Lets be careful out there. accident report
Stan Cox
Last Sunday I went out for my second training ride of the new year and
it was a lovely day near Lewes, Sussex. I'd just seen my first green
woodpecker of the year when I went round a corner and the road looked a
little wet. . . The next thing I know I am sliding along the black ice
with a broken hip. The bike must have snapped out from under me. Luckily
I carry a mobile so was able to call the ambulance myself.
Now I am facing 6 weeks gradual increase in weight bearing before the
crutches go away. I will be allowed back on the bike several weeks if
not months after that. Then there are two years of checks to see that
the joint doesnt deteriorate. All this two days before my 48th birthday.
At the moment I am at home where I live alone and routine things take
some doing. Just making dinner last night was a major operation and it
was only frozen pizza. I cant put socks on. I can only lay on my back in
bed, I cant get into the shower cubicle because of the lip on it, I cant
reach down to change the disk in the xbox360 etc etc.
Many thanks to the people who have stored my bike, the farmer who
stayed with me till the ambulance arrived and all the medical staff.
Moral of the story is live your life now because you just dont know
whats coming.
Stan Cox
P.s If I didnt have cable, internet, ps2, xbox360, books etc I'd go
completely mad.
Clive George
news:HRj1n.5448$KK6...@newsfe19.ams2...
> Dont know if I can post from Virgin media now but I will try.
>
> Last Sunday I went out for my second training ride of the new year and
> it was a lovely day near Lewes, Sussex. I'd just seen my first green
> woodpecker of the year when I went round a corner and the road looked a
> little wet. . . The next thing I know I am sliding along the black ice
> with a broken hip. The bike must have snapped out from under me. Luckily
> I carry a mobile so was able to call the ambulance myself.
Ooh, which bit broken? The main pelvis, or femur? What did they do to it?
(see my thread "Ouch")
cheers,
clive
Simon Brooke
> Dont know if I can post from Virgin media now but I will try.
>
> Last Sunday I went out for my second training ride of the new year and
> it was a lovely day near Lewes, Sussex. I'd just seen my first green
> woodpecker of the year when I went round a corner and the road looked a
> little wet. . . The next thing I know I am sliding along the black ice
> with a broken hip. The bike must have snapped out from under me. Luckily
> I carry a mobile so was able to call the ambulance myself.
> Now I am facing 6 weeks gradual increase in weight bearing before the
> crutches go away. I will be allowed back on the bike several weeks if
> not months after that. Then there are two years of checks to see that
> the joint doesnt deteriorate. All this two days before my 48th birthday.
Ouch! You have my sympathy!
Here (for your amusement and education) is how I spent my 50th birthday:
http://www.journeyman.cc/dogfood/story/article_30.html
> Many thanks to the people who have stored my bike, the farmer who
> stayed with me till the ambulance arrived and all the medical staff.
> Moral of the story is live your life now because you just dont know
> whats coming.
Amen to all that.
Andy Leighton
> Dont know if I can post from Virgin media now but I will try.
>
> Last Sunday I went out for my second training ride of the new year and
> it was a lovely day near Lewes, Sussex. I'd just seen my first green
> woodpecker of the year when I went round a corner and the road looked a
> little wet. . . The next thing I know I am sliding along the black ice
> with a broken hip. The bike must have snapped out from under me. Luckily
> I carry a mobile so was able to call the ambulance myself.
Your post made it to the server. Coming off on ice is a familiar story
at the moment. Only a few broken bones have been reported - so I guess
you are one of the unfortunate few. Hope that you heal well.
--
Andy Leighton => an...@azaal.plus.com
"The Lord is my shepherd, but we still lost the sheep dog trials"
- Robert Rankin, _They Came And Ate Us_
Ian Jackson
Ow ow ow. You have our sympathy.
