Crashing, unfortunately, is part of cycling. Generally they are innocuous and the pain they cause is more likely to be wounded pride rather than actual physical harm.
I had a recent tumble like this in Gran Canaria. Pulling up to a café stop I slowed to a track stand while I spoke to a friend already stopped. I admit there was an element of showing off in front of the group of 30 or more cyclists already on the veranda of the café sipping on their latte macchiatos. My conversation finished, I pulled off to lay my bike against the fence and go and get my own coffee, only to find I was to pay for my self-aggrandising behaviour.
My front wheel lodged in a pot-hole at the side of the pavement and over the bars I went. My elbow hit the ground first and blood starting pouring out of it, I also thought I’d broken my wrist as the pain shooting through my hand was immense, but what hurt the most was the fact that everyone had been watching me. I couldn’t bear to hang around any longer and with the calls from my friends of: “Are you sure you’re OK?” ringing in my ears I shot off up the next col, shouting back “Fine. I’ll see you at the hotel.” I was indeed okay and my injuries were superficial, but I got a serious ribbing for my error for the rest of my week’s stay.
Another similar occasion, this time on a mountain bike, led to me being hospitalised with a broken wrist. Again on this occasion I was riding in front of others and as I dropped down a steep step-down, over the bars I went. As I heard the bone crack my first thought was “get up and pretend it never happened”, but the wave of nausea that hit me was enough to make me sit back down again – although I did insist on pushing my own bike down to the nearby emergency clinic.
I’ve also had the misfortune to attend to many riders who have had similar experiences, from broken collar bones to more serious incidents like bad concussions and a double hip fracture. In each of these occasions the rider was more concerned about the state of their bike and the inconvenience they were causing me than the injuries they had sustained.
On one recent occasion a rider was knocked off his bike by a car turning directly in front of him. He was rushed to hospital in an ambulance with a suspected broken shoulder and, after I had dealt with the Swiss police, I went to the hospital to see how things were going. As soon as I walked in he was apologetic, embarrassed and upset that he had been a bother. The next question he asked was: “Is my bike OK?”. Fortunately it was – and so was he: his shoulder had some severe bruising, but not enough to stop him from riding the next day, albeit in some considerable discomfort and pain.
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Where to Ride? Moffat and the Devil’s Beef Tub
Start/ Finish: Moffat town centre OS Landranger 1:50000 NT085052
Distance: 44miles/ 71km
Suitable For: Road cycling
Description: The Scottish Borders have a multitude of quiet roads, several that have featured in the Tour of Britain road race. This route starts in Moffat and heads up the long, but easy climb up the Devil’s Beef Tub. Drop down into Tweedsmuir and then turn right to the Talla and Megget reservoirs. Prepare yourself for some steep climbing between these two reservoirs. Take a right turn onto the A708 passing St Mary’s Loch and climb up again towards Paper Hill before descending down towards the Grey Mare’s tail and then back to Moffat.
