumbsup:

This thread is very discouraging. Like a train wreck you just cant look away. But all these injuries are telling me that on any given ride I could wake up at the bottom of a ditch in the woods all bloody and broken.

Worst I've done is dislocated my arm at the sholder doing a superman over the bars after my front tire folded over in a hard turn.

Brado: How do you rupture a calf?

I think Chess is for you. One of those sets for kids with the big pieces that you can't choke on...

dude same thing here. in gym class we were playing golf, i got hit in the face with a golf club, got an ambulance to the er from the school. then i had to get about 100 stitches to reattach everything back to my face.. and now the left side of my head is numb, doc says it will be numb for the rest of my life probably. haven't touched a golf club in 4 years haha.

i slapped my right knee on my handlebar twice in one season. bruised the crap out of my kneecap and related tissue lotta blood, lotta swelling, lotta pain. no ER though. just painful to ride or use stairs for about a month.

i've been very very lucky. riding for 8 years now.

I took the girlfriend, who has been very cool about giving mt biking a try as she adores my passion for it, out for another ride yesterday. The trail was one that she has done a couple of times and has had fun. She has hypermobile/unstable shoulders already and took a fall about a month ago on the same trail and subluxed her R shoulder. Fast forward to yesterday. Out on the same relatively non-technical trail and she hits a soft sand spot on the flattest part of the trail and fall on her Left side. I heard a "pop" thinking it was her cleat clicking out right! After I tested her ankle stability, all looks ok, maybe just a bone bruise where she hit the groung with her ankle. A wierd pattern of swelling coaxes us to get some imaging, complete displaced oblique fx of the distal Fibula on the Right. The "pos" we heard was not her cleat, it was her bone breaking. Surgery scheduled for later this week.

I was just getting her comfort level up on the bike to the point where she was liking mt biking and now she doesn't want to touch one again.

Torn Testicle.

Yes. It hurt.
No. It doesn't grow back.
Yes. I have a prostetic.

after endoing in a downhill rock garden i got a compression fracture of c6 also. rodeon for2 1\2 hrs. went to see my g.f. at work drank a couple of beers. two days later while moving a fridge i couldn't stand upright. off the bike for 6 weeks. still won't dide that trail

Torn Testicle.

Yes. It hurt.
No. It doesn't grow back.
Yes. I have a prostetic.



and we have a winner folks!!

if anyone can top tearing a testicle i am quite interested in hearing it

Torn Testicle.

Yes. It hurt.
No. It doesn't grow back.
Yes. I have a prostetic.

winner winner, chicken dinner. How long did it take to heal?

If you have more than that, than "YOU" FU'd.! You can blame it on whatever, but in the end, you got in over your experience level, testosterone driven or not, and got caught. Kinda like driving down an "empty" road at 120+ just to see how fast it can go until a cop pulls you over.

There is NO glory in hurting yourself, rather it is a sign of Macho stupidity and getting in over your head !! There is no such thing as an "accidental accident" in MB'ng. This is coming from a 52 yr old that's been rock climbing for 35 yrs at up to 5.13 and hardcore Mtn Bk'g for 20.

This thread is no better than a bunch of Gang Bangers standing around telling there 'Bro's how many people they've shot. :mad: :mad: :mad:

If you have more than that, than "YOU" FU'd.! You can blame it on whatever, but in the end, you got in over your experience level, testosterone driven or not, and got caught. Kinda like driving down an "empty" road at 120+ just to see how fast it can go until a cop pulls you over.

There is NO glory in hurting yourself, rather it is a sign of Macho stupidity and getting in over your head !! There is no such thing as an "accidental accident" in MB'ng. This is coming from a 52 yr old that's been rock climbing for 35 yrs at up to 5.13 and hardcore Mtn Bk'g for 20.