--
Ian Jackson personal email: <ijac...@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
These opinions are my own. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/
PGP2 key 1024R/0x23f5addb, fingerprint 5906F687 BD03ACAD 0D8E602E FCF37657
Stan Cox
> On Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:54:17 +0000, Stan Cox wrote:
>
>
> Ouch! You have my sympathy!
>
> Here (for your amusement and education) is how I spent my 50th birthday:
>
> http://www.journeyman.cc/dogfood/story/article_30.html
>
>
>> Many thanks to the people who have stored my bike, the farmer who
>> stayed with me till the ambulance arrived and all the medical staff.
>> Moral of the story is live your life now because you just dont know
>> whats coming.
>
> Amen to all that.
Good grief. Just had a quick read and that sounds scary. I know what you
mean about not contacting the ambulance. I laid in the road for 5
minutes in the hope the pain would diminish before giving in and calling
them. I got the helmet lecture from another patient on the ward but he
shut up when I got my helmet out of my bag. There is no sign it touched
the road.
Stan Cox
Stan Cox
> On Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:54:17 +0000, Stan Cox <stanD...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> Dont know if I can post from Virgin media now but I will try.
>>
>> Last Sunday I went out for my second training ride of the new year and
>> it was a lovely day near Lewes, Sussex. I'd just seen my first green
>> woodpecker of the year when I went round a corner and the road looked a
>> little wet. . . The next thing I know I am sliding along the black ice
>> with a broken hip. The bike must have snapped out from under me. Luckily
>> I carry a mobile so was able to call the ambulance myself.
>
> Your post made it to the server. Coming off on ice is a familiar story
> at the moment. Only a few broken bones have been reported - so I guess
> you are one of the unfortunate few. Hope that you heal well.
>
point I think is that I was so smug that I hadnt fallen over in all the
snow & ice and then on what looked like a clear day, bang.
Stan Cox
Clive George
> Good grief. Just had a quick read and that sounds scary. I know what you
> mean about not contacting the ambulance. I laid in the road for 5 minutes
> in the hope the pain would diminish before giving in and calling them.
I lasted 20 minutes or so, including pulling myself off the road and up to a
wall, crossing the road to another wall and subsiding to the ground :-)
> I got the helmet lecture from another patient on the ward but he shut up
> when I got my helmet out of my bag. There is no sign it touched the road.
I got lots of lecture from the ambulanceman for going out on my bike and
many snarky comments about not wearing helmets. I didn't bother to argue. My
head didn't touch the road.
Peter Grange
wrote:
>Dont know if I can post from Virgin media now but I will try.
>
> Last Sunday I went out for my second training ride of the new year and
>it was a lovely day near Lewes, Sussex. I'd just seen my first green
>woodpecker of the year when I went round a corner and the road looked a
>little wet. . . The next thing I know I am sliding along the black ice
>with a broken hip. The bike must have snapped out from under me. Luckily
>I carry a mobile so was able to call the ambulance myself.
Glad to hear you are going to be ok, it sounded nasty.
Your tale convinces me even more that my wimpish "don't go out on the
bike in <5 degrees" rule is a good one. For me, anyway. Haven't been
out much lately though :-(
--
Pete
Simon Mason
> Dont know if I can post from Virgin media now but I will try.
>
> Last Sunday I went out for my second training ride of the new year and
> it was a lovely day near Lewes, Sussex. I'd just seen my first green
> woodpecker of the year when I went round a corner and the road looked a
> little wet. . . The next thing I know I am sliding along the black ice
> with a broken hip. The bike must have snapped out from under me. Luckily
> I carry a mobile so was able to call the ambulance myself.
>
Speedy recovery, Stan. I wimped out yesterday when I realised I'd be
training on ice - not worth the risk unless I have to go to work.
--
Simon Mason
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/
Just zis Guy, you know?
wrote:
> My main
>point I think is that I was so smug that I hadnt fallen over in all the
>snow & ice and then on what looked like a clear day, bang.
Ah, this is normal. Sod's Law applies, unfortunately. Get well soons,
anyway.
Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/
The usenet price promise: all opinions offered in newsgroups are guaranteed
to be worth the price paid.
Simon Brooke
> On Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:54:17 +0000, Stan Cox <stanD...@ntlworld.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> ...The next thing I know I am sliding along the black ice
>>with a broken hip...
>
> Glad to hear you are going to be ok, it sounded nasty.
>
> Your tale convinces me even more that my wimpish "don't go out on the
> bike in <5 degrees" rule is a good one. For me, anyway. Haven't been out
> much lately though :-(
You know, I'm not certain about that. When people fall off and are hurt,
we're likely to hear of it. When they fall off and are not hurt we're
less likely to hear of it. Yes, of course you're more likely to fall off
if it's icy, and of course you're more likely to be hurt if you fall off
than if you don't. But for every fall which results in injury, how many
falls are there which don't?
I've fallen off mountain bikes probably thousands of times, and the worst
I've had falling off a mountain bike is minor scrapes and bruises. OK,
mountain bikes are different because 90% of the time you're not going
that fast, and also you usually fall onto something a lot softer than
tarmac (or ice!). But on the whole I'm not persuaded that falling off
bicycles per se is a terribly dangerous thing to do.
When I fell off on ice last week it was the most benign fall I can
imagine - no scrapes, no bruises, just slid along on the ice...
Obviously, sometimes you get unlucky, and I'm completely sympathetic to
Stan and other people who have been unlucky. Breaking a hip is horribly
bad luck.
Stan Cox
> On Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:38:31 +0000, Peter Grange wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:54:17 +0000, Stan Cox <stanD...@ntlworld.com>
>> wrote:
> You know, I'm not certain about that. When people fall off and are hurt,
> we're likely to hear of it. When they fall off and are not hurt we're
> less likely to hear of it.
You are right of course. I was out on a club ride a couple of years ago
and 18 out of 20 of us went down on the same corner. No injuries at all,
bloody funny too. Didnt feel the need to post about it.
>
> Obviously, sometimes you get unlucky, and I'm completely sympathetic to
> Stan and other people who have been unlucky. Breaking a hip is horribly
> bad luck.
And what happened to me was just that, bad luck. Makes me pleased I
didnt buy that Garmin bike GPS two days earlier. It'll probably be
cheaper by the time I'm fit again :)
Stan Cox
Peter Grange
I'm sure there are a lot of people riding around on the ice and not
falling off at all, and several who have falls which result in no or
trivial injury. I've had my share of tumbles over the years but the
worst I got was two broken fingers on a fall off-road in France
(finished the tour though, picked some stitches out of a pair of
cycling gloves to merge two finger-holes together so the two fingers
strapped & splinted together could poke out like one finger).
However I'm now 64 (yesterday!) & conscious that I don't bounce at all
well, so I don't go out if there's the slightest chance of ice, hence
the 5 degrees.
Each to his/her own I guess.
--
Pete
Ben C
Between 5 and 0 you should be fine. It's <0 that's the problem, although
it hasn't been so bad around here since they gritted most of the roads.
Still a bit iffy in places though.
Clive George
news:MoidneyOZbPCSdjW...@brightview.co.uk...
Answers own question, apparently I've got a broken hip too - though it's the
femur which is bust.
> Now I am facing 6 weeks gradual increase in weight bearing before the
> crutches go away.
My surgeon was incredibly insistent that I don't even slightly weight bear
for 6 weeks. The problem being the blood supply to the head of the femur -
if that suffers, you can get necrosis, and then it's hip replacement time -
which we don't want. He said there was a 33% chance of that happening, which
was a bit scary.
Have you got cannulated screws?
Peter Grange
>> Your tale convinces me even more that my wimpish "don't go out on the
>> bike in <5 degrees" rule is a good one. For me, anyway. Haven't been
>> out much lately though :-(
>
>Between 5 and 0 you should be fine. It's <0 that's the problem, although
>it hasn't been so bad around here since they gritted most of the roads.
