# Who has never had an "off"?



## jefmcg (3 May 2017)

I've come off my bike a few times. Been to A&E twice, NHS walk-in once, ruined merino tights once. At least 2 times in 2014 (including a memorable day in December when @vickster and I both came off in separate incidents), and 2 again 2015. Maybe none last year, and none so far this year. So let's say once every 5000km (to pluck a number out of the air). It's probably higher than that, though.

It did not occur to me that was a lot, just one of the hazards of being alive; if you ride a bike, you fall off it occasionally. It turns out @jonny jeez has only come off once in 10 years, so he thinks offs are extremely rare. 

So then, data: is coming off a rare event for you or not? Clipless, pothole, mechanical, collision, black ice, gravel, etc. Restrict the poll to cycling on the roads or paths, not doing technical downhills on a MTB or cyclocross racing or anywhere else that coming off would be expected. Feel free to share those in replies below, if you want to.


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## Drago (3 May 2017)

Had some minor tumbles off road, but nothing noteworthy. Haven't have a proper off since I was a kid attempting the land speed record on a Chopper. I'm sure it was transonic buffeting that spat me off and broke my leg, and not a tank slapper.


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## Welsh wheels (3 May 2017)

Lots of times as a kid, as an adult only once in about 10,000 miles.


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## Crackle (3 May 2017)

A few times. Most benign but one fractured skull and a few losses of dignity, particularly banging into the gate that normally opened but this time didn't and then executing a slow sideways topple next to a bus stop full of people.


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## Markymark (3 May 2017)

8,000 miles, 2 very minor, one medium minor.


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## Welsh wheels (3 May 2017)

Incidentally, I've fallen down the stairs more times than I've fallen off my bike.


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## jefmcg (3 May 2017)

A couple of clarifications

Doesn't matter if it was serious or not, I just want to find out whether coming off in any form is rare.
I'm "liking" all the replies. That doesn't mean I like that you fell off your bike


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## Crackle (3 May 2017)

Markymark said:


> 8,000 miles, 2 very minor, one medium minor.


But you didn't scratch your iphone, right?


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## Venod (3 May 2017)

I have ticked too many times as I have had lots of offs mostly minor ones off road, but the road ones are the worst, I would say 2 major and 1 minor but all resulting in skin missing clothing damaged, one with broken bones, the thing is you forget them then another one comes along to dent your confidence, but I think any off is one too many.


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## Markymark (3 May 2017)

Crackle said:


> But you didn't scratch your iphone, right?


For some unknown reason I didn't put my phone in my saddle bag but in my pocket as it was a shortish ride. Fell on that side and trashed my phone. Had to flag down a car and the first one stopped, put my bike in the back and drove me back to the hotel I was staying at. Having bits of the my plastic glasses pulled out of my eyebrow was less traumatic than digging out my old Nokia for a week until I replaced my iPhone.

Now it lives safely in my saddle bag or on my quadlock if I'm using twatnav.

But thanks for asking.......


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## MontyVeda (3 May 2017)

In 2010 I had the following conscious thought... I haven't fallen off my bike since 1985!

Sod's Law quickly kicked in and i came off three times in as many weeks... but nothing more serious than a cut knee, sore shoulder or bruised ribs. I think I've injured myself more by walking into things.


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## AndyRM (3 May 2017)

Been knocked off by cars twice.

Crashed a couple of times, once attempting a bit of downhill racing, and once (very foolishly) trying to run over a goose.


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## Milkfloat (3 May 2017)

On the road - twice in the last year, neither involving cars. Once was ice and the other was an unexpected and slippery ford. Generally I am pretty good at staying upright.

MTB is a different matter, I get quite disappointed if I stay on the bike for the whole ride.


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## smutchin (3 May 2017)

I fell off three times last year, which is definitely too many. Before that it was several years since my previous fall. I'd say last year was a statistical anomaly - overall, I think I fall off a pretty average number of times. Only one of the falls last year was directly my fault - daydreaming and didn't realise how close I was to the verge... landed flat on my back on the grass. More embarrassing than painful.

I've never been knocked off by a car but I have been deliberately pushed off by a pillock leaning out of a car window.


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## Lonestar (3 May 2017)

Off last December when my pedal broke off up Stratford High Street.

Testing my SPD new shoes and clips on the Brompton I also came off at 0mph right outside my front door.Mid 2016.

The Lights between Bow and Stratford at 0mph again when my foot slipped on the pavement on the return commute in January 2016.

Between 2009+2013 (5 years) none and then five different ones in three years 2014/2015 and 2016....2 at 0mph and another one very slowly when waiting for a pedestrian to cross who wasn't looking. front wheel slipped...Hit a moped at Aldgate in 2014 at low speed 8mph roughly....Both Brakes failed in the wet and perhaps oil on the rims had little time to do anything about it and nowhere to go...New pained front rim unworn and the cheap brake blocks that were ditched soon after...In the wet brakes non responsive (on the night of Bob Crows last tube strike) had to aim to miss his rear wheel which I did but still fell off...He suddenly buggered off when I asked him why he stopped in traffic for no reason but it was my fault.Amazingly in the gap I fell off and managed to not hit the car to my right or parked on my left.Believe moped rider was looking for a turning...hence why he stopped.


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## tobykenobi (3 May 2017)

Loads of times as a kid, including a broken collar bone.

As an adult only twice. Once on ice, once on a mountain bike riding over uneven ground. Shunted from behind by a car once.


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## vickster (3 May 2017)

Too many as an adult after returning to cycling 

Came off in Sept 09 and have fecked my knee for ever more

Then I had some sort of weird embarrassing off when I went to put my foot down at a junction and the ground wasn't there due to some crazy camber and I lost my balance! (can't remember when that was)
Knocked off by car in Feb 2014, 4 procedures / surgeries, still not recovered (leg never will fully), PI claim ongoing 

Dec 2014 came off on some plastic strip things in the road (the one @jefmcg mentions)

Sept 2015 (or thereabouts), another weird one, hit a chicane while trying to clip foot into bloody single sided pedals, was looking down! Soft landing on grass fortunately

Clipless moment (can't remember when), loose cleat, couldn't get foot out of pedal on a hill!

Another utterly bizarre one in Chertsey with @jefmcg caught clodhopper on front tyre while turning, somehow managed to disengage both feet and land standing with bike on floor!

Last spring (May?) came off on Thames path, rough stuff by a speed hump, seeminglyunsuitable for 23mm tyes 

I think and hope that's it!


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## Aravis (3 May 2017)

My first thought was "rarely", but when I think about it I'm probably well into double figures, so once every few thousand miles. I'm classifying that as "a few times".

In student days I remember having to jump off a couple of times when failing to negotiate a corner and hitting a kerb. Read into that what you will; it hasn't happened since.

Most have been inconsequential and I can only remember being injured twice. Firstly in 2000 when my front wheel failed to clear a dome-shaped white line newly painted along the Severn Bridge cycle track. A heavy fall but only cuts and bruises. Many others did the same thing and the line disappeared very quickly. Just one broken bone - a scaphoid in 2005 when hit from behind by a car. That's my only vehicular impact I think.


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## iandg (3 May 2017)

Too many - road racing, track racing, MTB racing, training/leisure rides and commuting. Hit by a bus once in West Bromwich and have had about 1/2 dozen visits to A/E for ?head injury. I have been an active club cyclist since 1973 so overall relatively few.


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## ianrauk (3 May 2017)

4 Bike/Motor interactions in the past 12 years. 

1 of them 50/50 as I was careering around a country lane too fast around a blind bend and came a cross a car coming from the other direction. I managed to swerve out of the way and just brushed his offside bonnet which resulted in me going flying. Bruised and battered but no damage. We both agreed that we were both at fault and parted amicably. 

2nd was the classic of me undertaking backed up traffic and car in lane flashed an oncoming car to turn right into a side road. Managed to brake but still got a glancing blow. Driver was very apologetic. From that day on I very rarely undertake. Bashed and bruised and cracked ribs. Bike just needed a front wheel true. 

3rd one was a Copper doing a U-Turn without indicating sending me flying and knocking me unconscious. Cuts, bruises and rotator cuff shoulder injury which still gives me jip now. The cop lied about the episode. The incompetent cops lost witness statements and tried their best to stall and delay the case. He lost, they admitted liability and he got done for dangerous driving.

Last big one was another classic SMIDSY. This was the scary one as I was at speed and I could see it was going to happen. Minivan doing right turn over mini roundabout, claimed he was blinded by the sun. Up onto the bonnet, smashed windscreen and into the road job. Very battered and bruised for that one. A&E job for checkover. Motorist was very good, admitted full liability, took me and my bike home, then took me to the hospital. Paid for damaged bike repairs and ripped clothing without hassle.

Apart from those, a few off's due to ice, diesel or slippy roads and paths or just a simple lack of concentration. 

Hitting a motorcyclist on the commute as I was tailing him too close when he braked. 

Being very hungover on a bike ride and like @smutchin , just not concentrating, hitting a verge and just going over.

On a FNRttC took a corner a little too wide and ended up rolling against the kerb.. that was only going to have one ending, and over I went. 

The worst self inflicted was a badly sprained ankle which laid me up off the bike for a couple of weeks. I needed a waz so unclipped in a county lane, put my foot down and straight into a hole in the verge. I went over, my ankle went pop. That was sheer agony. 

Damn, it looks like I'm a cycling Jonah.. but with the miles I do every year and the amount of London traffic cycling I do. I think I have got off very lightly. That, or I just bounce very well.


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## Ciar (3 May 2017)

the Commuter bike once, due to cornering way too tight on winter roads ;-)

but the MTB truth be told i have had in the past more so when i was kid, touch wood on the new bike not so much, about 6 weeks ago i did manage to clump a low lying tree branch proper thick one, twice and give myself either mild concussion or whip lash, touch wood just had close calls rather than offs 

where as the bike had to have a new rear axle due to the level being bent into an L shape and my right shifter needed rebuilding due hitting something without realizing it.


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## bikingdad90 (3 May 2017)

September 2007 rear ended by car thinking I was pulling out to go onto a roundabout. Wheel was farked but I was ok, landed on my feet.

January 2016. Icy commute and hit the deck on black ice. Pannier protected the bike but I had one hell of a bruise on my leg.

March 2017. Front wheel went on white line on a greasy town centre road. I bounced and sprained my wrist but ok. Managed to write bike off as it clipped the kerb when it fell.

I have had a few near misses when I have been pushing it. Usually back end slides which I have caught.