This thread is no better than a bunch of Gang Bangers standing around telling there 'Bro's how many people they've shot. :mad: :mad: :mad:

sometimes people get hurt whem they push themselves, in a race for instance. you dont know where your limit is unless you push it. i agree, there is nothing cool about injuring yourself, and i think it quite taboo to talk about injuries/crashes before or during a ride, but they can make for good stories and you can learn from the mistakes of others. lets face it, if we never pushed ourselves to the next level, most would still be pedaling around on training wheels afraid to scrape a knee.

I don't remeber the details of how/why, but here it goes..

On December 2, 2005 I was riding back to my apartment late at night following some heavy beer drinking and pump-track racing. Something happened around 10:30pm and couple saw me lying by the side of the road at about 12am. Unresponsive, I was taken by ambulance to the hospital with massive, life-threatening internal bleeding. Then I was in ICU for a week with a severly lacerated liver, numerous broken ribs, a herniated stomach, a broken tooth, and a lot of internal bleeding. I don't know what happened, doctors think it was a hit and run. Had it not been cold and snowing that night and those people not found found me, I would have bled to death. Grand total: 12 metal coils that now hold my liver together, a really fun root canal, $100k in medical bills, severe acid reflux, a semi-cool story (girls love near death stuff), and the ability to ride again. I'm not sure which was worse the 2 weeks in the hospital or the 6 weeks of no riding. The accident changed my life in a very positive way. I decided to quit binge drinking, move from the front range to the western slope, and spend as much possible time on my bike as possible from now on. Gotta keep on keepin on, lifes a garden, DIG IT!

2 weeks after (right side view):
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h191/noahsears/Accident.jpg

hmmm...
2 knee reconstruction surgery, 1 shoulder reconstruction surgery, 1 broken elbow, 1 broken forearm, multiple broken ribs, and a concussion or 2, all in 10 years of riding.

the worst so far is the shoulder, hardest to come back from.

I just recovered from my worst, a tangle with a couple trees resultsing in bruised left ribs and collapsed lung. Of course then I had to go right back and break a right rib.... just to even things out.

Let's see...dislocated both shoulders (different times), sprained wrists and ankles numerous times, lots of skin taken off, and now am recovering from a broken tibia/fibula from when a truck hit me.

Riding is still fun!

Cheers

KavuRider

spring 2001: swan dived off a log stunt in Whistler, BC - compression fracture in vertebra C-6 (off the bike for 5 months)

rt

5 months? I hadn't realized that fall caused you that much trouble! When I compressed my L-1 just over 2 years ago I was off the bike for 2 months, riding road only for a month or so after that, then gradually got into easy XC trails. I was riding Whizzler bike park again about 4 1/2 or 5 months after the injury! (although a bit more cautious on the bike then before)

Kn.

onbelaydave: You're wrong. Equipment failures, adverse trail conditions, there are so many things that can contribute to a crash. Its not always trying to "push the envelope" or being stupid.

KavuRider

Broken arm, broken colarbone, broken ribs, cut over left eye that took 10 stitches, never had any road rash:)

winner winner, chicken dinner. How long did it take to heal?

Actually, I know of two other guys who have had the same thing, or close to it. One still has both of his guys.

After surgery, I was up and on the bike in about two weeks.

Separated shoulder, broken ribs, concussion. Nice knee laceration that the doctor looked at with a needle in his hand, shook his head, put away the needle, and got out some tape and medical glue. Oh, and a really nice scar on my calf with an arc of about 12 teeth of a chain ring. Went away after a year, though.

Unrelated, but includes a strange incident with a handlebar: I worked at a trauma center for a couple years in college. Saw a guy helicoptered in after an ATV accident. He had a handlebar impaled through his thigh. They had to hack the handlebar off below the stem to separate him from the bike and transport him. Strangest X-ray I've ever seen--and that includes images of some of the interesting things people have been known to insert in their various cavities.

One of my buddies tore he urethra when he crashed and hit his top tube. He had to be medivac'd to Honolulu. He thought he pee'd himself on impact (?), but turns out that it was blood. Lots and lots of blood.

