I think the severity of the crash was increased by having a fairly weighty backpack on. Usually with a bike, I’m carry that weight in panniers.
I am an avid cyclist, so I’ve certainly fallen off my bike (a lot less recently). As for major injuries, the first was a broken jaw when I was 7. I was using a wonky method of braking that eventually caused me to fly over my handlebars. That was a very, very expensive accident. The other was a broken arm. My wheel had the previous day hit a rock, disrupting a spoke. As I started off the next day doing a turn, the spoke broke and the wheel caught on the fender. I went down hard, exacerbated by the turn. So yeah, happens to the best of us.
One thing I will say about falling is that I’m so, so glad that I consistently wear a helmet. I’ve had some accidents where there was a quite audible smack as the helmet, not my head, hit the pavement.
I think the severity of the crash was increased by having a fairly weighty backpack on. Usually with a bike, I’m carry that weight in panniers.
I am an avid cyclist, so I’ve certainly fallen off my bike (a lot less recently). As for major injuries, the first was a broken jaw when I was 7. I was using a wonky method of braking that eventually caused me to fly over my handlebars. That was a very, very expensive accident. The other was a broken arm. My wheel had the previous day hit a rock, disrupting a spoke. As I started off the next day doing a turn, the spoke broke and the wheel caught on the fender. I went down hard, exacerbated by the turn. So yeah, happens to the best of us.
One thing I will say about falling is that I’m so, so glad that I consistently wear a helmet. I’ve had some accidents where there was a quite audible smack as the helmet, not my head, hit the pavement.