That went well...errr...

"SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media" (silentbutnotreallydeadly)
06/25/2020 at 02:07 • Filed to: Bicyclopnik

......a ctually. It didn’t really .

I will spare you all the more gruesome photo I have...

Of all the things to get me into hospital with a bicycle related injury for the first time in 33 years...it had to be a clipstack.

I was trying to turn around on a narrow local road after acting as sweep for the slower riders. I managed to avoid some fallen branch parts but in doing so rode off the tarmac and onto the unsealed verge. This turned out to be much softer than I expected and I came to an unexpected halt. I tried to tw ist out of the pedal but only succeeded to stick my knee out. I promptly drove said knee into the tarmac.

At the time, I was wearing leg warmers and I decided not to do an inspection. It felt a tad swollen but not especially painful so I didn’t worry too much about it. Especially since the fabric of the warmer was undamaged. So after a bit of a break to recover from the fright of it...we kept going.

We did the rest of our ride back to the coffee shop...another 12 kilometres or thereabouts.

Once back there I loaded the bike on the truck, ditched the helmet and shoes, put my work boots on...and looked at my now obviously blood soaked leg warmer. The size of the patch surprised me. When I unpeeled the leg warmer...the size of the wound did more than that.

Took myself up to the local hospital and, an hour and a half later, came back out with a sealed up knee, about 30 stitches, a leg splint, a prescription for some quality antibiotics and some positive comments about the visible qualities of my patella tendon from the doctor.

Two weeks of healing is now forthcoming...

DISCUSSION (30)

CompactLuxuryFan > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 02:42

Kinja'd!!!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 02:44

Yikes. Hope you have a quick recovery

glemon > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 02:59

Ouch, I just started biking again. Used to do it a lot for fun and transportation, had some nasty knocks, but nowhere near what you did to that knee.

Dead_Elvis, Inc. > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 03:06

Gahhhh!

Yet another reason I’m disinclined to take up riding again after a loooong break. Shit like that takes a lot more out of a guy at 50 than at 30.

Hope your recovery goes quickly & without complication.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > glemon
06/25/2020 at 03:11

I’ve been back into it for a decade and, despite a number of MTB stacks, this is the first requiring anything more than beer, band-aid and time.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Dead_Elvis, Inc.
06/25/2020 at 03:15

So do I...since I'm already into my 5th decade I can vouch for the not as good bounce as the 3rd decade but I can still bounce!!

pip bip - choose Corrour > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 03:30

Ouch!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 04:36

Damn man, take it easy and heal up! Not pleasant!!!

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > pip bip - choose Corrour
06/25/2020 at 06:20

Yeah it does a bit now...

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > CompactLuxuryFan
06/25/2020 at 06:21

You know...it does make me wonder what gif I'd get for the other photo....

boredalways > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 06:27

Is it weird that I want to see the rest of the photos?

Get well soon!

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > boredalways
06/25/2020 at 06:45

Are you sure?

Kinja'd!!!

Sovande > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 07:00

Oof. That's not fun and I hope it heals up quickly. I have nice scar from a. Similar injury when I was kid. Makes for a good conversation starter when you're wearing shorts! Feel better.

TheRealBicycleBuck > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 07:08

‘tis merely a scratch!

Happy healing!

boredalways > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 07:12

Yep. I’ve previously watched my own ingrown toenails being removed 3 times, removed them myself twice, and watched 5 stitches get sewn into my left index finger from a hedge clipper accident. Drove myself to ER.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > boredalways
06/25/2020 at 07:20

Understood. It’s not much different here though I may have amassed more stitches for many more stupid reasons. I seem to have seen a lot of how bits of the inside of me should work over the years...and some here may prefer to be spared that.