1 concusion (w/minor blackout)
1 really bad dose of poison ivy :thumbsup:

*leaves metal cubical to find some wood to knock on* :D

Went over the bars 3 years ago, fractured C 4-7 and T 6 (and my helmet). Haven't ridden(or walked) since. Still like to come here for the stories and photos tho.

onbelaydave, you are pure chode, as well as the only person in this thread actually bragging. There are SO many things out of your control, yet you are taking full credit for the cards always coming out in your favor, and then spewing it in a thread about injuries, some serious. Risk, even perfectly managed, is still risk, and when i try to imagine riding Gold Creek without taking a single risk, all I can picture is hiking.

canine, whoa, damn sorry.

I went over my bars once landed on my chin, lost about 5 teeth, broke my jaw, and fractured my damn head. broke two helmets on other occasions and well, bleed plenty in some of our nations most beautiful areas.
OTB i have had a some more head injury (double vision, then some pretty killer depression) and a very poorly repaired femur.

"I went over my bars once landed on my chin, lost about 5 teeth, broke my jaw, and fractured my damn head. broke two helmets on other occasions and well, bleed plenty in some of our nations most beautiful areas.
OTB i have had a some more head injury (double vision, then some pretty killer depression) and a very poorly repaired femur."

.
.
.
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"Onbelaydave, you are pure chode, as well as the only person in this thread actually bragging.



Reminds me of talking to my son, who is your age. :madman: :madman: :madman:

[QUOTE=

There is NO glory in hurting yourself, rather it is a sign of Macho stupidity and getting in over your head !! There is no such thing as an "accidental accident" in MB'ng. This is coming from a 52 yr old that's been rock climbing for 35 yrs at up to 5.13 and hardcore Mtn Bk'g for 20.

This thread is no better than a bunch of Gang Bangers standing around telling there 'Bro's how many people they've shot. :mad: :mad: :mad:[/QUOTE]

You're an idiot! I guess it wasn't trail sabotage contributed to my herniated disc and me missing out on riding for over two months now! Must have been the "macho stupidity" that I had when I went over a tree that was accross the trail and someone had placed a log on the back side out of view. (it was in an area where hikers don't like bikers) I went over the bars and herniated disc. I had to ride out with it and it was pure pain.

Also, I guess when people get hit by a car that is pure macho stupidity too! What about the time I ran over a racoon? I didn't crash but could have. I guess I was riding within my ability then! Do us a favor and not post here anymore!

Your a idiot! I guess it wasn't trail sabotage contributed to my herniated disc and me missing out on riding for over two months now! Must have been the "macho stupidity" that I had when I went over a tree that was accross the trail and someone had placed a log on the back side out of view. (it was in an area where hikers don't like bikers) I went over the bars and herniated disc. I had to ride out with it and it was pure pain.

Also, I guess when people get hit by a car that is pure macho stupidity too! What about the time I ran over a racoon? I didn't crash but could have. I guess I was riding within my ability then! Do us a favor and not post here anymore!

Well to add a conclusion I'd have to say you dont pay attention, you get hurt. A fact that hit home with me after I dislocated my pinky riding in wet haze today, I got unfocoused and went down accordingly

So stay focoused! Stay alert!

14 years and my worst injury would be a slighlty cracked rib. 2 years ago.

Subluxation of the shoulder on several occasions MTBing and Skiing. It got bad enought that it would pop out of the socket if I lifted a gallon of milk the wrong way, but then I went to a PT, now I do strengthening excersises and it hasn't happened in a long enough time that I can't remember the last time.

Other then some nasty brusies, thats it is.

Broke my left arm almost 2 months ago. Cast came off 2 weeks ago and I can barely rotate my forearm maybe a quarter way. Whole summer ruined! Wonder if I'll ever get my forearm to rotate fully...

