[Bent] Do as I say, not as I do!

[DAVID CHOU]

Wow.  So summer really is over now!  I tend to be more careful as the weather cools, anyway -- metabolism probably slows down, so I'm not as easily excited and reckless -- but thanks for the warning.  Glad you're okay.  Reminds me of the time I mistook a flight of stairs for a ramp (easy to do given my lowered visibility and how "long" each actual step was, contributing to the illusion of a continuous decline) and suddenly I'm (ch)airborne like in a Bugs Bunny cartoon!!  Luckily I landed easily on both feet, and the SWB wasn't damaged at all.

Maybe the club should offer some kind of patch in recognition of wounds obtained while riding?  "The red meat shield" or something....  =)



---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 16:46:28 -0400
>From: "Carole & Dick Ludwig" <signgrap at ptd.net>  
>Subject: [Bent] Do as I say, not as I do!  
>To: "NY/NJ/CT/PA Metro Area Recumbent Society \(MARS\)"	<bent at list.marsride.org>
>
>   Do as I say, not as I do!
>
>    
>
>   On Monday 9/11, I was about a mile plus into my late
>   afternoon ride and as usual I was going down
>   Snowbird hill.  Snowbird hill is rather steep,
>   although not too long and at the bottom it forms a Y
>   in the road.  The road I normally take turns left
>   and continues down, the other branch of the Y turns
>   right and goes up a rather short steep hill.  At the
>   center of this intersection there is an area of
>   pavement that fills up with gravel and sand as the
>   cars don't normally traverse this part of the
>   intersection.  This triangular area is well out of
>   my normal route and I never give it a second
>   thought.  Now you must understand that I've gone
>   through this intersection at least a thousand times,
>   so I know it well.  The intersection is a bit scary
>   because you've gathered up a good head of steam
>   coming down Snowbird hill and you must break
>   strongly before entering the curve to the left.  Not
>   only does the road curve to the left but the surface
>   is banked a slight bit in the wrong direction so
>   this necessitates a fairly good lean to the left as
>   you go round the curve.
>
>    
>
>   I normally go through this intersection at between
>   28 - 30 mph.  On this particular afternoon I was
>   doing probably close to 30 and started to lean left
>   as I entered the turn.  All of a sudden I hit big
>   pieces of gravel and lots of sand.  Initially my
>   bike started to bounce from the gravel and the bike
>   became airborne and that is all it took, down I
>   went.  I went down so fast that I never even had
>   time to let go of the handlebars (I ride a Wishbone
>   with under seat steering).  The first thing I
>   remember (I never hit my head and never lost
>   consciousness) is being in the air in a crouched
>   position.  I remember thinking tuck into a ball and
>   roll, which is exactly what I did.  I must've rolled
>   about three or four times before I came to a stop. 
>   I quickly got up and said to myself get out of the
>   middle of the road.  So I picked the bike up and
>   moved it and myself to the side of the road. 
>
>    
>
>   I then began to do a check to see what was wrong. 
>   My arms and legs all seemed to work okay, my left
>   hand however was quite a mess and even though I was
>   wearing full fingered gloves my fingers were full of
>   road rash as the glove was shredded away.  I must've
>   been still holding the handlebars when I hit the
>   ground so the force of impact was taken by the back
>   of my left hand.  Then I looked at my lower left leg
>   and it also was full of road rash.  After standing
>   there for a few more minutes collecting my wits,
>   which were pretty well scattered about, I decided
>   that I better make my way home.
>
>    
>
>   But before heading home I needed to know, why was
>   their gravel in the middle of the road?  Then I saw
>   this skid mark, left by a spinning tire, in the
>   middle of the gravel area at the center of the Y.  A
>   car or truck must have missed the initial turn going
>   to the right of the Y and then turned late going
>   through the sandy gravel area.  As they tried to
>   accelerate going up the hill the wheels must of
>   spun, spewing gravel and sand into the center of the
>   curve - this is what I must've gone over.
>
>    
>
>   Then I noticed that my water bottle had fallen out
>   of the bike and I went to pick it up.  As I picked
>   up the water bottle with my right hand I remember
>   thinking "why is the water bottle soft?"  My water
>   bottle is made from Lexan and is rigid not
>   flexible.  But I could distinctly feel my thumb
>   pressing against the bottle and the bottle feeling
>   soft.  Then I looked at the bottle as I pressed it,
>   my thumb was not indenting the bottle.  This puzzled
>   me but I had to get home so I walked up the steepest
>   part of Snowbird hill as I didn't feel in good
>   enough condition to ride up.  After walking up the
>   hill I got on the bike and started to ride home.  On
>   the way there I met up with Carole, who was riding
>   her Greenspeed, and told her I think I needed to go
>   to the emergency room.
>
>    
>
>   When we got home I took off my gloves and looked at
>   my right hand and could see that the thumb was very
>   swollen.  The right glove was in perfect condition
>   and I was sure that my right hand had never impacted
>   against the road, so why was my thumb so swollen?
>
>    
>
>   The visit to the emergency room was a positive one. 
>   The emergency room doctor was a very upbeat and
>   energetic positive person who made the whole
>   experience pleasant despite the pain I was in.  The
>   x-rays were inconclusive as to what was wrong with
>   my right thumb, my left hand and left lower leg had
>   serious road rash but no other injuries.  When I
>   left the emergency room my left hand and fingers
>   were wrapped in a series of bandages, my left lower
>   leg was totally wrapped in bandage and my right
>   thumb was in a splint that had my hand and arm
>   wrapped in bandage.  When I got home I couldn't do
>   anything because both hands were essentially totally
>   wrapped in bandage, it was like wearing boxing
>   gloves so poor Carole had to do everything for me. 
>   The next day I went to the orthopedic doctor and
>   subsequently learned after an MRI that I had
>   ruptured the volar plate, which is the ligament at
>   the base of the second joint of the thumb.  The
>   doctor said he sees a lot of injuries like this
>   because it is known as "skiers thumb", in the case
>   of skiers thumb the ski pole bends the thumb way
>   back rupturing the volar plate.
>
>    
>
>   In talking with the doctor and reconstructing my
>   fall we came to the conclusion that I was holding on
>   to the handlebar with my right hand when the bike
>   hit the ground, the bike stopped and I didn't.  This
>   caused my thumb to be pushed back by the handlebar
>   rupturing the ligament.  The doctor said that if
>   you're going to injure a ligament the volar plate is
>   a good one to injure because it will repair itself
>   without surgical intervention.  All I have to do is
>   wear a splint which prevents the thumb from being
>   bent backwards and within eight weeks all will be as
>   it was, or at the very least nearly so.
>
>    
>
>   I have just come back from seeing the doctor and he
>   said that I am healing faster than normal.  He
>   attributed the quick recovery to being in excellent
>   aerobic condition, however Carole would say it is
>   partly due to the Co Q10 and Vitamin C supplements
>   that she has been giving me to aid healing plus
>   Carole’s Reiki treatments.
>
>    
>
>   Considering I hit the ground doing 30 mph I walked
>   away relatively unscathed from the accident.  I was
>   extremely lucky.  So what did I learn from this
>   experience - to slow down! 
>
>    
>
>   Even though I had been down this stretch of road
>   more than a thousand times you can never be sure
>   that it is going to be exactly the way it was the
>   last time you rode it.
>
>    
>
>   Dick Ludwig