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## User169 (3 May 2017)

In the last 20 years:

3x in London - collision with car, collision with bus passenger and falling off towpath into Regents Canal
3x in NL - each time skidded on ice

only one required a trip to A+E


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## Bodhbh (3 May 2017)

Christ time has gone quick, I've been commuting/touring/whatever about 10yrs now. Rough guess reckon I've had 8-9 offs: 2 collisions (1 their fault, 1 mine), 2 due to waxy road conditions (not ice), 2-3 ice, and a couple self inflected due to too much sauce. Worst one was a KO this year getting hit by a motorbike. It was probably my fault, but being KO'd I don't recall it, so I can't make any kind of argument...good advert for a bike camera as blackbox. Cost me several grand in paying for his repairs as well. Next worst was a cracked rib and smashed glasses, other than that cuts and bruises.

/edit reading some of the other tales, also ended up in the canal and headbutted the tarmac after a chain slip. Makes me wonder how many other times I've forgot.


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## rugby bloke (3 May 2017)

2008 - Commuting through a park, mind else where, no-one else any where near me. Somehow managed to come off whilst not doing more than 10 mph. Twisted my knee and still hobble around on it. 
2009 - Icy morning, right hand turn before a hill, the bike gently fell away from me on some black ice.
2010 - Riding on a cycle path, back from the LBS after getting my brakes fixed. Came to a wooden bridge which can be slippery after rain. Thought I had better just check my speed, forgetting I had new brakes, applied far too much pressure and went over the front. Broken tooth and 5 stitches in my lip. 
2016 - A clipless moment on the way to the start of RideLondon last year ... no injures but felt good after giving so much amusement to so many riders !

So 4 unplanned dismounts, with a cumulative total speed of around 25 mph ... The moral of the story - don't ride slowly, its dangerous.


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## Bollo (3 May 2017)

Hit by a Volvo in 2009. Nothing broken but aggravated a shoulder issue.

Off on ice around five years ago in front of a gaggle of school kids. Nothing broken. Shoulder aggravated.

Two years ago, a biggie. Giving it beans (PM said 650+W) away from a roundabout in Basingstoke and the chain drops. The sudden unloading has me unbalanced, off the bike and bouncing down the freshly surface-dressed road. Nothing broken, but lots of skin loss, permanent damage to my hip and aggravated shoulder.

18 months ago. Ice. Enraged shoulder.


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## Dogtrousers (3 May 2017)

I don't feel like "liking" any of these. 

I have had a few very minor ones. Slight bruising. Nothing of much interest. There's a cursed road (Chalkpit Lane) where I fell off going up (slipping gears) and then on my next visit going down (wet leaves). I don't go there any more.


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## Znook (3 May 2017)

Just the once when I was youngster, when descending a blind bend on a damp night. Seeing there were no vehicles approaching from the other side (as there were no headlights showing) I decided to cut the corner, got three quarters around when I found I was dead on for the cats-eye in the middle of the road. When you're leaning over to take the turn there was no chance of avoiding it, front wheel hit and that was it, down I went. Handlebars knocked off centre, tape scratched to f@£$, pedal/crank no longer 90d but thankfully the bike was still rideable in a fashion. I was lucky, escaping with just a bit of road rash. I still drive, run and bike past this point even today and I always think back to that particular night.


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## derrick (3 May 2017)

Last big of was when i was about 13 or 14,Just badly bruised and loads of road rash, But as an adult and 30000 miles not so much as a clipless moment, a couple of close shaves,But i can live with them, I am now clutching a big lump of wood.
Edit, Just remembered i did hit some ice a few years back, but i was going so slow the front wheel went away, i was not clipped in so foot was on the floor before the bike hit the deck.


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## GM (3 May 2017)

Much the same as Derrick, but not as many miles. Only 2 clipless moments, both quite amusing. These days I tend to ride much slower, the thought of coming off at my age could be very painful.


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## Siclo (3 May 2017)

Far, far too many times reasons include clipless moments, ice, leaves, being dazzled, pedestrians, mechanical failure (my own neglect), hit by vehicles on 3 occasions, hit by a scaffold pole falling off a wagon.

Results range from a bit sore through to soft tissue injuries and broken bones including a fractured skull that left me without any balance for months, believe it or not it's quite easy to fall off chairs in this state, and a stutter that took several years to go away. 

Typically its a minor off once a year so every five to eight thousand miles.


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## irw (3 May 2017)

As far as I can recall, in the past 10 years, I've had two offs- both on the same wintery, icy night about 7 years go, after a panicked phone call from work that the fire alarm was going off (false alarm) and they couldn't silence it. At the time I lived about a mile away, and bike was the only transport option to get there quickly. Cue riding out of my driveway, then taking an immediate left on a mini-roundabout. Bam. It was so close to home, the wife heard and came to check on me. Picked myself up again quickly, carried on towards work, round the right hand bend that took me up to stage door, and sliiiiiip, down again. Right in front of the entire company that had been in rehearsing and were now stood at the muster point.  Picked myself up again, sorted out the fire alarm, and when cycling home realised that the top of my left leg was now in quite a bit of pain. Got home to find a big patch of road rash from the first off at the top of my leg. Still got marks on my leg today from that.


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## Jody (3 May 2017)

Few falls as a kid, mainly though being stupid. Fractured arm and lots of gravel rash.

1 in recent times which was a silly fall resulting in a painful few days cycling in Wales. Not good having to hang onto your bike coming down Snowdon with a bruised bone in the palm of your hand


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## jefmcg (3 May 2017)

Siclo said:


> including a fractured skull that left me without any balance for months, believe it or not it's quite easy to fall off chairs in this state, and a stutter that took several years to go away.





Yeah, this one is not getting a "like"


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## Seevio (3 May 2017)

In my "adult" life, one clipless and one alcohol related. None while actually moving..


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## nickyboy (3 May 2017)

I've been cycling about 4 years and done about 20,000 miles in that time.

Two very minor offs

First was on a patch of ice near Alderley Edge. Cycling along, next thing I'm on my side on the floor, still clipped in. Can't have been doing more than 10mph. Bit of a sore shoulder, that's all

Second was me stupidly trying to cycle down a steep little cobbled lane in a rainstorm. Slipped from under me at all of about 3mph. Cut knee, broken brifter (Campgnolo, which I now know costs a fortune to replace)

Considering I like to hurtle down hills and generally go as fast as possible, that's good I think


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## Crackle (3 May 2017)

Siclo said:


> a fractured skull that left me without any balance for months


Quite similar: I suffered with blood pressure and dizziness issues for about 12 months. One should avoid fracturing ones skull if at all possible, is my advice.


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## Alan O (3 May 2017)

Hmm, tricky to remember...

1) Rear shunt at a roundabout by a car
2) Sideswipe by a car that started to pull out in front of me
3) Another sideswipe by a car that started to pull out in front of me
4) Full-on collision with a car that fully pulled out in front of me
5) Black ice
6) Black ice (just minutes and about 100 meters after 5)
7) Somersault after pedal strike riding too close to the pavement
8) Slippery wooden "boardwalk" path

I think that's all, and I reckon it's a relatively safe record for a total of about 25 years of cycling.

(update: added one more)


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## winjim (3 May 2017)

One ridiculous catapulting into a dry stone wall on a fast descent in Snowdonia as a kid, from which I still bear the scars, a minor clipless when I first started with them, otherwise nothing.

I did have a hilarious ride a couple of years ago with a mate, a well experienced sportive type. He was just recovering from an ear infection so had no sense of balance. He basically spent the whole day falling over and riding into fields because he just couldn't do corners.


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## I like Skol (3 May 2017)

I'm not going to list them but there have been more than enough in my long and glittering cycle career! In my defence I do like to ride enthusiastically so probably haven't had as many offs as I should considering my penchant to sail close to the wind!

We are not doing very well with the 'never' vote.....


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## jonny jeez (3 May 2017)

For data sake

3000 miles a year (spiking at 5000)
10 years
30-50,000 miles in total...blimey

One off, my own fault.
Never been hit but went into the back of a polish taxi driver once, whilst looking for a rattle in my block. No damage just a "bump" and a red face.

Some long rides of 100 miles a day too. (probably 1000 miles a year)


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## classic33 (3 May 2017)

25,000 miles to and from work, T-boned once. A few close calls in the same period.

I've been run off the road on purpose, rear end shunts(for the fun of it whilst on four wheels) and deliberate side swipes from some drivers.

18:35, 5th March 1977, was my second recorded off from a bike. Trying to get away from the ambulance crew, sent to help for my first recorded off.


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## mjr (3 May 2017)

jefmcg said:


> It did not occur to me that was a lot, just one of the hazards of being alive; if you ride a bike, you fall off it occasionally. It turns out @jonny jeez has only come off once in 10 years, so he thinks offs are extremely rare.
> 
> So then, data: is coming off a rare event for you or not?


What do you mean by "coming off"? I remember one adult moving fall/crash, on ice, New Year's Eve maybe 2014. Broke handlebars - but I've come off the bike more often than that because if the bike is going over, I'd rather not be on it, so I jump off onto my feet and usually get away with it! I also remember one crash, summer 2012, where I ended up with the bike on top of me after trying to reverse it. I still call this "too many times" though!

I've not been hit by a car in over 30 years riding so far. About 4000 miles/year over the last three years (since I started counting on this computer). A few near-misses, but emergency stops and turns have averted collisions so far.


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## chriswoody (3 May 2017)

In over Thirty years of cycling, I've had a few. There not too regular though and no lasting injuries beyond pride. 

I'll always remember the first proper off though, just having mastered leaving stabilizers behind, I was wobbling along on my Grifter, in shorts and tee shirt on a local piece of wasteland. Suddenly I wobbled too much and lost the fight with gravity, straight into a big pile of stinging nettles. That smarted.


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## Tim Hall (3 May 2017)

A while since I have I think. 
Most recent was on ice a couple of years back. Looked down at the road, realised it was shiny, bang! down I went. Great lump in shin from a pedal. 
About four years ago I got taken out on a roundabout by a dozy motorist. Didn't know anything about it until I was aware of being in hospital. Overnight stay, mild concussion, stitches. Bike U/S. Painless compensation from driver's insurer (I think they got scared by the amount of blood). No prosecution of the driver, so that can't have been driving "below the standard of a competent motorist".
Dropped the tandem a couple of times, nothing major.
Was on the tandem with someone else piloting it. Over enthusiastic cornering in the wet on a left hand slight down hill. He went over the centre of the lane, so the camber was against us, as was the lack of friction. Slide, swear, get up. Big hole in big tights, big hole in skin. I tried kidding a new rider that it was all an initiation ceremony and that she'd have to apply soothing lotion. She declined but fortunately we had a hairy arsed fireman on the ride who did the necessary.
Ages ago a right turning car onto the major road I was on collected me onto the bonnet. Little damage to me and got that driver prosecuted. £120 fine plus points.
When I was much younger slammed my bike into a barrier at the end of a car park, trying to show off.