This thread is very discouraging. Like a train wreck you just cant look away. But all these injuries are telling me that on any given ride I could wake up at the bottom of a ditch in the woods all bloody and broken.
Word. My worst was a bronco (over the handlebars) on a jump, that resulted in a broken helmet and a sprained neck. Could have been a Christopher Reeve if I didn't say 'fukc it', and try to do an impossible front wheel stand when I touched down, which rotated me over enough to enable a roll on the landing.

Now I chickien out before trying things I'm sure I could clear. It takes a lot of the fun out of the sport, but is better than adding a chapter of my own to this thread. In reality, I should chicken out more often than I actually do.

I am not going to call anyone names or anything like that. But If you don't like reading certain threads, much like the trail you are on, you can always find another trail. Nobody is forcing you to read these posts. Being your age you should know that nobody can make you do what you don't want to do, or read for that matter.

I am not going to call anyone names or anything like that. But If you don't like reading certain threads, much like the trail you are on, you can always find another trail. Nobody is forcing you to read these posts. Being your age you should know that nobody can make you do what you don't want to do, or read for that matter.

I'm not sure if your post was aimed at me or not. If it was, then you missed my point.

I think this is an extremely useful thread. It reminds all of us that we can go from a cherry to a basket case in the blink of an eye. No one who posted on this thread crashed intentionally, but sh!t happens no matter how good you are. (Or think you are.)

At a recent MTB festival, heard an eye witness account about an accident involving a very accomplished rider. This rider did a face plant during a race, and although conscious, had grey matter coming out of his nostril. (The accident didn't happen at the festival, fortunately.) No matter how accomplished you are, there are inherent risks associated with this sport. And being aware of them might save someone from becoming a statistic.

So let's keep the gruesome details coming. :eek:

My first MTB related injury came when I first subscribed to a MTB'ing magazine - as I was licking the envelope shut, I got a paper cut on my tongue - Jeez that hurt like a real B@ST@&D!!! :D :D :D

Since then, the worst injury would be a tie between:
- a fractured and dislocated left shoulder (I fell off a see-saw that "see'd" but didn't "saw" (bloody thing got stuck in an upright position and I plummeted to the ground hands outstretched) :mad:
and
- fracturing a a couple of ribs both, at the front (site of impact with a pointy boulder after endo'ing) AND at the rear - an inch out from the verterbae (secondary stress fracture due to the compression) :rolleyes:

Oh well, onwards and upwards from here!

Cheers,

Sam.

Wow that guys not happy pappy! Broken arms,legs,back,neck,collarbones,wrists ribs. Most fingers,6 or 7 knee surguries,punctured lung. I live on advill, but I made the choices, and although it would , oh yeah torn bicep, rotator cuff be nice for my parts to work better they don't and at almost fifty I'm smart enough to know you don't talk these kind of people out of what they do. They couldn't stop if they want to. Live Large!

No not you MtnMasher. It was to Dave who was saying something about Gangbangers and to much testosterone and talking to his kid.

No really. The wacky part is that is was on a really slow poke spot on Amassa Back in April. I'm still not really sure what happened but the bike and I rotated, er SNAPPED over and I landed square on my helmet that worked. I got up with some help from friends and walked out the rest of the trail.

I subluxated (dislocated) c7 and t1 and put a small fracture in the t1. The docs fused c5 through t2 in April but the bones grew together too quickly which caused a couple of the upper screws to migrate a bit and my neck was basically jacked forward so 2 weeks ago Monday they had to redo the hardware but I'm all good now after 12 hours of surgery! Now I'm fused front and back on c4, c5 and c6.

Pic is the after the screws moved and jacked the curve in my cervical spine the wrong direction. Nifty huh?

I sure hope Jewell is doing ok to, I think I made out better without the halo but with a couple of surgeries. Or maybe not...

Am currently rehabbing from a bad shoulder dislocation from a trip OTB. You too? It seems like shoulders just don't want to heal.

..............

These are some scary stories...

