48 Year Olds Don't Bounce! : Ride and Crash Report

Holy Cow! I thought I was hurting when I got home last night. This morning, my wife had to help me out of bed. What happened is last night, I crashed on a training ride.

Damnedest thing, I was banging along, getting a really good sprint, got a little squirrelly feeling in the back, and next thing I know, me and my bicycle were on the pavement. I really don't remember much more than that. I hit the pavement at something over 25 MPH, though.

This brings me to my helmet. It was a Bell Solar, and frankly, the Dr tells me if I hadn't been wearing it, there's a real good chance I'd be either dead or comatose from the impact area and damage to the helmet. The helmet is absolutely trashed, but it did it's job well.....it absorbed the energy of the impact.

As to my injuries, a pranged up my shoulder and right hip and have sore ribs. The shoulder is deep muscle bruising in the trapezoids, and the hip is impact bruising as well. My noggin is fine, though, but I have a really sore neck as well from the impact. I have some significant road rash on my right leg as well, and I'm generally VERY stiff and sore.

I learned a few things though. First, I need a better light, I was on a night ride, and didn't see the pavement problem that caused me to crash. Coincidentally, my light is trashed as well, so hey....opportunity to upgrade. Second, I've occasionally taken a few short rides without a helmet......NEVER AGAIN! If I hadn't been wearing it, I wouldn't be making this post. Third: 48 year old men hurt more after a crash. Who'da thunk! I'm having to use a cane to move around the house right now, and my arm is in a sling.

I uploaded some pics of the helmet core and road rash, etc, and I really wish I'd had my video camera rolling. It would have been awesome video!