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## davidphilips (3 May 2017)

about once every 4 years, had a accident in january so hopefully should be ok for another few years, Cycle appox 8,000 miles a year so really not bad considering some of the great drivers on todays roads.


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## raleighnut (3 May 2017)

I like Skol said:


> I'm not going to list them but there have been more than enough in my long and glittering cycle career! In my defence I do like to ride enthusiastically so probably haven't had as many offs as I should considering my penchant to sail close to the wind!
> 
> We are not doing very well with the 'never' vote.....


Similar here, broke collarbones a lot (in fact my left one is still broken) but my record is falling off a dozen or so times absolutely smashed on the way back from Maz's sisters flat (cyclepath all the way from her place to home)

Not come off the Trike yet but had a few  moments trying to corner too quick for an 'upwrong' before I learnt the trick (inner pedal down with all your bodyweight on it and hang off like a loon )


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## Supersuperleeds (3 May 2017)

I've been off a few times, but I have been very lucky. Hit by cars three times and not had a scratch on me though one bike was a write off. Hit a tree root whilst pootling on a cycle path and ended up with stitches in my elbow, bike was completely fine.


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## Racing roadkill (3 May 2017)

Lots. No pain no gain. Human bodies are very good at repairing themselves.


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## Tim Hall (3 May 2017)

Racing roadkill said:


> Lots. No pain no gain. Human bodies are very good at repairing themselves.


What are you trying to gain though?


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## Noru (3 May 2017)

Excluding my brief foray into Cycle Speedway I've not had an off as an adult. 

Though I had two big offs when I was little...

I was car doored which resulted in a trip to the local hospital (no A&E) for glueing & strapping where the corner of the door had just missed my eye socket and checks over a couple of days for concussion, which I didn't have luckily.

Then another where I was following a friend down a hill I hit a huge pothole while passing a parked van which flung me over the bars and into the middle of the road. Very lucky all other traffic missed me and I regained conciousness in the back of an ambulance some way into the half hour ride to Derby Royal Infimary A&E, was on gas while a lovely nurse removed the grit from the deep cuts.

Still have a couple of scars from them 15-20 years later but none recently well not cycling related anyway. But it does explain why I'm always slow on steep decents much prefering the challenge of uphill rather than the speed of the downhill.


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## dave r (3 May 2017)

I've been cycling for over 40 years and I'm generally very good at keeping it rubber side down, but I've chewed tarmac occasionally . worst was 2007 getting clipped from behind, spending an afternoon in A&E and three weeks of work with a bruised back. year before last on Tiagra after several years on sram, I left it to long on the outer ring at the bottom of a hill and when I dropped it on the inner ring it sucked its chain and spat me off, no damage just embarrassed, last year trickling at walking pace got my toe tangled up in the front mudguard and ended up on my arse, again no damage done.


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## Dogtrousers (3 May 2017)

I did have a serious one in my 20's. I was touring with a mate. Going along a lane. Not fast, fully loaded bike going up a small hill. Woke up with my mate standing over me and a big wound on the back of my head. I still have photos of the puddle of blood. No idea what happened. Being young and convinced of my immortality, I didn't get checked out at A&E or anything, just got back on the bike and continued the tour.

That continues to worry me as I do most of my riding on my own. Not a huge amount of worry, but a bit.


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## smutchin (3 May 2017)

Tim Hall said:


> What are you trying to gain though?



Chicks dig scars, innit.


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## mjr (3 May 2017)

chriswoody said:


> I'll always remember the first proper off though, just having mastered leaving stabilizers behind, I was wobbling along on my Grifter, in shorts and tee shirt on a local piece of wasteland. Suddenly I wobbled too much and lost the fight with gravity, straight into a big pile of stinging nettles. That smarted.


Some time after leaving stabilisers behind, I got a Grifter as my first geared bike. On the first ride, I shifted into second and being completely unprepared for the acceleration of a 33% gear step, I put the bike straight into a large unruly rose bush 

Years later, on my first road bike, on probably the first attempt to shift up, I spent so long looking down at the shifters that I looked back up to see a cornfield had unavoidably leapt into my way


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## Will Spin (3 May 2017)

I've come off my mountain bike a few times, but we don't count those do we? One major off while road biking after many years, descending, not that fast, didn't see a bump in the road - ouch! shattered right shoulder been brilliantly strung back together by a top class surgeon. Always go into drops when descending or over 15mph now.


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## Mrs M (3 May 2017)

Had quite a few offs on my racer as a kid, usually cornering like a speedway rider (not)  and zooming along the ground still on the bike. Never broke anything and worse damage was scuffed bar tape.
Came off my MTB a few years ago into a ditch, chest high  fall broken by raspberries 
Last offs were on holiday in Tenerife, returned at Christmas and stayed upright this time 
Had a close call once on my current road bike, busy admiring a horse in a field and almost ended up in a bush, corrected swiftly and carried on


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## GetAGrip (3 May 2017)

A few. The worst being a pavement cyclist on a red & yellow trike and going over the handlebars and gashing my chin.
Enjoyed the hot chocolate drink and "special" biscuits my aunty Margaret gave me though. That was the most blood I had ever seen in my whole 6 year life


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## Effyb4 (3 May 2017)

Only once. It was a clipless moment at a bus stop. I nearly fell in the lap of a poor man. I only had a few cuts and bruises. Mr Effy thought it was hilarious.


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## ChrisEyles (3 May 2017)

Let's see, a few sideways slides on the ice, one memorable over the bars into a hedge, one distasterous attempt at a big boy's jump on a MTB and one front wheel washout leading to a trip to A&E. That probably counts as "too many" doesn't it...

My new year's resolution for 2017 is to not fall off my bike!

Edit: the front wheel washout and jump were both at trail centres so don't count for the purposes of this thread. That would probably make it around 2,000 - 3,000 miles per crash, which doesn't sound too bad to me.


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## fossyant (3 May 2017)

Do I win ?


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## jonny jeez (3 May 2017)

@jefmcg its tricky without being clear on the mileage that each rider is putting in but from those that have, it seems to suggest an average of about one off every 10,000 miles. There are a number of exceptions of course with some riders cuddling the curb once every year.

Be good to know how many miles contributed, in total, to those that voted "a few" .

Interesting thread.


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## Jenkins (3 May 2017)

Only a couple of times in the past eight years - both self inflicted.

The first was coming back from an eye check up at the local hospital which involved having my pupils dilated. I was told not to drive so did the 20 mile round trip by bike. Unfortunately I forgot to take any form of eye wear (this was before I needed glasses) and I couldn't see a thing on the way home and rode into a kerb, came off and banged my kneecap on the same kerb as I came off - still can't kneel down on that side comfortably.

The second time involved a loss of balance due to intoxication (quiet road, soft verge landing) and a trip to hospital as it was suspected that I'd suffered a head injury due to being unconsious - a blood test would have shown the real reason for passing out as I don't do large quantities of alcohol usually.


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## dave r (3 May 2017)

jonny jeez said:


> @jefmcg its tricky without being clear on the mileage that each rider is putting in but from this that have, it seems to suggest an average of about one off every 10,000 miles. There are a number of exceptions of course with some riders cuddling the curb once every year.
> 
> Be good to know how many miles contributed, in total, to those that voted "a few" .
> 
> Interesting thread.



In my case we'll never know my exact mileage. I did very many miles before we had the electronic gadgets and we started to record our miles so exactly. This subject came up a few years ago during a cafe stop, best estimates among my cycling mates put me at over 100,000 miles covered. My own record kept since 2010 show me covering 36000 miles over the last 7 years.


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## Shut Up Legs (3 May 2017)

jonny jeez said:


> @jefmcg its tricky without being clear on the mileage that each rider is putting in but from those that have, it seems to suggest an average of about one off every 10,000 miles. There are a number of exceptions of course with some riders cuddling the curb once every year.
> 
> Be good to know how many miles contributed, in total, to those that voted "a few" .
> 
> Interesting thread.


I probably have one off about every 10,000 miles too, and given I do about 9,000 milles a year, I average one off a year (at most). They've all been fairly minor ones, though, with nobody else involved. I really must improve my breaking technique (or perhaps not).


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## tyred (3 May 2017)

I've only had one “proper“ off as an adult about 6 years ago when I was caught out by black ice on the old Peugeot road bike I had at the time. I was going pretty fast at the time but just slid along the road, a bit bruised but nothing to worry about. The scary part was getting up my feet, thinking could have been worse and then seeing a Honda Accord coming sideways towards me! Thankfully we managed to avoid each other.

Otherwise just a couple of silly falls while more or less stationary - like trying to look over my shoulder to see if my tail lamp was working and riding into a hawthorn hedge....


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## KnackeredBike (3 May 2017)

Lots mainly due to intoxication. I live near Oxford so it obligatory to get absolutely buggered and then cycle round town on a regular basis.


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## velovoice (3 May 2017)

I ticked "a few times".

Lessee... over approx. 25,000 km (I just checked my total tally on My Cycling Log) in 8 years -

- Tried to bunny hop the Brompton up a kerb. I'd never done it before it but hey, I'd seen it done. No f*cking idea what I was thinking!

- Disembarked train station one night with a load of shopping only to remember my bike was there, so loaded it up rather haphazardly for the 0.8 mile journey -- hooked small messenger bag over the handlebars -- so of course I had a 'tesco moment' and endo'd in most dramatic fashion. I needed the chiropractor the next day and the Cross Check needed the front wheel trued. That was probably the worst "off" in terms of damage done to me or bike.

- Clipless moment #1 when I first went clipless (Speedplay Frogs) right in the middle of the junction A3 and Tooley Street. All traffic screeched to a halt. Very embarrassing. (see footnote)

- Clipless moment #2 a year later when I switched to Speedplay Light Action pedals - exiting a pedestrian gate on a Sustrans trail. No damage to me but buggered my rear mech (see footnote)

- Clipless moment #3 a week after #2 - on holiday on the Isle of Wight - last minute change of direction approaching the house where we were staying (see footnote). Impressive bruises this time and guess what, wrecked the less-than-a-week-old brand new rear mech. (and... see footnote)

Footnote: clipless moments all in moments of indecision about where I was going. So of course all at virtually a standstill pace. But it wasn't the pace that did me in, it was not making a decision about where I was going and then sticking to it. He who hesitates falls over.