I took my training wheels off in 1970 and have been extremely fortunate and blessed to have survived 36 years of all kinds of riding without suffering any horrific injuries. There are numerous scars on my legs, I've dislocateed fingers, tore the tendons in my right thumb, and my left knee is still recovering from a crash that happened three weeks ago but I managed to rode 20 miles today (3/4 of my daily ride) so I think I am on the mend with this.

Martial arts, hockey, and skiiing have contributed to far more injuries than biking has... I've dislocated both shoulders, both knees, broken or dislocated almost all my toes, cracked a few ribs and aside from a left shoulder that has some reduced range of motion and a right knee that has minimal feeling (nerve damage), the old body is holding up well.

Well the worst one was the bail from last summer....the result a sprained back...that hurt and one year laster just healing fully.Other then that there was the funny ouchy.....I fell forward on a huge steep and hit my pelvic bone and then went up the chair again and did the same thing a second time and ended up with a huge swoolen pelvic "area" lets say that brused and that took six months for the lump to go away fully.So far this year just a few brusies. Let keep it that way :)

Who has the worst injury out there? i've heard some pretty nasty stories.. I almost drowned once (no broken bones or anything), the day i got my clipless pedals i went out riding and fell down in a little creek about 6 inches deep and couldn't get out. thank god my friend was riding with my and was able to get me out of there.

I'll start with my vert/freestyle days...before those sissy resi-ramps and foam pits:

Here's the broke stuff:
6 broken noses (got to the point where my eyes would barely blacken any more)

4 concussions.....I think

3 broken toes (big toes are the worse!)

2 bad rotator cuffs

1 elbow hyper-extends everyonce in a while

1 undiagnosed (for 10 years) shoulder separation

Major dental issues with cracked teeth that have aged (i'm 35 now) which are starting to require caps...i'm at 9 or 10 crowns now.

Here's the stupid suff:
front chainring tooth through the nailbed of my index finger...scraped around the bone..out the other side (kids...don't spin the cranks backwards with your fingers!)

while "surfing" (one foot on handlebar, one on seat) fell down and landed on my right hand..on top of the brake caliper. the caliper arm where the cable was secured sent through the fat part of my hand and out the top...took a few seconds to figure out why the bike was stuck to me when I tried to get up..

fell down while doing a quick spin, handlebar into the gut...bruised some internal organs, peed blood for a day.

Hung up on the coping during a show and cut my hackysak on the stem...bled for hours.

shins look like a bad bondo job on a rusted pickup

On the mountain bike:

3 broken ribs

bruised hip (got knocked off the bike at about 20 mph from the hip...took me 5 min. to regain my breath)

I'm much more cautious on the MTB these days...got 2 kids and 1 on the way. HOWEVER, I just finished building an urban/FR/DJ hardtail....Here we go again....


AJ

But hindsight is always 20/20, right?

I split the end of my left ulna during a night ride about seven years ago. I'll post the x-ray if I can find it, but the crack extended back about one inch from the point where it meets the long bone meets the small wrist bones. My wrist swelled to a size larger than a tennis ball, and I was in a cast for eight weeks. Luckily, the break did not separate, so no pins, screws, or other items of this nature were necessary to fix it.

That is what I get for riding at night with an insufficient light. This incident prompted me to purchase my first adequate lighting system, and its money well spent if it prevents a repeat performance.

Hey how long did the broken ribs keep you guys off the bike? I think I cracked a couple last weekend.

Hey how long did the broken ribs keep you guys off the bike? I think I cracked a couple last weekend.

Went to see my Dr after having to ride out an hour with 3 broken ribs and he basically gave me a hug, feeling the ribs one at a time...found the broke ones, X-Rayed them, etc.

Said there's really not much to do for it and that wrapping them might actually hurt more then not. So, I said "When can I start riding again", to which he replied "Right now, if you want. Just fall on the other side". yuk yuk yuk.

Seriously, it was about 3 weeks before a good laugh or fart or cough didn't hurt like a bastard. I think I was back on the bike in about a month.

