I have had little to no luck since turning 25 on March 15th. Since I'm still not running everyday, I decided to keep up with the bike to get exercise in. Unfortunately, I completely wiped out while riding today.
I'm visiting my parents on Long Island, and went for a ride through one of the back areas on the north shore. It was raining earlier in the day, but the roads dried out well so I decided to go for an easy 20. There was one area on the ride that goes out to a dead end as you approach the water. The shoulder was uneven and lower than the main road bed, creating a small raised section running parallel to the road. I've actually encountered obstacles like this in Baltimore City where there are raised slabs of concrete at bus stops. If your wheel rubs up against the side of the raised portion of road, you can lose control.
I'm guessing I was going about 15mph when I kind of drifted to the shoulder. As that happened, my wheels found their way right up to that little lip. As soon as it happened I lost control. Everything happened rather quickly at that point. I can be thankful for 2 things. First, there were no cars around me when I lost control. Second, my clipless pedals probably saved me from something worse happening.
As best as I can remember, my front wheel jumped back up onto the road. The rear wheel however was stuck on the lip formed by the uneven road. The bike started rocking back and forth and eventually, the handlebar turned 90 degrees so that my front wheel was pointing all the way left. Shortly thereafter, my center of gravity shifted left, and the entire bike along with me fell to the left. Since I was clipped in to the pedals, the bike + me moved as one. It was certainly better that way. If my leg flailed out, I could have been thrown from the bike, or possibly had my leg hit at a bad angle and have something worse happen.
Instead, my left leg (mainly my left hip) slammed into the ground, along with my left arm. I slid a little, but must have already applied some braking because I stopped pretty soon after hitting the ground. I was probably close to recovering, but since that rear wheel was stuck on the lip, I couldn't stop the bike in time. While sliding, my left temple just where my helmet no longer protects my head banged into the ground. By that point, my leg had really absorbed most of the impact so I didn't really hit my head all that hard.
I was able to stand up pretty quickly. No one saw me crash, but cars did come by as I was standing up. I had more than a few people stop to ask if I was ok. Of course I waved everyone off (but was certainly happy that people do care). After standing in shock for a minute or two, I proceeded to pick my bike up and throw it off the road onto the sand alongside, rip my helmet off and chuck it, then cursed up a storm.
After recollecting myself, I assessed my bike for damage. The chain had fallen off the drive train, my handlebars were 90 degrees out of alignment, and my rear wheel wasn't true anymore. Realizing the bike would not get me back, I called my dad to come pick me up. My left hip was and still is really sore. I tried to pace up and down the road to walk it off, but people kept stopping to ask if I was ok. After getting tired of telling people that someone was coming, I just stood by my bike until my dad got there.
I will give a shout out to the two runners who stopped and really asked if I was ok. Runners are awesome.
I don't think I broke anything in my hip, it might just be sore. I also certainly didn't suffer any kind of concussion even though my head hit the road, it barely hurts at all. Things could certainly be a lot worse right now.
But, this still frustrates me to no end...
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