Well, yesterday I'm taking my usual Sunday bike ride at the trails off Town Lake, by Zilker Park. As I've been getting more comfortable with changing gears and stuff on my new Trek bike, things have been going really well. So yesterday, around 7:30PM I decide rather than stop off for water, I pick up the bottle from my mounted bottle holder. I start taking a drink while riding, much like Lance Armstrong. I'm going pretty close to full speed. Next thing I know, I'm going downhill and picking up speed quickly. I brake too quickly, the dirt is very slippery with lots of loose gravel on this part of the trail. I lose control of my bike, and fall forward into the ground at full speed. I landed with all my force on my left shoulder, and used my right hand to brace myself, as I proceed to wipe out. My bike is on top of me at this point. A few joggers see this, and stop to help me. They ask if I need any help, and I was very confused and didn't feel like talking to anyone. I walk my bike uphill off the trail, and look around at my wounds. 1. A cut about 2 inches in diameter opens up on my right palm, and I can see one of my veins sticking out. 2. A chunk of skin on my right knee came off, and is hanging on. 3. My right shoulder is badly bruised, and is completetly black. 4. My left knee is also skinned. 5. A smaller 0.5 inch wound opened up on my left palm, and small cuts on the top side. I walk over to the water fountain, and immediately start flushing my wounds with water. I douse my hands with water, as I can see lots of dirt in my wounds. The wounds on my hands and knees look brown from the dirt. At this point I start feeling like I'm going to pass out, so I sit down for a minute. I realize that I'm about 2 miles from my truck, which was a bad feeling. So I wash up one last time, and start walking my bike back to the truck. People give me weird looks as I'm covered in dirt and blood. Finally, I make it back to the truck, drop my bike in the bed, and drive down Mopac back to my apartment in Far West using my left hand. I call my girlfriend, and tell her to meet me at my apartment. She freaks out and leaves immediately for my place. I get back home, and immediately strip down, and get into the shower, and wash out the wounds and lacerations as best as I can. My girlfriend drove me to the Emergency Room at North Austin Medical Center at abou 9PM, and they called me in after only like 5-7 minutes. So first my nurse puts a kind of disinfectant soap over all my wounds, which kinda burns. Then the doctor comes, gives me some valium and other pain numbing medicine. He recommends a tetanus shot, so I get that too. The doctor then injects some numbing medicine with a needle, directly into my wounds, which hurt tremendously. Then my hands felt numb so the nurse started brushing my hand over the sink using a soft spongelike brush and some chemicals. It looked so horrific, that my girlfriend had too look away. Meanwhile, I start to feel light headed, and about to faint from the drugs I had just taken. I lay back down, and the nurse cleans the wounds, while the doctor gives me a couple of stitches to close out my knee. They wrap up my right hand, with gauze, and prescribe some vicatin as painkiller and some anti-infection pills. The whole procedure was completely painless thanks to an excellent staff at the North Austin Hospital. At 11:15PM I walk away with a $75 ER copay thanks to my health insurance. I guess it doesn't hurt to have a Johns Hopkins Medical School grad working at ER either. My girlfriend got me a burger from Wendy's and I went home. I am staying home from work today so I can relax and let my wounds heal. Anyways, the moral of this story, is always be careful when you're outdoors. Accidents can happen at any time, and you need to know what to do in case of an emergency. Always wash out your wounds as soon as you can to avoid infection. Go to the emergency room ASAP, and let the staff decide on the severity of your injury. I'm extremely lucky, and I thank God that I didn't break any limbs or sustain any head injuries.
A real man woulda poured some beer on his wounds, drank what was left, and continued on the ride. J/k, glad to hear you're OK - I broke a couple of ribs & such in a biking accident once, you're lucky.
Man o man do I sympathize with you. I had some nice wrecks training for the MS150 but nothing that traumatic. After I did an endo into a pile of friggin broken beer bottles, I ALWAYS ride with gloves. Yes, that means that after the summer I have little ovals burned into the backs of my hands, but it beats riding 5 minutes on the Ho Chi Minh trail with blood squirting out of your hands. I didnt see my veins Knees....well, I'm not shaving, so I just suffer. On the bright side, you didnt crack open your head. Thank god for that.
That's some serious pain I'm feeling for you there. Glad your otherwise okay and nothing is broken. Nothing worse than getting hurt while getting exercise...I've been there. I've had those needle shots right into wounds before and I cringed the whole time reading about how you had to endure that. That doesn't feel very pleasant on top of the wound pain. It's hard to describe it other than lightning bolts of pain as they usually give you shots all in and around the wound site. Yikes!!! I'm not feeling too well now. Think I'll go home and vomit blood.
Guys thanks for the kind responses. The vicotin has kicked in now, and I think I'll head out to run a couple of errands. I should be back in the office tomorrow morning. I just have to wake up a little earlier to clean and cover my wounds again. Surfguy - Yes, it does suck getting hurt while trying to get exercise. I don't ever want to go through the needles process again. Mateo - I think I'm going to start wearing my fingerless weightlifing gloves when I ride in the future. That is after I clean the blood of my handlebars. I can't imagine ending up in beer bottles with chards of glass all over me. Oski - Maybe I'll get a refill. PGabe - Dr. Donalley (like "vote for Donally" on Black Sheep) boomboom - Wendy's was definitely the highlight of the night. Moballs - She's hot, she's loyal, and she's willing to put up with my immaturity - a true keeper. Rocketburrito - Nothing kills bacteria like an ice cold Shiner, huh?
I hate those kinds of accidents. Your hurt enough to need help, but not enough to call it a major injury. And I hate scrapes. I'd rather be cut deep into my arm or something than scrape the skin off my knee. Glad your better and it was a good call to go to the hospital. You never want to risk infections with stuff like that.
You realize the question on everyone's mind now, don't you Baqui99? Did you or did you not give it to your girlfriend up to the pooper?
You can now officially be welcomed to the biking fold. What's a bike rider without at least one good accident to brag about and you'll even have scars to share with friends!! I broke a couple of ribs riding my bike once. Not fun, plus there's NOTHING the doctor's can do for ya!! Hey baqui, thank goodness for health insurance, huh??
Hope you get better soon. Can't believe you ride without gloves. How about a helmet? Personally, if I'm riding alone, I taper back the madness a bit, so I make it home. I met a guy who broke his hip in Zilker and spent three hours there until a lady hiker found him and they were able to remote rescue him. IIRC it was Will Black, the 35+ Texas bad ass cyclist. I bought oodles of stuff from him when he worked at West End Bikes in Houston. I think in Austin, it's OK to go all out at Emma Long, cause, there's so much traffic, a moto or bikie is going to find you in fifteen minutes, and they can land a helicopter in the main parking lot.
I haven't really been much of a bike rider since I was little, but the most painful accident I ever had was when my face met one of my neighbor's mail boxes. I probably wasn't more than about eight, and all I remember is being hurt and really confused. Luckily my dad was out in our yard and saw what happened. The most painful injury I've ever had occurred in a batting cage. I was in one of the "fast" cages, and the machine shot one out weird that ended up getting me right below the helmet and right above the eye. Gave me a nice big cut and a trip to the doctor that I don't remember. I hope you get over your injuries soon Baqui.