AJ

Broken ribs are way over rated. I have had plenty of broken ribs and don't even count them as an injury. So you can't breathe deeply thats about it. You could ride your bike anytime. If you fell off and broke them did you walk out or did you get back on and ride? There is your answer about 30 seconds off the bike and you can ride again. I have broken one finger 3 times in a short amount of time and just taped it to the next one and kept racing MX ( did 3 more motos'). I broke my hand twice and never missed a beat on anything. It was swollen 3 times its size and it never stopped me from doing anything even finishing concrete. Sure it is painful. I guess the question is how long before you quit whinning about your injury before you get back to what you love doing. Guess it comes down to how much of a wimp ya are. I am not taking cheap shots at anyone just stating that unless something is snapped like a leg or arm, it is nothing to loose saddle time over if you a hardcore enthusiast.

Broken ribs are way over rated. I have had plenty of broken ribs and don't even count them as an injury. So you can't breathe deeply thats about it. You could ride your bike anytime. If you fell off and broke them did you walk out or did you get back on and ride? There is your answer about 30 seconds off the bike and you can ride again. I have broken one finger 3 times in a short amount of time and just taped it to the next one and kept racing MX ( did 3 more motos'). I broke my hand twice and never missed a beat on anything. It was swollen 3 times its size and it never stopped me from doing anything even finishing concrete. Sure it is painful. I guess the question is how long before you quit whinning about your injury before you get back to what you love doing. Guess it comes down to how much of a wimp ya are. I am not taking cheap shots at anyone just stating that unless something is snapped like a leg or arm, it is nothing to loose saddle time over if you a hardcore enthusiast.




You're my hero!!!!

No not you MtnMasher. It was to Dave who was saying something about Gangbangers and to much testosterone and talking to his kid.

I agree with you, completley!

Here's the broke stuff:
6 broken noses (got to the point where my eyes would barely blacken any more)

4 concussions.....I think

3 broken toes (big toes are the worse!)

2 bad rotator cuffs

1 elbow hyper-extends everyonce in a while

1 undiagnosed (for 10 years) shoulder separation

Major dental issues with cracked teeth that have aged (i'm 35 now) which are starting to require caps...i'm at 9 or 10 crowns now.

Here's the stupid suff:
front chainring tooth through the nailbed of my index finger...scraped around the bone..out the other side (kids...don't spin the cranks backwards with your fingers!)

while "surfing" (one foot on handlebar, one on seat) fell down and landed on my right hand..on top of the brake caliper. the caliper arm where the cable was secured sent through the fat part of my hand and out the top...took a few seconds to figure out why the bike was stuck to me when I tried to get up..

fell down while doing a quick spin, handlebar into the gut...bruised some internal organs, peed blood for a day.

Hung up on the coping during a show and cut my hackysak on the stem...bled for hours.

shins look like a bad bondo job on a rusted pickup

On the mountain bike:

3 broken ribs

bruised hip (got knocked off the bike at about 20 mph from the hip...took me 5 min. to regain my breath)

I'm much more cautious on the MTB these days...got 2 kids and 1 on the way. HOWEVER, I just finished building an urban/FR/DJ hardtail....Here we go again....


AJ


As I said, and so many have provided proof. "Who's "bragging" ?? I'm glad you all have insurance to cover your rehab. I don't, I'm self employed and can't even afford a $10,000 deductable policy at my age.

......

10 years and many trees later this is the worst


196916

Broken thumb as my first post hope im not bragging but...
ive been riding harder and more often than ever this year. I've never loved riding more and now this...
what do you guys do with yourself while healing?
i think i may go nuts...maybe only after the percocet runs out :eek:
Ironicly, not that it would have prevented this injury, I just ordered armour today! will get it tuesday:madman:
certainly if i had forearm pads i may have been more willing to use those rather than my hand and thumb but thats just speculation who knows?
also i just cant get the sound of the POP! my bone made when it broke out of my head...

ok i think thats enough

Broken ribs are way over rated. I have had plenty of broken ribs and don't even count them as an injury. So you can't breathe deeply thats about it. You could ride your bike anytime. If you fell off and broke them did you walk out or did you get back on and ride? There is your answer about 30 seconds off the bike and you can ride again.