Nom De Plume > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 07:42

30 stitches is worse than I expected after hearing what happened. At least the doctor found reason to be positive about your general physical condition.

facw > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 07:52

Fuck... You say you drove your knee into the tarmac, but is tarmac in your part of the world made from saw blades? I’d expect a some scratching/road rash, not a deep gash like that.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Nom De Plume
06/25/2020 at 07:55

To be honest, neither the doc or I were really counting. Besides, the first internal stitch is technically one stitch...with a lot of loops. Then there’s the outer two sets. We both agreed that four boxes of sutures were used in the un parting of the flesh...

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > facw
06/25/2020 at 08:00

Tarmac on this road is made from 10-14 mm gravel bonded with asphalt - it's quite open in structure . It and the leg warmer simply grabbed the skin on my lower leg and gravity plus mass did the rest...

facw > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 08:05

Honestly, I find the one with the stitches far less gross.

shop-teacher > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 08:39

Ouch! Feel better soon!

OPPOsaurus WRX > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 08:43

i split my knee open on the back of a jetski in open waters. i was in the water laughing about it. When I got myself back on the jetski the footwell immediately turned red and the laughing quickly went to ‘uh oh’ and very quickly escalated to ‘ holy shit ’ Its amazing how little feeling you have right there. Be careful, I ended up back in the hospital a day or two later with a nasty infection. The doc clipped the first stitch and it looked like my knee was giving birth to a slime monster.

dumpsterfire! > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 08:46

oof, that’s a good one. glad it seems to be mostly soft tissue trauma, and i hope it stays that way. at the risk of sounding alarmist, be very watchful for infection in the next week.. and your knee is going to get a bit stiff while the skin heals, but not everyone needs to see the physio after that. good luck.

MonkeePuzzle > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 09:25

yikes!

nothing says a fun day of biking quite like pulling chunks of the road out of yourself. I know the sort of basically gravel almost barely a sealed surface of which you speak, shocked the fabric did tear that kept the injury hidden.

tis a pretty spot of which you’ve taken a photo of your pretty biek though :D

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 09:36

And that’s why I don’t do clip ins. I like to be able to bail when I want to. Sometimes you don’t have the reaction time for it to matter, but I’ve had a hand full of crashes that would have been a hell of a lot worse had I not been able to get away from the bike. Including one where I was in the air long enjoying to throw the bike under me so I could land on my feet and roll. Had I been clipped in I would have landed front wheel first and probably broken something

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 09:42

On a related note my son tried started trying jumps on his MTB the other day. He’s usually too scared, but this time he was riding with boys his age, and his competitiveness took over. Well on the 3rd or 4th truly his feet fell off the pedals and he got into a tank slapper, couldn’t recover and ended up skinning both knees, one of which was already scuffed up from an earlier incident at the skatepark. He didn’t cry, didn’t complain, didn’t even get mad, just stood up and said “I’m done biking for now”

I’ve never been so proud. When he came to live with us he was the kind of kid that sat playing video games all day, and would cry for 10 minutes if he bumped his knee.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
06/25/2020 at 10:24

I once fell off a kiddo scooter going down a very steep asphalt road. I was going very fast and got a table slapper.

I didn’t even notice until like an hour later I was still bleeding everywhere. I was far too occupied with my broken wrist. Even then I didn’t need stitches. That must have been a rough road to cause so large a gash.

Get well soon, my friend, and take it easy.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
06/25/2020 at 18:49

For MTB around here, I use flat pedals but the hardtail double tracker and the DirtRoadie both have clip pedals and I've rarely found them to be an issue...until that one time you get caught out!

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > dumpsterfire!
06/25/2020 at 18:56

All soft tissue and it has done some skin nerve damage so there’s some numbness but the deeper damage is uncomfortable. It’s stiffening nicely too.

Infection is a worry but the wound was kept pretty clean under the warmer and given very thorough wash out before getting stitched up. I also have a short course of cefalaxin as a prophylactic antibiotic which amounts to 2 grams per day over the next five days. Add in some wound management and I’ll hopefully be fine.