I think that's it. Every single one my own fault with no other parties involved. For someone as clumsy as I am off the bike, I'd say this is pretty good!


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## slowmotion (3 May 2017)

One dooring
One left hook
Half a dozen clipless moments
and
some self-inflicted bouncing when alcohol may or may not have been a factor.

I've been pretty lucky so far. It won't last.


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## Pat "5mph" (3 May 2017)

I ticked "a few".
Been cycling daily since October 2011, around 3,500 miles a year.
First winter, fell on ice at a very slow speed, no harm done apart a few bruises.
Then I joined CC, discovered studded ice tyres, but a few years later fell on ice again: it was a sunny day in March, I took the bike without studded tyres, fell on a downhill just a few yards from home.
That was the only off that caused me blood, I had a tarmac hole in my elbow for months!
The others, all at very slow speed or stationary, did not do any damage to me or bike:
once I slid on gravel, once on mud;
once I fell off sideways at the lights, had stopped the bike but forgot to slide off the saddle
once I collapsed in a heap into a bush, bike on top of me (took the corner too fast)
once got run into by a dog in a park
once I came off on a path, was too tired and lost concentration
last, just a few days ago, I was shadowing a cycle tutor, she told me to follow the beginner on the track while giving instructions to turn, the beginner run into an obstacle, I panicked and tried to jump off my bike


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## Mr Celine (3 May 2017)

I posted a pic in the 'your ride' thread last week of my road bike odo showing 12345.6 miles. I've only had one off in that distance, my only ever crash at speed, caused by f***wit farmers leaving spilled grain all over the road. At least with ice there is a chance of staying upright. Result was a badly scuffed brifter and an enormous friction burn on my hip, though my shorts survived unscathed.
My current hybrid has done a similar mileage. Two low speed crashes due to interactions with pedestrians, both my fault, one resulted in a broken radial head though it was three weeks before I bothered to find out why I couldn't straighten my arm. That was my first bike with clipless pedals, so there were several clipless moments to start with, the most memorable one occurring half way through a ford. My last clipless moment was a couple of years ago and was caused by a loose cleat bolt.
The hybrid I had before that had a couple of offs, the best one after fitting a child's seat which I immediately forgot about. The audience outside the local shop were treated to me nonchalantly dismounting only to realise too late that I couldn't swing my leg over the child seat. This was the slowest motion off I've ever had, it seemed to take forever to hit the ground.


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## Ian H (3 May 2017)

50+ years of cycling, I can think of about 15 offs, no broken bones, only one 'serious' interaction with a car (oncoming minicab turned right across my path—that's the only time I have seriously damaged a bike).


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## fossyant (3 May 2017)

7 people have said never. You aren't trying hard enough.


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## lazybloke (4 May 2017)

Four offs in about 15,000 miles of cycling.

The worst was being hit by car in 2010. No bad injuries but I was shaken up and didn't cycle again for almost a year; that was commuting only - I didn't resume regular leisure rides until 2014.

Today, I love my cycling but have a low annual mileage.


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## Drago (4 May 2017)

fossyant said:


> 7 people have said never. You aren't trying hard enough.



Never as an adult. Old pilots, and all that.


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## Jimidh (4 May 2017)

I've only had a couple off my road bike but plenty 'airborne' moments from the MTB but if you haven't flown off a mountain bike you haven't been mountain biking!


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## fossyant (4 May 2017)

Jimidh said:


> I've only had a couple off my road bike but plenty 'airborne' moments from the MTB but if you haven't flown off a mountain bike you haven't been mountain biking!



It's mandatory to fall off a MTB at least once per rude.


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## fossyant (4 May 2017)

Drago said:


> Never as an adult. Old pilots, and all that.



Try harder


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## mjr (4 May 2017)

fossyant said:


> 7 people have said never. You aren't trying hard enough.


On the other hand, I find the attitude that crashing is an inevitable part of cycling very trying


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## Drago (4 May 2017)

fossyant said:


> It's mandatory to fall off a MTB at least once per rude.



Once per rude? Does that mean we have to flop out our trouser vegetables each time we fall off?


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## jonny jeez (4 May 2017)

[QUOTE 4787522, member: 259"]Sorry Pat, this made me laugh.[/QUOTE]
Lots of these are making me laugh.

Most in fact.


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## jonny jeez (4 May 2017)

mjr said:


> On the other hand, I find the attitude that crashing is an inevitable part of cycling very trying


I'm with you. Hence the question I am asking in the helmet debate thread (over on the dark aide!)

I'm...personally...satisfied that cycling isn't dangerous and doesn't need special safety equipment to undertake it...unless I am using it as a sporting activity which increases risk in my view.

Fascinating spread of views on this thread though.

Alcohol seems to be much more of a contributing factor than sport...id never considered that. Perhaps pubs should loan helmets and elbow pads!!


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## ianrauk (4 May 2017)

jonny jeez said:


> I'm...personally...satisfied that cycling isn't dangerous and doesn't need special safety equipment to undertake it...unless I am using it as a sporting activity which increases risk in my view.



So you will be ditching your plastic hat for the commute and your long distance ride/toursthen?


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## jefmcg (4 May 2017)

ianrauk said:


> So you will be ditching your plastic hat for the commute and your long distance ride/toursthen?


If you want to have that discussion, over to the ghetto with you.



jonny jeez said:


> Alcohol seems to be much more of a contributing factor than sport...id never considered that. Perhaps pubs should loan helmets and elbow pads!!


I've always assumed that enforcing helmet wearing for everyone leaving a pub would save more skulls than cycle helmets do.

So it's over to ghetto for me, too.


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## mjr (4 May 2017)

jonny jeez said:


> I'm with you. Hence the question I am asking in the helmet debate thread (over on the dark aide!)


The dark aide wears a helmet...


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## jonny jeez (4 May 2017)

ianrauk said:


> So you will be ditching your plastic hat for the commute and your long distance ride/toursthen?


Yep, way ahead of you fella. I ride the single speed...lidless and now with extra denim! (cant believe I've found skinny cycle jeans that fit my hoy-esque thighs!

Road bike is ridden more furiously and still prefer to wear a lid...plus I look like a pro with matching lid and white shoes.


And bar tape


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## Globalti (4 May 2017)

In 21 years of mountain biking I reckoned to fall of at least a couple of times in a ride, always at slow speed due to getting a wheel wrong or stalling and toppling sideways. Never had an off road crash at speed. 

In 6 years of road cycling I've only fallen off twice and that was within about two minutes, once each side, on each side of the A6 on the south part of the Preston Guild Wheel when I failed to spot black ice at the crossing. I scratched up both brake levers. Still waiting for a crash at speed and gravel rash.


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## Yellow Saddle (4 May 2017)

jonny jeez said:


> Yep, way ahead of you fella. I ride the single speed...lidless and now with extra denim! (cant believe I've found skinny cycle jeans that fit my *hoy-esque* thighs!



That one is going into my cycling lexicon, for sure.


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## DanZac (4 May 2017)

Twice in around 20K miles so that fits in pretty well with the average.
Once when I made the mistake of using a cycle path and ended up with the front wheel down an open cast mine size pothole and me over the bars.
And once when I got knocked off by mrs SMIDSY turning right straight across me, which hurt a bit!
Not been off for a while though so hope this thread isnt tempting fate.


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## overmind (4 May 2017)

AndyRM said:


> Been knocked off by cars twice.
> Crashed a couple of times, once attempting a bit of downhill racing, and once (very foolishly) trying to run over a goose.



Please elaborate. That made me laugh out loud.


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## Jody (4 May 2017)

fossyant said:


> It's mandatory to fall off a MTB at least once per rude.



You're doing it wrong if coming off every ride


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## Jody (4 May 2017)

fossyant said:


> 7 people have said never. You aren't trying hard enough.



Or lying through their back teeth


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## nickyboy (4 May 2017)

I'd forgotten another one, although it barely counts

On the first Manchester - Llandudno CC ride in 2015 there had been a fair old storm and it had deposited a load of sand on the cyclepath. I was cycling with (I think ) @rich p , @mike3121 and @Rickshaw Phil when we came to the really sandy bit. I, somewhat foolishly, said I was willing to give it a go

I learned a lesson that you can't ride a road bike in 10cm of soft, wet sand. Over I went and the bike got covered in sand and proceeded to make the most awful grating sound for the rest of the ride until I managed to hose it off in the shower of my Travelodge room in Llandudno

I was going very slowly and the sand was very soft. So it barely counts I think


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## AndyRM (4 May 2017)

overmind said:


> Please elaborate. That made me laugh out loud.



As a foolhardy youth of 16 or so I was zipping along a country path when several geese stepped out a short distance away. F*ck I thought, I'll go straight through one of those (I had moments of extreme tw&ttery as a teenager).

Turns out geese are pretty hard, as I soon found myself dazed and winded in a hedgerow, staring at my front wheel spinning in front of my face...


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## jefmcg (4 May 2017)

AndyRM said:


> Turns out geese are pretty hard


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## AndyRM (4 May 2017)

jefmcg said:


> View attachment 350755



You've just undone years of expensive therapy!


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## jonny jeez (4 May 2017)

Jody said:


> You're doing it wrong if coming off every ride


Your not trying hard enough if your not!!


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## jonny jeez (4 May 2017)

This thread is hilarious, we definitely need some sort of award!

Slightly moved at how well we cyclists take it when we have a fall. Very few mentions of cagers, wvm or other folk to blame....mostly tales about running out of talent and inversely proportionate alcohol levels.


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## Jody (4 May 2017)

jonny jeez said:


> Your not trying hard enough if your not!!



Or your perception of skill is way beyond your actual level of skill


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## DanZac (4 May 2017)

Ohh, the mention of beer related offs reminds me of my younger military days when my ride home involved a short detour along a path involving a sharp 90 degree turn routing the path around a large pipe positioned about 2 feet off the ground. 
Guaranteed every time I'd ride home after a few beers I'd end up over the bars having failed to negotiate the turn, which in those days was probably a near weekly occurance, good job I was a bit more bouncy in my youth than now.


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## Dogtrousers (4 May 2017)

For amusement, I'll add one from my paper round days. Part of my round was a private road with some quite posh houses. One day, after replacing my brake blocks and adjusting my brakes, and feeling full of mechanical knowledge, I decided to test my brakes.

If one of the posh people had been looking out of the window they would have seen the paper boy zoom down the empty road and then, for no reason whatsoever, launch himself over the handlebars, roll around on the floor, then get up glancing around to see if anyone was looking.