When you least expect it, expect it...

- Was coming down a hill 4 years ago and a bee flew into my right ear and bit me. All happened in less than a second. Instinctively, I reached up to swat at the bee in my ear and lost control of the bike. Landed on my left rib cage on the bar and broke 3 ribs. The inside of my ear was swollen for a couple of days. Ribs were tender for months. I was on the bike again the next day, but was careful to ride with my upper body as relaxed as possible and not pull on the handlebars with that side of the body while climbing for the first few weeks. Sleeping in bed at night was pretty uncomfortable for months. But 6 months to a year later - all was well.

BB

I got this funky frame yesterday and threw parts on it last night. Ever get the feeling that your worst injury is ABOUT to happen? I will reply in a couple of days If I can still move my limbs.

What happened(pictures please)?

What broke?

How long were you out? Are you back riding yet?

How's your riding now? Any long-term effects?

How much did it cost you?

How's the bike?

francois

In '97.

Finished the downhill several hours later with just my right arm/rear brake.

It hurt real fockin' bad.

Downieville here too. Broken arm. Preriding the course for the DH race. I had trained for this specific race for months. My riding partner - with whom I was at a similar level - took a first....

I hiked up with a duct-taped, stick splint :p The look on the other course preriders as they went past me... priceless. I was the omen of doom :D

I am hoping this week I am coming back. 8 weeks is torture.

ALL of my broken bones injuries happen while JRA. (but after some intense workout) I let the mind slip and - BAM!

Thank you for MTBR as being a crack...er... MTB-head these forums have really gottem me through - with the help of a little upgraditis of course. :thumbsup:

P

Went over the bars 3 years ago, fractured C 4-7 and T 6 (and my helmet). Haven't ridden(or walked) since. Still like to come here for the stories and photos tho.

This is the kind of injury that really scares me. All the injuries I've had have healed and left me with scars, but basically unchanged. Pain sucks but you forget it when it goes away. Nice the way our brain works. But to end up with a permanent physical limitation from a mtb wreck would really suck.

I just saw a rig like this in a mag http://www.titaniumarts.com/images/handcycles/photos/thumbnails/99biker25.jpg

Going too fast and wrecking over and over is easy. Getting back on the trail when your legs don't work, now that takes real guts.

Can we change this thread to worst D-ville crash/injury? The Downhill has claimed many victims.

What happened(pictures please)?
Loss control of the bike coming down a hill and went OTB.

What broke?
Cracked L shoulder blade, 2-3 degree separated L shoulder

How long were you out? Are you back riding yet?
6-7 weeks and yes, I'm back riding again.

How's your riding now? Any long-term effects?
Still riding the same way, maybe a bit faster. I'm scared of loose rocky downhills now. It's in my head. The shoulder is still sore and I can't bring my arm up high behind my head.

How much did it cost you?
About $500 with out of pocket expenses for ER, Doc visits, and Physical Therapy.

How's the bike?
Taco'ed the front wheel and broke my helmet.

BTW, glad to see you're back Francois. The photo was taken the night it happend.

Hit by truck while riding mtb on the street.

Broken helmet, concussion, separated shoulder, roadrash.

Out for eight weeks, but rode immediately after that.

My head is still a bit jumbled and I have a funny bone spur in the shoulder. :)

It cost me nothing because I was on the clock and Workers Comp covered it.

The bike needed new handlebar, seat, pedal, and grip.

Can we change this thread to worst D-ville crash/injury? The Downhill has claimed many victims.

You can just start a new thread.

