Fell Off My Bike, and Vowed Never to Get Back On

[mr. tibbs]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/health/nutrition/30best.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

The NYTimes' Gina Kolata discusses crashing, injury, and risk analysis in running vs. cycling.

One interesting bit: She fractured her collarbone 8.9 miles into a century. And then finished the ride. !

 

[CycloErgoSum]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/health/nutrition/30best.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

The NYTimes' Gina Kolata discusses crashing, injury, and risk analysis in running vs. cycling.

One interesting bit: She fractured her collarbone 8.9 miles into a century. And then finished the ride. !

What a strange vow! Everyone crashes - no reason to get embarrassed about it.

 

[L'arriviste]

I read this earlier this morning and given that I can still vividly remember every crash I ever had (twice in a day one time), I found it particularly interesting.

The journalist compares cycling and running injuries and suggests that a running injury would never cause her to renounce running like her cycling injury did.

I think however that her comparison is inaccurate. Running injuries do not usually entail shock. Injuries the result of cycling crashes are almost always accompanied by some degree of shock which can be deferred especially when another task (e.g. finishing an event) temporarily supervenes.

So I think it is probably the shock rather than the injury per se that put her off. Would she for example have so emphatically vowed to give up cycling if she was suffering from acute tendinitis?

 

[markrosen]

So I think it is probably the shock rather than the injury per se that put her off. Would she for example have so emphatically vowed to give up cycling if she was suffering from acute tendinitis?

You make a very good point. It seems that most of these riders in this article are part of the aging baby boomers who are just getting into cycling (many who have very little cycling experience) and are ready to try something else when the going gets rough. I have to admit though, I have been racing almost 40 years & I hate to crash and get hurt as much any other rider out there...it is just I love it so much and I lick my wounds, I get back on again.

 

[daviel]

I have had several crashes. The two worst were getting hit by a car - the passenger side mirror (knocked off the car) hit me from behind, and somehow the car's right front tire was slashed open. I did a Pete Rose slide across the pavement - I was real lucky. The next was worse - a rider turned into me at speed - clipped my front wheel - that really hurt. I still ride though. I liked that article. I'm an aged pre-baby boomer (1943). The risks are part of the fun.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Psychological Exam?

Bill swerved and I hit his wheel. Down I went.

I get that she's not experienced, but I see this kind of thing very often.

1. I'm already athletic. (good runner, swimmer)
2. I know how to ride a bike. I learned as a kid...
3. Therefore, I'm good at riding a bike.

And then when they crash because they didn't get any instruction at all (because, they 'know' how to ride a bike) it exposes their grandios self-image and hubris. This is a very uncomfortable experience for many successful persons because they are used to the world more or less bending to their will.

It so rocks their inner-world-order that they do things like vow to never get on a bike again.

 

[redtreviso]

Bill swerved and I hit his wheel. Down I went.

I get that she's not experienced, but I see this kind of thing very often.

1. I'm already athletic. (good runner, swimmer)
2. I know how to ride a bike. I learned as a kid...
3. Therefore, I'm good at riding a bike.

And then when they crash because they didn't get any instruction at all (because, they 'know' how to ride a bike) it exposes their grandios self-image and hubris. This is a very uncomfortable experience for many successful persons because they are used to the world more or less bending to their will.

It so rocks their inner-world-order that they do things like vow to never get on a bike again.

Triathletes,,,Lifecyclists

 

[straydog]

Triathletes,,,Lifecyclists

I have had more falls than I can or care to remember, and I can't think of one that has made ever consider not riding....one thing I will say though, is that they seem to hurt a hell of a lot more now than they did twenty years ago!

 

[marathon marke]

I think DirtyWorks touched on something relevant to this story, that being "how to ride a bike". When she describes this part of the incident - "Bill swerved and I hit his wheel." - I have to ask myself, "Why was she overlappping wheels?".

 

[BroDeal]

The journalist compares cycling and running injuries and suggests that a running injury would never cause her to renounce running like her cycling injury did.

That seems pretty iffy since the world is full of ex-runners who cannot run anymore because of knee injuries.