This morning, after a couple hours of sleep, I mounted my bike to go from my residence to class. Now, me being almost late, I rode hard. For about 3 seconds. That’s when I turned a corner and was going too fast when there was a person in front of me. I pulled both my brakes as hard as I could, but my bike sucks and my rear brakes are incredibly loose. Result? Me flipping over my handle bars. Thank God I didn’t hit the person in front of me though. I scraped my legs, hands, and face. That isn’t the worst part. The worst part is I chipped two of my teeth, one of them being the front tooth. I’ll be going to the dentist in 30 minutes and I hope he will be able to do something for me and later I’ll be getting a TB shot, I guess.
Please no replies telling me how stupid I am. I know that. My first 30 words after I got up was how stupid I was. Yes, I know that it was 100% my fault. I also realize that it could have been far worse and for that I am very, very greatful, especially since I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I could have died today.
I made this thread in the hopes of gaining some sympathy. I could really use it.
Don’t you hate hurting yourself and all you can think as you pick yourself up is “I am such an idiot; that was all my fault.” Yeah, I’ve done that on my horse (couldn’t walk for 4 days and needed 6 weeks of physical therapy, 3 weeks on crutches).
Sorry dude. Feel better and I hope the dental work isn’t too $$. Can I ask though, why the scrape+bruises+dental damage = Tuberculosis shot? Did you mean tetanus shot?
Your story brought to mind the time that I decided I could ride my bike with my arms crossed in front of me (right hand on left handlebar, left hand on right handlebar) and promptly went ass over teakettle.
I was run down by a bicyclist when I was in college. I had the light and I was in the crosswalk, but I neglected to realize that the rules didn’t apply to him. I ended up with a bruise on my hip, cuts on my hands, and my left wrist hurt when I tried to hold a rifle, so I had to drop off the team.
Sorry you got hurt but I’m glad you didn’t do to another what was done to me. Geez, I just realized that happened 25 years ago - guess it’s time for me to let go, huh?
My SO did the same exact thing last week. He rides his bike to work every day, and after work one day he saw some people he knew and went over to talk to them. He rode up to them fast, slammed on his brakes, and went sailing over the handlebars.
Aside from the embarassment, he was totally unhurt. Not a scratch on him, I guess he landed on four points (hands and feet). His bike got scraped up, but nothing critical.
You really should always wear a helmet (I am surprised how many people I see biking that don’t wear one), but I think you already know that. I don’t think you’re stupid, like my SO, you had a bit of bad luck. Ouch.
Back in my college days I used to ride a bike around campus. One night i was late to meet someone at the library and so I took a shortcut behind some maintenance buildings (not well-lit).
You know those chains they drape across driveways to prevent unauthorized traffic? :eek: They usually have some kind of reflective panel, but this one didn’t. I hit it full speed, and it caught me just above the front wheel. I went flying, sort of landed on my forearm and rolled. Extremely lucky I only scraped my arm. Very few people wore bike helmets in those days and I was not one of them.
Anyway, my bike was in bad shape - two bent wheels. I had to walk the rest of the semester.
When I was in 8th grade, I joined the cycling club. We met every Wednesday and took a ride somewhere. On this particular Wednesday, we were coming back from a neighboring town around 5 pm when a truck pulled up alongside our advisor, who was right in front of me. It was his wife and they started chatting as we rode along. I must have been daydreaming or something because the next thing I knew was that they had both stopped right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, and as you can all probably surmise by now, my back brakes weren’t worth diddly. I flew over my handlebars, did a complete flip and landed squatting down in a sort-of catcher’s position. I then fell over backwards and banged the back of my helmetless head on the bumper of hte advisor’s wife’s truck. They both looked at me in amazement and then she said: “That was the most graceful dismount I have ever seen.”
Take the day off Ian Fan and I hope you feel better.
Trust me, as stupid as you feel you may be, I’ve got plenty of friends and aquaintences that do stupider shit. Like continually riding their bike after having two epileptic siezures in the same number of weeks while riding, not to mention the numerous number of poles he’s smaked into while drunk and or stoned.
Busted teeth is never a good thing, so I hope the dentist can take care of those real good. As for the other scrapes and bruises…well, just remember…beter late, than late and broken. Take it easy, fix those brakes, and have a good day!
I went to the dentist today and I’ll have to go back tomorrow morning for a root canal and temporary filling. The estimate is $600CDN, but hopefully my insurance will cover it.
After that, and after my 3 hour math lecture, I went home and slept like a baby.
Thanks for all the sympathy, and also for the insult from Gazelle ;).
P.S.: What also makes what I did stupid was that I have a nice helmet, but I just didn’t use it this particular morning because I was in a rush. (Even though in this case it wouldn’t have protected me, I won’t ever forget my helmet again.)
When I was a junior in college (about 12 years ago), I had a very early pair of Rollerblades. On the way back to the house I shared with 8 other people, there was a very long (not terribly steep, but long) hill. I was going down this hill (on the sidewalk) one night, when I noticed that there were three women walking in the same direction that I was going, approximately 50 feet ahead of me.
“Excuse me!!!” I yelled.
They appeared not to notice.
“EXCUSE ME!!!” I screamed, from approximately 15 feet away now.
They didn’t move. Apparently too wrapped up in their conversation.
With about 5 feet to go, I opted for the better part of valor and veered off into the grass between the sidewalk and the street.
I clipped two of them on the way over, but they didn’t even fall over.
I did.
Cracking my head on the curb. They spent approximately 30 seconds making sure I was OK before they left.
Two or three minutes later, I got up and limp-skated home (another half mile or so).
So yes, I was stupid to skate down the sidewalk, but: Damn! Couldn’t they at least have actually made sure I wasn’t going to die? Or, failing that, gotten out of the way beforehand?
Oh, fuck it. I was stupid, and should have been skating in the street.
My daughter, who always wears a helmet when biking, went over her handlebars last spring and knocked her front tooth out nearly to the root. (She’d thrown a sweatshirt over the handlebars, and it slipped into the wheel.) Her dentist, bless his heart, did a wonderful bonding job, although he said she still may eventually lose the tooth.
Genuine stupidity SHOULD be painful, but mistakes like yours (and hers) shouldn’t be. Feel better!
No sympathy (actually, I am sorry you got hurt), no insults, just good old-fashioned unsolicited advice:
Get the bike in good working order. It’s important. Now you know why.
Learn proper braking technique. Yes, there is a right way to do it. Particularly, for heavy braking always apply the rear brake before applying the front (again, now you know why), but also be aware that the front will actually do most of the stopping. Getting the timing and amount of squeeze coordinated between front and rear is a good skill to have.