Was "supposed" to be an easy SS ride. I "thought" I was taking the easy "safe" line down a hill. Unknown to me heavy rain had made a nice smooth drop into a 3' vertical. Not a problem on a geared suspension bike when you know its coming, something else on a SS and catching you by suprise. 8' out and 8' down I landed on rocks, 3rd degree seperation on the right shoulder, taco'd front wheel, other minor damage. 2 weeks to the day I was back out riding, couldn't bunnyhop and big hits hurt like heck, but I had a grin because I was riding!

60 km/h into a 25' double over a creek, had jumped successfuly twice already. washed front tire before the double, header into the creek. 3rd degree separation of the AC joint, my third one in as many years so in for surgery i go. thankfully no cost, i love canada sometimes! bike was ok scratched but rideable, still my DH rig.

1 year later, back on the bike. no more big drops and jumps, shoulder is not (and likely never will be) the same. just don't have the strenght (mental or physical!). oh well, now i have an excuse to train for SS racing and i've gotten some serious vertical in epic rides this year...

this is my 3rd season ending injury (previously broken elbow and other AC separation) but first time i had to miss an entire season of riding (surgery in february, back on bike in september which is end of season up here)

My most life threatening injury was a ruptured spleen. "i was just riding around..."

There was a small 2 foot drop with a one foot transition landing in front of my college apartment. I did the little hit often. One time while fooling around I came down heavy on the front wheel and the tube pinch-flated and i can down hard on the pavement. My elbow or the handlebars got me right in the spleen.

I felt like the wind got knocked out of me, but the feeling wouldn't go away, and I got pale and started to black out. Luckily my GF took me to the ER or I would have internally bleed to death on my couch.

I was in the ICU for 5 days and had a catheter (horrible experience!). :eekster:

Usually they have to operate and take spleens out when the rupture because they won't stop bleeding on their own. Luck for me, I am/was a mountain biker in great physical shape. The doc said being in excellent shape helped my body recover on its own and I still have my spleen to this day!

it probably took me 2 months to recover. I lost like 2 liters of blood & was very feeble for a while. All in all, it wasn't THAT painful. The catheter hurt worse.


I've also dislocated both shoulders. Not at the same time thankfully. And for all you guys with shoulder separations: TAKE CARE OF YOUR SHOULDERS!! - if you don't do the rehab it will only get worse. I know!

There were several "worst injury" threads so I merged them and made the resulting thread a sticky.

Went over the bars 3 years ago, fractured C 4-7 and T 6 (and my helmet). Haven't ridden(or walked) since. Still like to come here for the stories and photos tho.

Sorry, canine, that's a bad one, but I'm glad you're still part of the community. I'd like to hear the details of the crash and your recovery if you don't mind. Seems like there are a lot of back injuries, myself included:

What happened(pictures please)?
In March of 2000, I was riding an easy singletrack (flat, nontechnical, dry) the day after a windy storm. The end of my bar caught a downed tree that was covered with foliage. After the crash, I had to hike out and wave down a motorist to help me get my bike in my truck so I could drive to the hospital (funny how a broken collar bone limits how much you can do with your good arm). I must have looked like Buffalo Bob b/c every car that went by had a lone woman in the car who would stop for a moment and then pull away after I told them my story. Finally, the fourth car stopped (after about 30 minutes). Another woman was by herself so I figured she'd drive away, too, as she looked very apprehensive. She had two big black labs with her and I told that she could let her dogs out to watch me and I'd stand a good ways away from her until she had my bike in my truck and was back in her car. Thankfully, she agreed and I was able to drive the half hour to the ER.

What broke?
Shattered clavicle (four main piecies w/ lots of little bits), dislocated ribs and rotated vertebra...and a broken helmet, but no head injury. Could have been worse!
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l76/emptybeer/collarbone.jpg

How long were you out? Are you back riding yet?
Off bike for twelve weeks but doc let me ride stationary bike. Had my best racing season that year.

How's your riding now? Any long-term effects?
No problems riding. Didn't really affect me even when I first got back on the bike. I had to see the chiropractor for a bit to reset my ribs and fix my spine. Since that couldn't