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## Low Gear Guy (4 May 2017)

Once we were on our way back from a trip and I was taking the bike off the train when something went wrong. The combination of bike with camping gear and a step down to the platform was too much for me. I ended up sprawled across the platform complete with bike and gear. Mrs. LGG thought this was very amusing.


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## Yellow Saddle (4 May 2017)

Low Gear Guy said:


> Once we were on our way back from a trip and I was taking the bike off the train when something went wrong. The combination of bike with camping gear and a step down to the platform was too much for me. I ended up sprawled across the platform complete with bike and gear. Mrs. LGG thought this was very amusing.



I hope she at least had the consideration to first check if the bike wasn't scratched before starting to laugh.


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## jonny jeez (5 May 2017)

Jody said:


> Or your perception of skill is way beyond your actual level of skill


Psst...it was a joke.


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## Jody (5 May 2017)

jonny jeez said:


> Psst...it was a joke.



I know. My reply was a light hearted. Maybe I should have added the appropriate winky smiley


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## gaz71 (5 May 2017)

Ive come off a few times as a kid but only once as an adult.Embarrassingly i was stationary at the time! As i went to get off my bike in Bushy Park my standing foot slipped off the small mound it was on,i lost my balance and the bike ended up on top of me.


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## jonny jeez (5 May 2017)

Jody said:


> I know. My reply was a light hearted. Maybe I should have added the appropriate winky smiley


Oh, Sorry.


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## jonny jeez (5 May 2017)

DanZac said:


> Ohh, the mention of beer related offs reminds me of my younger military days when my ride home involved a short detour along a path involving a sharp 90 degree turn routing the path around a large pipe positioned about 2 feet off the ground.
> Guaranteed every time I'd ride home after a few beers I'd end up over the bars having failed to negotiate the turn, which in those days was probably a near weekly occurance, good job I was a bit more bouncy in my youth than now.


I know its not clever to find this funny but a mate of mine told me a few years ago, when I.met him at the pub, that he had slept in a field the night before. I thought it sounded very romantic untill he added "well, I woke up in a field so assumed id slept there" he had ridden down the hill behind Farnborough high street (near pratts bottom aptly enough) full of beer and gone straight on at a bend, up a muddy slope and was thrown from his bike. Whereupon he curled up and slept the night.


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## smutchin (7 May 2017)

Went for a post-work pint with a colleague, the next time I saw him, he was in hospital with a smashed up face and limbs...

Apparently, on his ride home from the pub, a bollard had recklessly stepped out in front of him without looking. 

The worst drink-related off I've had was when leaving the pub, hopping on my Brompton, it collapsed under me as I hadn't done up the central hinge properly. It wouldn't have been so bad but it was witnessed by the hordes of people still drinking on the pub's front terrace. One of them came up and shook my hand to thank me for giving him and his mates such a laugh.


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## mjr (16 May 2017)

mjr said:


> On the other hand, I find the attitude that crashing is an inevitable part of cycling very trying


Ah crap. I had a car crash into me today.  I was at a staggered crossroads and going straight across the stagger into a no-entry-except-cycles road when a motorist coming the other way didn't keep left and turned right across me. Looking at the video now, it looks like they didn't indicate, but my handlebar camera only saw them for about 2 seconds - how fast do Skoda indicators flash?

Anyway, I emergency-turned left (towards a rather solid brick wall! ) but their right wing mirror still caught my right handlebar, disconnecting my gear cable (and snapping my click box as a result, which I didn't notice until I tried to ride on). No contact with me. I put a scratch about 10mm long on their wing mirror. So about £50 of vehicle damage each, I reckon. We shook hands on it and agreed not to take it further. Now I wonder whether they settled because they shouldn't have been driving on that resident-access-only road... but never mind. I've saved the video just in case.

Really, the most annoying things were riding home stuck in 46" gear (27" x 48:28) and the Dutchie being out of use for 2-5 days until replacement parts arrive (if it was a Sturmey 3-speed, two local shops stock spares - another reason to change).

I came back here because I thought I'd have to update my answer but I didn't come off this time so it doesn't change my answer to "Have you ever come off your bike?"


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## Flick of the Elbow (17 May 2017)

What did George W Bush say when he crashed at Gleneagles ? Something like if you don't crash every so often you're not trying hard enough. I think he got that from his pal Lance.


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## raleighnut (17 May 2017)

Flick of the Elbow said:


> What did George W Bush say when he crashed at Gleneagles ? Something like if you don't crash every so often you're not trying hard enough. I think he got that from his pal Lance.


I thought he crashed whilst trying to wave to Det. Insp. John Rebus (well Ian Rankin reckoned he had)


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## fimm (17 May 2017)

When I was a student I was cyclist past a shop and thought "Oh I need - " can't remember what, now, so jammed on my brakes and went over the handlebars! Not damage as far as I can recall to me or my bike.
Since I got back into cycling
- 2 or 3 clipless moments
- one from the road bike on diesel that has left me with some kind of permanent damage to my left thumb
- one on ice on the Brompton (this is the one I have to repeat without the unmentionable headwear to see if the outcome is different)
- one due a pothole being just the right size to swallow the Brompton front wheel leading to the loss of a small amount of skin from the palm of one hand
- rear ended on the Brompton at low speed at a roundabout which broke the rear rack and left with me a saddle-shaped bruise on my behind
- and on Sunday I fell off while messing up my triathlon speed mount which I think does not count for the purposes of this thread (to be clear, I know how to do this, I think I was over confident and didn't concentrate on what I was doing!)

Edited to add: last year was the first year I tried to record all the cycling I did (rather than ignoring the Brompton) and Strava says I did just over 6100km - that's 4000 miles ish, isn't it?


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## die_aufopferung (17 May 2017)

I did pick "too many times" but if I'm honest, all but one of those was due to inebriation - the other one was due to hitting a big patch of ice a few years back which convinced me to swap to studded tyres for winter riding. So really as long as you don't cycle home from the pub, I'd say offs are pretty rare.


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## nickyboy (28 Aug 2017)

Apols for thread resurrection but I had a proper off today. Blimey, they hurt don't they?

Turning right about 15mph in right turn only lane....next thing I'm lying in the middle of the road, water bottle rolling to the kerb. No rain around here for several days, presumably diesel spilt Impact points were right hip and just below right elbow, plenty of skin lost from both

Cycled home (I'd only gone about 6 miles). Now watching the cricket feeling a bit sore and achy but thankfully nothing major


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## vickster (28 Aug 2017)

You'll be stiffer tomorrow, have analgesia at the ready

GWS


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## KneesUp (28 Aug 2017)

Sorry to hear that @nickyboy I believe the form is to ask how the bike is - How's the bike?

I've not had an off as an adult, but had a few as a kid. Once when I borrowed a mate's French bike, which had the brakes connected the 'wrong' way. That hurt. Once when my own front brake calliper bolt came off, so when I braked the calliper pulled out of the fork, stopped when there was no cable slack and threw me over the bars, and once when I borrowed my brother's new fangled mountain bike to go to the pub, believing that it's knobbly tyres made it impervious to ice. The didn't.


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## nickyboy (28 Aug 2017)

KneesUp said:


> Sorry to hear that @nickyboy I believe the form is to ask how the bike is - How's the bike?
> 
> I've not had an off as an adult, but had a few as a kid. Once when I borrowed a mate's French bike, which had the brakes connected the 'wrong' way. That hurt. Once when my own front brake calliper bolt came off, so when I braked the calliper pulled out of the fork, stopped when there was no cable slack and threw me over the bars, and once when I borrowed my brother's new fangled mountain bike to go to the pub, believing that it's knobbly tyres made it impervious to ice. The didn't.



Bike's mechanically fine. Right brake lever is heavily scratched, as is back QR. No biggy

Car drivers stopped to make sure I was OK (I was lying in the middle of the road at the time) and one called police to tell them of diesel at the junction. A cyclist stopped and he was riding to my town so he rode with me to make sure I and the bike were OK

I'm guessing I will be pretty sore tomorrow


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## MossCommuter (28 Aug 2017)

nickyboy said:


> Apols for thread resurrection but I had a proper off today. Blimey, they hurt don't they?
> 
> Turning right about 15mph in right turn only lane....next thing I'm lying in the middle of the road, water bottle rolling to the kerb. No rain around here for several days, presumably diesel spilt Impact points were right hip and just below right elbow, plenty of skin lost from both
> 
> Cycled home (I'd only gone about 6 miles). Now watching the cricket feeling a bit sore and achy but thankfully nothing major





vickster said:


> You'll be stiffer tomorrow, have analgesia at the ready
> 
> GWS



Or large quantities of beer

Both work

One's better


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## Levo-Lon (28 Aug 2017)

Im reluctant to post this...ive not come off my road bikes...
Mtb loads..


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## Ming the Merciless (28 Aug 2017)

Less than once every 5 years with daily riding and about 13,000 miles a year on the bike. None of them serious just flesh wounds and mostly related to black ice and crap others have left on the road. So yes, pretty rare I come off.


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## nickyboy (28 Aug 2017)

Does this need any treatment or best just left exposed to fresh air?


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## KneesUp (28 Aug 2017)

nickyboy said:


> Does this need any treatment or best just left exposed to fresh air?
> 
> View attachment 370386


I'd be tempted to get a sterile gauze pad taped on with some Savlon or similar on the wound until tomorrow and see how it is then. As a bonus it won't stick to the bed when you are asleep.

This doesn't constitute medical advice - but it's what my mum would have done, and she was a nurse for 40 years.


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## jefmcg (28 Aug 2017)

nickyboy said:


> Does this need any treatment or best just left exposed to fresh air?
> 
> View attachment 370386


Oh.

You did a good job cleaning it up. Bet that hurt.

If you have a NHS walkin centre near by http://www.tamesideandglossopccg.org/local-services/primary-care-centres (and a good book to take), it might be worth going down to have it properly dressed. Or if that's not an option, pop into a chemist and get an opinion from the pharmacist. Otherwise my (non-medically trained) opinion agrees with @KneesUp

If the surrounding skin starts to redden or it becomes warm to the touch, then get you to a doc/walk in centre of antibiotics.

GWS. And sorry you have joined the ranks of the walking wounded.