>Still a bit iffy in places though.
I disagree. The minor country lanes around here( N Dorset) spend a lot
of their time wet in winter, a combination of low sun, high hedgerows
and moisture-retaining animal waste products. In cold times, even when
the air temperature gets above freezing, there are patches of ice
around from the first two above (the roads can be slippery all the
time because of the third, but that's another story). I could just
ride the main roads (although at -7 at 09:30 this morning the car was
sliding on a gritted road in town) but where's the fun in that?
--
Pete
Marc
leg/hip/ankle/foot (something that needs crutches) what the fuckity fuck
fuck help was the foam plastic beanie hat meant to be?
Marc
> Dont know if I can post from Virgin media now but I will try.
>
> Last Sunday I went out for my second training ride of the new year and
> it was a lovely day near Lewes, Sussex. I'd just seen my first green
> woodpecker of the year when I went round a corner and the road looked a
> little wet. . . The next thing I know I am sliding along the black ice
> with a broken hip. The bike must have snapped out from under me. Luckily
> I carry a mobile so was able to call the ambulance myself.
> Now I am facing 6 weeks gradual increase in weight bearing before the
> crutches go away.
Sorry to hear about the above, GWS.
rob
>> Your tale convinces me even more that my wimpish "don't go out on the
>> bike in <5 degrees" rule is a good one. For me, anyway. Haven't been out
>> much lately though :-(
>
> You know, I'm not certain about that. When people fall off and are hurt,
> we're likely to hear of it. When they fall off and are not hurt we're
> less likely to hear of it.
Agreed. I came off last winter going down hill on the way home from a
shopping trip. On the way there I'd got up the hill without problems.
Coming back later in the day, the sun had had enough warmth for there to be
a little water over the ice.
Going slowly, but still lost it. Eggs in one pannier and bottle of wine in
the other unbroken. I may have sprained a finger, can't remember. Didn't
seem worth commenting on.
--
rob
Alan Braggins
>"Clive George" <cl...@xxxx-x.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
>
>> crutches go away.
>
>My surgeon was incredibly insistent that I don't even slightly weight bear
>for 6 weeks. The problem being the blood supply to the head of the femur -
>if that suffers, you can get necrosis, and then it's hip replacement time -
>which we don't want. He said there was a 33% chance of that happening, which
>was a bit scary.
Best of luck for a full recovry to both of you.
Stan Cox
Hope you are coping well. Interesting to hear of the advice to you. I
havent seen my surgeon since. The bad weather has kept them busy or
unable to reach work and the hospital wanted me out to free the bed in
the nicest possible way. I will ask the question at my first clinic in a
week and a half and am non weight bearing till then so it wont hurt to
wait and I will be very careful till then. No one would specify the
percentage chance of necrosis and I had guessed it was highter than 33%.
I fractured the neck of the femur but it wasnt completely bust so that
may account for the difference in advice. I have discovered that a
clubmate specialises in the recovery from hip fractures (freaky eh) so
will put the question to them. I will let you know what they say.
Stan Cox
Eleanor Blair
>
>Between 5 and 0 you should be fine. It's <0 that's the problem, although
>it hasn't been so bad around here since they gritted most of the roads.
>Still a bit iffy in places though.
If it's been below 0 recently and is now between 0 and 5 it can actually
sometimes be worse: you're not expecting the ice to still be there, and
where it is it's sometimes wet.
I was surprised to still find the remains of snow from before Christmas
in a few places when we were out on Sunday.
I have to admit part of me is contemplating staying home and working
from here tomorrow, even though Cambridge has very little snow and I've
cycled on this much with no trouble before.