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## vickster (28 Aug 2017)

Go get a hydrocolloid dressing on it at GP tomorrow, gets all the grit out, helps it heal much better and minimise scarring

Don't use antiseptic cream unless advised


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## Pedalbob (28 Aug 2017)

Hi. Only after a few. X


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## nickyboy (28 Aug 2017)

vickster said:


> Go get a hydrocolloid dressing on it at GP tomorrow, gets all the grit out, helps it heal much better and minimise scarring
> 
> Don't use antiseptic cream unless advised



The positive news is that this was under my shorts which didn't rip at all (good one Decathlon) so there is no grit in it. Think I got off lightly


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## steverob (28 Aug 2017)

Only one off that was serious enough to require attention at A&E for a broken collarbone (and that was just four months ago) but a fair few minor offs over the years, with the outcome ranging anywhere from just a bruised ego and embarrassment (especially the time when I skidded on black ice, following the path of someone who I'd watched go down on exactly the same patch just 5 seconds before me - luckily I was only doing about 5mph at the time!) to minor cuts and scrapes at worst.

In fact, now I come to think of it, both of my two biggest offs (this year's one mentioned above and one about 20 years ago in a Tesco's car park) involved me going over the handlebars and both happened just a week before I was scheduled to travel to New York. Maybe someone's trying to warn me about travelling to that city? Still went both times though, so clearly it didn't work!


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## Julia9054 (28 Aug 2017)

nickyboy said:


> Does this need any treatment or best just left exposed to fresh air?
> 
> View attachment 370386


Ouch! You might wanna wear a skirt for a couple of days.
On the plus side, you'll have some great scabs to pick


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## johnnyb47 (28 Aug 2017)

Generally speaking I've been quite lucky in my older years and haven't had any accidents to speak of , but when I was a youngster it was a different story. They were mostly through my own stupidity. Putting straw in my tyres because I couldn't afford an inner tube on 50p a week pocket money. The bike was great in a straight line until I tried negotiating the sharp bend at the bottom of the lane. The front tyre came straight off the rim and I ended up wedged in a Hawthorne hedge. The worst though was when I thought it would be a great idea to fit a bike mirror to keep an eye out for those kamikaze tractor drivers back in the 80s. Those tractors back then could reach some dizzying speeds 10mph + and my 3 brain cells convinced me to buy one of those old chrome bike mirrors to keep an eye on them. 
Anyway, one day I mounted a drop kerb way to shallow and the front wheel lost grip trying to get up it. As I fell off the mirror glass broke and my shin went straight over it. It cut the front of my shin from my shoe right up to my knee exposing the bone..When I walked through the front door, hoping mum would just stick a plaster on it, i suddenly realised it was a little more serious than that, watching her running around like a headless chicken and panicking. It was strange but I could not feel any pain what so ever from it , even with around 4 /6 inches of my shin bone looking straight at me.


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## hoopdriver (28 Aug 2017)

Twice in the past 50+ years, once in '97 and once in '13. Hopefully that will be it for me.


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## Paulus (28 Aug 2017)

nickyboy said:


> Does this need any treatment or best just left exposed to fresh air?
> 
> View attachment 370386


A clean sterile dressing to keep it dry and clean will do the job, plus some Ibuprofen and Paracetamol for the pain and inflammation will do the job.


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## DCBassman (28 Aug 2017)

Plenty as a kid, once from 2001 to now. Training for London to Brighton 2016.
Round a Dartmoor corner, lane almost entirely full of tractor. Didn't hit anything, but at the last possible moment of recovery, a mud patch put paid to any remain likelihood of my staying upright, and I slid several feet on my left side.
Bike shrugged it off entirely, but I was a bit scraped...
Couple of near misses while getting used to the road bike.


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## dnrc (2 Sep 2017)

had several as a kid but they don't really count IMHO

I've been back cycling regularly as an adult for maybe 10 years now and had 4 proper offs in that time

Norwich 100 2013? - corner, gravel, velocity, fall, slide - no biggie

Nurburgring 2014 - just done the MTB course. got back to the hotel driveway. corner, gravel, fall, whacked my head and shoulder. Had to do the rad am ring on the Nordschliefe the next day with one arm pretty much. never got it checked but fairly sure i fractured my shoulder.

Late 2014 - chain snapped sprinting from some lights - don't remember a thing as I smashed my head on the ground and knocked myself clean out. Then took an ambulance to hospital. Needed a week off work and wasn't right for a couple of months.

This was the incident after which I started wearing a helmet every ride.

Last June - In the Lakes, left Bowness, climbed the Kirkstone pass, did all the hard work and got to the top ready to enjoy the descent down the other side. Just then it started raining a little. As i went over the top lost the back wheel in the damp and washed out. Garmin says i was doing 40mph at this point. Trashed my ankle, hip, elbow, shoulder, shoe, shorts, jacket, backpack, bar tape and even took a chunk out of a water bottle!

Normally when you have a crash you get time for one clear thought, this time it was "well at least i'm wearing my helmet this time" and sure enough i cracked my head on the road again.

Am I slightly clumsy - yes

Has it put me off - not at all!


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## John the Monkey (2 Sep 2017)

1 x car, back in the '90s. They didn't stop, nor did 3 or 4 cars that passed me as I lay getting my breath back (fortunately, I was just winded & scraped a bit that time).

1 x bus, sideswiped me trying to beat me around an illegally parked DHL van that we were both overtaking. Scrapes, a bent shifter & scraped bartape. I should have been on the cyclepath, apparently.

1 x car, tried to enter a roundabout through my back wheel. Totalled back wheel, 1x wrecked shifter, torn clothes, "soft tissue derangement" in my elbow and hip. My arm on the impact side swelled up to about twice usual size. Which was nice.

1 x diesel spill - a vague smell of the stuff and then sliding along the floor. Ripped bartape.

1 x cat - ran out in front of me, and I took overly sudden evasive action. No serious damage done.

1 x snapped pedal - stood on it powering away from the lights, it gave way and I slid along the ground for a bit. A hole in my elbow (that I thought would never stop bleeding) and a ruined shirt.


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## Simontm (3 Sep 2017)

Past 4 years had 4 offs. 
1st was on a tow path at around 10/15mph where the back went and I went on down on my right. 4 ribs, collar broken in 4 places and a nasty bash on the knee. 
Back on the bike and have to say I over-reacted when clipping a kerb. Before above incident would have ridden through but I braked and over I went, dislocated finger.
Silly one was the cobbles at Richmond. Completely forgot about the floodline and subsequent silt and went skidding covering myself in mud. No damage except for ego.
The fourth was a Corsa crossing across a traffic jam and the bus lane I was in. Hit the side of the car and bounced off his windscreen. Bike a write-off but I only got a small facial scar and a mark on the hand. The weirdest bit was picking a bit of glass out of my nose two days later that somehow got sat in the cavity.


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## deanbmx (3 Sep 2017)

I've only ever come off once on the road and that was due to being pushed into the gutter by a close passing car and not being able to unclip in time.

Touch wood it remains this way too.....

Come off my MTB most times I ride it though


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## Willie Erskine (4 Sep 2017)

Never, that I remember, at least as an adult (57 and counting). Wife falls off every ride (almost) including a dismount into a ditch. (Why get off the other way when there's a perfectly good ditch to fall into?)


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## nickyboy (4 Sep 2017)

Turns out my off was due to a random cooking oil spillage....WTAF?

That would explain why one second I was tootling along, the next second I'm upside down looking at the sky. At least it was so sudden that I had no chance to stick my arm out and get a broken collarbone


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## KnackeredBike (4 Sep 2017)

John the Monkey said:


> 1 x diesel spill - a vague smell of the stuff and then sliding along the floor. Ripped bartape.


There is a roundabout near me that is an absolute sod for diesel spills because it is quite wide and has adverse camber. I have come off three times there and narrowly avoided cars skidding as well. I don't know if there is a solution because if you cling to the kerb to avoid any spills you just get morons trying to undertake you to the exit.


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## Alan O (4 Sep 2017)

steverob said:


> ...especially the time when I skidded on black ice, following the path of someone who I'd watched go down on exactly the same patch just 5 seconds before me...


One of mine was like that. I'd watched some other idiot skid on the ice only a few yards further along the road a minute or so earlier - the trouble is, that other idiot was also me.


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## John the Monkey (4 Sep 2017)

KnackeredBike said:


> There is a roundabout near me that is an absolute sod for diesel spills because it is quite wide and has adverse camber. I have come off three times there and narrowly avoided cars skidding as well. I don't know if there is a solution because if you cling to the kerb to avoid any spills you just get morons trying to undertake you to the exit.


Liked out of sad recognition of the truth, rather than in the traditional sense.


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## Colin_P (4 Sep 2017)

Loads as a yoot. Worse one was going over the drop bars at speed having straightened up from a turn. We'ed just been swimming on day two of the summer holidays (1986, this was the last full summer holidays before leaving the next year) from school, I had a carrier bag with my towel and cacks in it which swung into the front wheel and locked it. Over I went.

I was out and don't recall the impact but I landed on my head and shoulder at the same time and skidded along in that postion for a bit as there was hairless patch on my head and a section of my shoulder where the skin had been sanded off by the road. The worse part was clean snapping my right hand collar bone in half. Off to A&E in an ambulance and then a thoroughly miserable summer dealing with a broken collar bone.

In a way I'm glad it happened back then as, to coin a phrase, it knocked some sense into me. Prior to that I was a complete loon on a bike, not regarding traffic, but taking huge risks of not slowing down as much as I should.

However, some four to five years later, still a yoot, that was all forgotten. I had many near misses on my commute across London from Paddington station to the Upper St / Essex Rd area of Islington. It was the time of the bike couriers (I wasn't one) but tried to out loon them on my way to work on the building site.

Having our first child was what really calmed the loonacy down. I think it takes a heavy off to appreciate how much it can hurt, glad I did it as an idiot yoot and was lucky enough to have survived my way through it.

These days I try and avoid roads as much as possible although in a moment of madness only a few years ago and quite soon out of hospital having survived a cardiac arrest and having a newly fitted defib / pacemaker I thought it would be a good idea to cycle to the office for a very late afternoon meeting. As was 25 years earlier this meant the train to Paddington and then cycling across town, but only as far as Kings Cross which the office is very close to.

Meeting over and about 5-6 pints I set off on the return leg along the Marylabone Road back to Paddington before the last train left. All this on an 80's racer with 70's/80's brakes wearing a suit and no plastic hat. Was a bit of a nervous wreck once I finally got me and thebike on the train.

Some people (me) are idiots and never learn. [edit] saying that I resisted the urge, despite their peer pressure, to carry on a pub / club crawl with colleagues, missing the last train and having to cycle all the way home very drunk, which I would have done without batting an eyelid years before.


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## GuyBoden (4 Sep 2017)

My knee hit the edge of a pot hole when I came off, you could see the knee cap. Taxi to the hospital.


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## Colin_P (4 Sep 2017)

GuyBoden said:


> My knee hit the edge of a pot hole when I came off, you could see the knee cap. Taxi to the hospital.