Clive George
>
> Hope you are coping well. Interesting to hear of the advice to you. I
> havent seen my surgeon since. The bad weather has kept them busy or unable
> to reach work and the hospital wanted me out to free the bed in the nicest
> possible way. I will ask the question at my first clinic in a week and a
> half and am non weight bearing till then so it wont hurt to wait and I
> will be very careful till then. No one would specify the percentage chance
> of necrosis and I had guessed it was highter than 33%. I fractured the
> neck of the femur but it wasnt completely bust so that may account for the
> difference in advice. I have discovered that a clubmate specialises in the
> recovery from hip fractures (freaky eh) so will put the question to them.
> I will let you know what they say.
Thanks, I'd be interested to hear what your clubmate says.
Meanwhile hope it gets better - can you put your socks on yet? (just done
mine for the first day in ages :-) )
James
> My surgeon was incredibly insistent that I don't even slightly weight bear
> for 6 weeks. The problem being the blood supply to the head of the femur -
> if that suffers, you can get necrosis, and then it's hip replacement time -
> which we don't want. He said there was a 33% chance of that happening, which
> was a bit scary.
I'd be interested in hearing from the medics here whether that sort of
statistic is likely to be a general one (in which case it is probably
based on little old ladies with osteoporosis) or likely to apply to a
relatively healthy cyclist who just happened to have a heavy fall. Of
course, I am being a bit presumptuous in assuming that the frequency
of problems may be substantially different between the two groups.
Sorry to hear about Stan's accident BTW. Looking on the bright side,
that must reduce the chances of the rest of us having a similar event
- law of averages and all that.
(No, I'm not serious about that last bit, before anyone has a go at
it...)
James
Stan Cox
Stan Cox
Colin McKenzie
<pe...@plgrange.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> On Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:13:09 +0000, Simon Brooke
> <stillye...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:38:31 +0000, Peter Grange wrote:
>>
>>> Your tale convinces me even more that my wimpish "don't go out on the
>>> bike in <5 degrees" rule is a good one. For me, anyway. Haven't been
>>> out much lately though :-(
>>
>> You know, I'm not certain about that. When people fall off and are hurt,
>> we're likely to hear of it. When they fall off and are not hurt we're
>> less likely to hear of it. Yes, of course you're more likely to fall off
>> if it's icy, and of course you're more likely to be hurt if you fall off
>> than if you don't. But for every fall which results in injury, how many
>> falls are there which don't?
FWIW, I was out and about on the bike quite a bit today, in London, and
saw 2 pedestrian falls and 0 cyclist falls. Of course there were a lot
more pedestrians about.
>> When I fell off on ice last week it was the most benign fall I can
>> imagine - no scrapes, no bruises, just slid along on the ice...
>>
>> Obviously, sometimes you get unlucky, and I'm completely sympathetic to
>> Stan and other people who have been unlucky. Breaking a hip is horribly
>> bad luck.
Likewise - get well soon. So far I've been OK - partly luck, I'm sure, but
also due to keeping mostly to busier roads, and slowing down well in
advance of any manoeuvre - as far as possible riding on the assumption
that my brakes are totally unusable.
> However I'm now 64 (yesterday!) & conscious that I don't bounce at all
> well, so I don't go out if there's the slightest chance of ice, hence
> the 5 degrees.
Don't know how well I bounce these days - and no plans to find out.
Colin McKenzie
--
No-one has ever proved that cycle helmets make cycling any safer at the
population level, and anyway cycling is about as safe per mile as walking.
Make an informed choice - visit www.cyclehelmets.org.
POHB
> saw 2 pedestrian falls and 0 cyclist falls. Of course there were a lot �
> more pedestrians about.
Having fallen on Saturday night just walking across the road from a
neighbour's my personal total is one all. Given that I cycled 100
miles and walked maybe 2 miles last week it proves that cycling is
much safer than walking per mile.
> >> When I fell off on ice last week it was the most benign fall I can
> >> imagine - no scrapes, no bruises, just slid along on the ice...
My bike fall was similarly painless. However; my wrist, elbow and
forearm are still painful from the walking fall.