I clicked like, not to like it, but to empathise with the pain.

Bet that was sore for a while and something a bit of germaline and a plaster would [edit] NOT cope with.


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## raleighnut (4 Sep 2017)

GuyBoden said:


> My knee hit the edge of a pot hole when I came off, you could see the knee cap. Taxi to the hospital.
> 
> View attachment 371741


Ouch


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## Jayaly (5 Sep 2017)

I am almost afraid to tempt fate by saying that I haven't had an off as an adult. A few undignified emergency dismounts, though, when the small person in front stopped dead for one reason or another.


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## fatjel (5 Sep 2017)

One in 2014, leaves at the bottom of a Welsh mountain, about 2mph elbow still hurts
Two in 2015 both low speed pain free. 
One in 2016 broken collar bone wrecked bike and a new found determination to look where I'm going 
Can't remember any before that but i am 61


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## McBrian (19 Oct 2017)

I come off more than I would like too, I have no evidence but I think it may have something to do with a perforated eardrum I had in my late 20's affecting by balanace a wee bit.
My latest off has resulted in a broken collar bone, pretty glad it was just that as I was accelerating through 20mph and ended up going over the bars head first in to hedge roots, I had to use a little force to get my helmet off, this happened 13 weeks ago and today I learned I need surgery as there is no sign of the break healing :-(


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## raleighnut (20 Oct 2017)

McBrian said:


> I come off more than I would like too, I have no evidence but I think it may have something to do with a perforated eardrum I had in my late 20's affecting by balanace a wee bit.
> My latest off has resulted in a broken collar bone, pretty glad it was just that as I was accelerating through 20mph and ended up going over the bars head first in to hedge roots, I had to use a little force to get my helmet off, this happened 13 weeks ago and today I learned I need surgery as there is no sign of the break healing :-(


I've had a broken collarbone for the past 11yrs (Non-union fracture) the Consultant said it was a bit too close to the end to plate and would leave it dangerously weak if I fell on it again (mind you it was the 4th time I'd broken this one)
It depends where the break is as to whether surgery is the best option.


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## McBrian (20 Oct 2017)

raleighnut said:


> I've had a broken collarbone for the past 11yrs (Non-union fracture) the Consultant said it was a bit too close to the end to plate and would leave it dangerously weak if I fell on it again (mind you it was the 4th time I'd broken this one)
> It depends where the break is as to whether surgery is the best option.



This is the x-ray at 7 weeks, the 13 week one is near identical:






unfortunately I've not managed to get a copy of the original x-ray on the night of the off as that one shows a pretty clean and close break., for some reason its shown to me and very quickly closed!


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## McBrian (20 Oct 2017)

One of my other offs is pretty funny though, I stopped at the top of Langside above Kennoway to take a photo of the Lomonds swaithed in a lovely mist, I put my foot down on what I thought was the verge only to find that it was weed growth covering a drainage ditch I ended up upside down with the bike on top of me but all in one piece thankfully, when I eventually managed to disentangle the bike and stand up I realised the ditch was over 7ft deep (I'm only 5' 11"), lucky again as it was dry but still took ages to climb out and rescue the bike as well


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## raleighnut (20 Oct 2017)

McBrian said:


> This is the x-ray at 7 weeks, the 13 week one is near identical:
> View attachment 379506
> 
> 
> unfortunately I've not managed to get a copy of the original x-ray on the night of the off as that one shows a pretty clean and close break., for some reason its shown to me and very quickly closed!


Ouch, nasty break.


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## McBrian (21 Dec 2017)

Update:

Well it's surgery in early January :-(


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## Adam4868 (22 Dec 2017)

First one in a couple of years 5 days ago ! It's cost me 5 days off bike so far.Mostly just road rash,but my knee is taking longer to heal.Message to self,don't ride when icy !


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## jefmcg (22 Dec 2017)

McBrian said:


> Update:
> 
> Well it's surgery in early January :-(


Did you discuss the possibility of not having the surgery? NHS were gung-ho to pin mine, but I was able to come to the decision that doing nothing made more sense.


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## clid61 (24 Dec 2017)

not recentley but went under the knife 5 years ago. due to a clumsy car driver ! my shoulder ribsand collar bone still hurt now and again , but hey ho !


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## clid61 (24 Dec 2017)

jefmcg said:


> Did you discuss the possibility of not having the surgery? NHS were gung-ho to pin mine, but I was able to come to the decision that doing nothing made more sense.


i got told i was having a plate and anchor , what went wrong ?


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## Julia9054 (24 Dec 2017)

clid61 said:


> i got told i was having a plate and anchor , what went wrong ?


The plate and anchor?
Think i had a pint there once


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## clid61 (24 Dec 2017)

haha i wish top name for a pub !!! makes achange from hope and anchor!!!


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## jefmcg (24 Dec 2017)

clid61 said:


> i got told i was having a plate and anchor , what went wrong ?


Not sure what your question is. If it was about the specific surgery, then I don't remember exactly what they were going to do. I was using "pin" as a place holder for whatever bits of metal they intended to put in me.

What I do remember was being told the surgery would be long (2-4 hours? I can't remember), involve incision at the hip to get live bone, a lot stripping of muscle, tons of possible side effects, months of recovery etc etc. "Do you take the pins out?" "Only if they get infected" <shudder>


I asked why do the surgery at all, and he replied "to reduce pain and discomfort". But I wasn't suffering any pain and little discomfort and I had talked to a private surgeon who said that in my case, he'd leave it alone. I checked, and I can have the surgery in the future, and it will be the same procedure whenever. The bone ends are already fused.

This doesn't apply to everyone, and the surgeon who told me not to get the operation operates on clavicles every day, just not breaks like mine. For the record, mine was a nice clean snap, mid clavicle. Text book. About as nice as a broken clavicle can be except for it not healing.


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## clid61 (24 Dec 2017)

as long as it all went well !!


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## raleighnut (24 Dec 2017)

jefmcg said:


> Not sure what your question is. If it was about the specific surgery, then I don't remember exactly what they were going to do. I was using "pin" as a place holder for whatever bits of metal they intended to put in me.
> 
> What I do remember was being told the surgery would be long (2-4 hours? I can't remember), involve incision at the hip to get live bone, a lot stripping of muscle, tons of possible side effects, months of recovery etc etc. "Do you take the pins out?" "Only if they get infected" <shudder>
> 
> ...


Similar scenario here except I snapped the far end off, the surgeon told me he could 'pin' it but the next time I fell on that shoulder it could be disastrous and as he put it "You're still going to be riding that bloody Bicycle aren't you" (3rd time I'd broken my left collarbone)


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## jefmcg (25 Dec 2017)

clid61 said:


> as long as it all went well !!


Yup. Not having the surgery went according to plan.


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## tyreon (25 Dec 2017)

Gee...read some o the above. I'm now the cyclist who wears the white feather in his hat,and on other days has the yellow strip up his back. You don't bounce too well when you're over 60.
I think I was one of the first cyclists in the UK to wear a cycle helmet having returned from abroad where it had become somewhat 'normalised'. At this time I used to get shouted at with abuse 'You look like a bleedin alien,mate'. Almost threatened!! Came round a roundabout at speed to have the wheels go from under me,head onto roads tarmac...Without the helmet,well,dunno what would be....
Fast forward non commuting-to-work thru major roads,abandoned helmet and really haven't worn one since.
Having said the above,I go at a sedate speed and try to be wary. I also don't travel in groups and am not a road-man. At local caf where I go for tea some late aged riders(70+)hammer thru the country lanes at 20mph or more in groups. Always having spills.sometime pretty serious and in intensive care. Gee...that's too scary for me. Madness. 
Had a few other tumbles,but try not to go crackers(speedwise)


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## jefmcg (12 Jan 2018)

jefmcg said:


> At least 2 times in 2014 (including a memorable day in December when @vickster and I both came off in separate incidents), and 2 again 2015. Maybe none last year, and none so far this year.


So, 2 years with no offs, but in 2018 I am reverting to type.

Happened a couple of days ago, nothing too dramatic. Heard a siren, and in a effort to get out of the way, i hit a rough road surface and a raise lip at an obtuse angle, toppled slowly over







Tangled in my own pedals, so flailed on the road for a moment before getting up. Only injury is bruises to pride and it's possible my atrophying dignity may have to be amputated.

_Apologies to @vickster for recycling the jokes I used when I told her about it._


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## mjr (12 Jan 2018)

tyreon said:


> Came round a roundabout at speed to have the wheels go from under me,head onto roads tarmac...Without the helmet,well,dunno what would be....
> Fast forward non commuting-to-work thru major roads,abandoned helmet and really haven't worn one since.


As I'm another fairly-early-adopter who has also abandoned it, I've done a few ad-hoc trials and what seems to happen without it is my head doesn't hit the floor, which isn't at all what I expected. Nevertheless, I do still wear a hat to try to give some padding if I've misunderstood what's going on here, as well as defend against the frequent low-hanging branches.



tyreon said:


> Having said the above,I go at a sedate speed and try to be wary. I also don't travel in groups and am not a road-man. At local caf where I go for tea some late aged riders(70+)hammer thru the country lanes at 20mph or more in groups. Always having spills.sometime pretty serious and in intensive care. Gee...that's too scary for me. Madness.


I don't think I've heard of any in the ICU yet  but I also know some groups which seem determined to make it into an extreme sport, breaking bones with a frequency which would distress me.


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## JhnBssll (12 Jan 2018)

No off's on the road but several near misses caused by daydreaming drivers. Hundreds of off's on a mountain bike over the years but I've been fortunate enough to remain largely intact through all of them  I must admit I'm a little more cautious these days!


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## ADarkDraconis (5 Mar 2018)

The only time I have ever crashed on a bike was over 20 years ago. I was 8 or 9 and riding around our small town with my friend (we rode everywhere, as long as we were home by dark our moms didn't care where we went! Different times now, I would have a nervous breakdown if my daughter was gone all day without a word like that, haha!) A dog running loose came dashing out into the road, I was a bit in front and swerved to avoid hitting the pooch and I skidded on the gravel road. I fell over and scraped some distance, got torn up really but nothing broken.

I did have rocks embedded so far into my skin that they had to dig them out with a needle at the hospital, fun times! They did not manage to get all the gravel out of my right knee and told my mom that soaking it in a warm bath would loosen the stubborn ones and they would come out, but that didn't work. There are still a couple of small rocks in there, one which is very visible and people think it is a mole. (If you have ever played an Elder Scrolls game such as Skyrim there is an affliction called Rockjoint that your character can get, my partner tells me that I have Rockjoint ) Other than that, I have never had an accident and I used to commute through very heavy city traffic.

I also fell off of a casterboard once as well, same type of scenario but this time it was a goose that abruptly made its appearance in front of me! I ended up swerving off of a curb and bashing my elbow, but the goose was fine.


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## hoopdriver (5 Mar 2018)

ADarkDraconis said:


> The only time I have ever crashed on a bike was over 20 years ago. I was 8 or 9 and riding around our small town with my friend (we rode everywhere, as long as we were home by dark our moms didn't care where we went! Different times now, I would have a nervous breakdown if my daughter was gone all day without a word like that, haha!) A dog running loose came dashing out into the road, I was a bit in front and swerved to avoid hitting the pooch and I skidded on the gravel road. I fell over and scraped some distance, got torn up really but nothing broken.
> 
> I did have rocks embedded so far into my skin that they had to dig them out with a needle at the hospital, fun times! They did not manage to get all the gravel out of my right knee and told my mom that soaking it in a warm bath would loosen the stubborn ones and they would come out, but that didn't work. There are still a couple of small rocks in there, one which is very visible and people think it is a mole. (If you have ever played an Elder Scrolls game such as Skyrim there is an affliction called Rockjoint that your character can get, my partner tells me that I have Rockjoint ) Other than that, I have never had an accident and I used to commute through very heavy city traffic.
> 
> I also fell off of a casterboard once as well, same type of scenario but this time it was a goose that abruptly made its appearance in front of me! I ended up swerving off of a curb and bashing my elbow, but the goose was fine.


It is funny, isn’t it, how we all rode around carefree and footloose in the worlds of our childhoods but would be scared to death to let our kids do the same in the altogether less friendly world of the 21st century. My childhood predates your by decades, but I have the same sort of fond memories of limitless freedom to ride and explore on my bicycle - something I would be very scared to let my 14 year old daughter (who likes cycling ) do today.


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## PBB (6 Mar 2018)

I had an off at the end of last year, a day in casualty but fortunately just a scar to show for it.

According to my wife it was a warning shot across my bow, and with two children to consider it would be extremely selfish of me to risk two wheels again. 

Being unable to think of a brilliant response to this (apart from the obvious that anything can happen to anyone) unfortunately I have not been back on the bike since.

I really miss it, just wonder if others have faced the same emotional challenge from their other half following an accident?


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## JhnBssll (6 Mar 2018)

It's an emotive subject and not easy to discuss but try and be objective - regular cyclists are statistically healthier and live longer despite the risks.

Also by the sounds of it technically she didn't rule out trikes...


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## colly (6 Mar 2018)

Had a few offs since I took to cycling again. Mostly slipping on ice/oil/gravel. Twice involving cars, one of which involved an elegant somersault across the bonnet and windscreen of the car. Thankfully, other than cuts and bruises no serious injuries. Pretty reasonable for 20 odd years.


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## Salty seadog (6 Mar 2018)

Twice on the road since being a kid, once when I was about 16, drifted into the kerb and spangled it. Then a couple of years ago on a pedestrian precinct in the middle of the night with a fine shower turning the bricks to glass. Turning right the whole bike went from under me. Shoulder, elbow and knee all hit the deck. Shoulder took about 6 weeks to heal.

Oh, I suppose this counts from last year......


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## jefmcg (6 Mar 2018)

@PBB sorry you had a fall, and sorry it affected your wife so.

brief response: what @JhnBssll said 

More detailed response - cyclists live longer than non-cyclists. But the thing is, if a cyclist dies in a collision, then their family can say to themselves "if only they hadn't cycled". But if a non-cyclist dies of a CV disease at age 72, no family would say "if only they'd cycled" Because you don't know for sure if regular exercise would have delayed this particular death, but statistically it did.

On average you will probably live longer if you cycle, but your loved ones will only know if you are in the tiny percent that cycling ends their life, not if you are in the majority that cycling extended their life.

This is a particular thing with me because of two things:

My parents were the ones who worried most about me. I didn't have this discussion with them, because they would be alive if I was killed in a crash, but they'd be long gone if my life was extended by 5 years.
My mum asked me to help her take up cycling when she was in her 50s. My father talked her out of it because it was "too dangerous". A couple of decades later, she had a devastating aneurism that might have been prevented by CV fitness. Of course, we will never know what might have been.
So to tell your wife - the life extending benefits of cycling outweigh the risk of being killed in a collision. Honestly, I doubt you can convince her, but good luck.


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## ADarkDraconis (7 Mar 2018)

PBB said:


> I had an off at the end of last year, a day in casualty but fortunately just a scar to show for it.
> 
> According to my wife it was a warning shot across my bow, and with two children to consider it would be extremely selfish of me to risk two wheels again.
> 
> ...


Driving a car is also dangerous, more people are killed or seriously injured in motor vehicles each year than on bikes. Sure, there are far more motor vehicles on the road, but why add to the pool and become a statistic? 

Glad you are ok, though! My brother had a bad off a year or so back when if I recall someone doored him and I do worry about him, but that is kinda my job. I would never suggest he give up biking just because of an accident, and it has made him a more careful traveller.


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## gaijintendo (7 Mar 2018)

Not recently. Chance would be a fine thing what with the kids and... 

Oh. "An off"? Plenty of those sadly. Almost all of them due to chain drops, slips, and things jamming and ceasing suddenly. Vive la Fixie.


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## mjr (7 Mar 2018)

JhnBssll said:


> It's an emotive subject and not easy to discuss but try and be objective - regular cyclists are statistically healthier and live longer despite the risks.
> 
> Also by the sounds of it technically she didn't rule out trikes...


But how would you answer the obvious response that you won't die any sooner from inactivity if you drive to the gym?

To me, there's the concern that doing so poisons the air for the children, so is extremely selfish, but is that widely accepted and are there more direct reasons to use instead?

(edited to fix punctuation)


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## Adam4868 (7 Mar 2018)

My wife doesnt give a feck,she allways says shes glad to get me out the house !


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## captain nemo1701 (7 Mar 2018)

I once skidded on black ice at very low speed and found myself on the floor. Picked myself up quickly, more embarrassed really.

Second time was really embarrassing. As I...ahem...got my leg over (no sniggering at the back), it wasn't high enough so when I tried to plonk myself down in the saddle, my shorts caught on it, I overbalanced and....ouch. I hadn't even gone 2ft. Falling off a bike while practically stationary........


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## mikeymustard (8 Mar 2018)

captain nemo1701 said:


> I once skidded on black ice at very low speed and found myself on the floor. Picked myself up quickly, more embarrassed really.
> 
> Second time was really embarrassing. As I...ahem...got my leg over (no sniggering at the back), it wasn't high enough so when I tried to plonk myself down in the saddle, my shorts caught on it, I overbalanced and....ouch. I hadn't even gone 2ft. Falling off a bike while practically stationary........


lol I'm really good at falling off while practically stationary.
Did it outside my neighbour's after stopping for a chat: wheel caught in a defect on the edge of the pavement; I overbalanced and hit ground hard. My leg was covered in blood, but I still rode 30 miles (couldn't move the next day for bruises and scrapes ). 
Came off three times in one ride once too: lost my balance at the top of my road, got a mile away and my chain slipped at a junction - off again! Thought "blow this I'm going home" and chain slipped again half way up a hill on the way back. An old lady stopped to ask if I was okay - I think she thought my giggling was tears - and I just said " yes thanks, I've done it before".
Needed a new derailleur hanger and a few plasters for my pride!
Ah, the joys of clipless!


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## raleighnut (8 Mar 2018)

mikeymustard said:


> lol I'm really good at falling off while practically stationary.
> Did it outside my neighbour's after stopping for a chat: wheel caught in a defect on the edge of the pavement; I overbalanced and hit ground hard. My leg was covered in blood, but I still rode 30 miles (couldn't move the next day for bruises and scrapes ).
> Came off three times in one ride once too: lost my balance at the top of my road, got a mile away and my chain slipped at a junction - off again! Thought "blow this I'm going home" and chain slipped again half way up a hill on the way back. An old lady stopped to ask if I was okay - I think she thought my giggling was tears - and I just said " yes thanks, I've done it before".
> Needed a new derailleur hanger and a few plasters for my pride!
> Ah, the joys of clipless!


Ah if it's 'Clipless' falls at a standstill I've done that outside my house.............................Did I mention I live opposite a pub that has benches outside the front for smokers.


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## Lavender Rose (8 Mar 2018)

Whenever my mum and I go cycling there is always drama! We usually end up with some issue. Once we were cycling through Hythe along the canal and there was a little festival thing going on, She stopped and I stopped behind. I wobbled off my back which knocked her off and her bike too - very funny really! In front of lots of people!

My favourite was I was cycling pretty fast with mum again and I spotted something in the hedge, so I kept cycling and then I quite literally veered off the country lane into a massive prickly ditch.


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## McBrian (28 Mar 2018)

A wee update:

Well the plate went in on 5th January without any problems, surgeon made a nice job, all internal stiching so I now have a very nice strraight line scar to show off :-) The problems came 3 weeks after the op when I discarded the sling , I had only been doing swinging excercises to prevent a frozen shoulder so on the day the physio took the sling off and asked me to raise my arm I about cryed - I had no lifting power and severely restricted movement, nothing past 45 degrees :-(

I was diagnosed with a fairly rare nerve condition - Brachial Neuritis (Parsonage-Turner Syndrome) which could take anything up to 2 years to heal, however I started to recover very quickly and now have most of my movement back and the power is also strating to increase - enough to maybe let me get back on the bike very soon.

I never new a broken collar bone could be so - debilitaing and potential life changing - only when it happens to you do you realise how serious an injury it can be, 8 nerves that control all your arm movements and strength and a main artery all in two wee corners of your body.


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## Dirk (28 Mar 2018)

Touch wood, I haven't fallen off a bicycle for about 45 years.
Motorcycles are a different matter. Fell off several times in my racing career - fastest at over 100 mph.


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## lazyfatgit (28 Mar 2018)

Had a bike on and off for over 40yrs. Commuted in a couple of spells, mid 80s, late 90s, couple of months in 2009. Offs would be in double figures on the road. Only a couple have required medical attention. I consider myself lucky not to have had more serious injuries (especially where motor vehicles were involved)

Worst memory is from pedal strike on a kerb at +30mph. I flew/skidded a long way. Bike (steel) needed cold setting to straighten the rear triangle. That one left scars. Trashed my best shorts too


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## McBrian (29 Mar 2018)

lazyfatgit said:


> Trashed my best shorts too


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