the newest member of the clipped wing cycling club

So we all know how crap the weather in Adelaide was last night, and i happened to be riding home in about the heaviest rain i have ever ridden in. You know, the sort of rain that two seconds after you have started off you wet through your rain jacket, you can feel the water seeping down the inside of your rain booties and the water is streaming off your nose. it was all that and then some. so many thoughts where going through my head.

"Must write on ac about how rain booties are just for drizzle. "

"Must work out a time to get out to the Gawler wheelers ride. "

"When should i replace my chain?"

All of those little things When out of nowhere i rode into a pothole that was cunningly disguised as a flat road with water over the top of it. The next part is a little hazy as it happened quite quickly. My seat bolt snapped, i whacked on the brakes. Before i realised what was happening i was going head over the handlebars superman style.
I did my best to break my fall some would say unwisely choosing to use my face and shoulder to do this.

I lay on my back in the middle of the road looking at the rain coming down through the street light and did a mental analysis of moving parts, Wrists? Check. Legs? Check. Neck? Check. Shoulder? Ow that hurts a bit. I gingerly got up and moved bike off of the road, swore at my seat post. Recovered one glass lens from the other side of the road, swore at my saddle looking mockingly at me from its position in the gutter, picked it up and stuffed it roughly into my back pack.

I then assessed my bike. It looked ride-able, nothing was bent, thank you alloy heavy mtb frame i thought. After lowering the seat post as far as it would go i thought time to hop back on, its only five minutes more i can stand up and ride for that long. As i started pedaling an ominous clicking noise/ feeling was emanating from my shoulder. This is not good . i tried a few more pedal pedal coast, pedal pedal coast movements, but it was getting pretty painful by this time. So i walked the clicking of my cleats echoing in the empty streets. wow my shoulder was really sore now. Shit, i hope i haven't broken it... By the time i arrived home i was pretty concerned, I woke my wife up with a "um are you awake? i think i need to go to hospital. Mother in law was called to watch the sleeping kids and we made the trip to A and E. Yes a broken collarbone, severe bruising to the side of my face and an interesting bruise across my forehead in the shape of my helmet. A graze on my shoulder and corresponding tear in my rain jacket, and a broken seat post...

Now the seat is the main reason this happened. It has snapped twice before and always in the same spot, through the bolt. It is a properly rated high tensile seat bolt on a specialized saddle similar to this. The first time it snapped i thought bad bolt, once in a lifetime chance. Break number two i thought, bad positioning creating too much stress in bad spots. So i re positioned it making sure it was fitted correctly. Now that it has broken again i think maybe a new seat and post is needed, or is it my bad technique. I am not sure but i now have a month to ponder all of this before i can ride again.

Stay safe everyone and as smudge would say, keep the rubber side down

Tags: accident, bones, broken, saddles

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Comment by Andrew on May 24, 2011 at 17:42: Sorry about your injury Jon. Heres to hoping for a quick recovery and return to the bike, Wattsy

Comment by Michael Roelink on May 24, 2011 at 17:55: Sorry to hear about your stack Jon.

How bad is the break?

I had a really bad collar bone break mountain bike jumping when i was 13. Snapped, twisted and rotated. I never got it pinned. I should have. At 23, it clicks and gives me the sh*ts all the time.

If its bad, use your health insurance, and get it pinned, bolted and plated! Might cost a bit, but it'll be worth it in the long run.

Hope you heal up ok! Best wishes.

Comment by Jon H on May 24, 2011 at 18:22: Thanks Michael, the break is not to bad and they say it should heal quickly,

Thanks Jim and Wattsy shouldn't be too long, now to sort out that bloody seat

Comment by heather on May 24, 2011 at 18:22: Jon, sorry about your injury, but glad a car did hit you while you lay on the road. You describe poor visibility with the heavy rain and nighttime.

You say that your seat post broke, but gloss over the contributing factor of hitting a pothole.

Please report the pothole to the local council and let us know how it goes. Describe how the pothole was a factor in your accident. That your seat post broke when you hit a pothole hidden by water, that you are injured and require surgery, but fortunately a car did not run over you while you lay on the ground in the poor visibility due to rain and night.

You did not say which suburb you were in, so I checked your web page, and guessing one of the following.

Playford          8256 0333        playford@playford.sa.gov.au

Port Adelaide Enfield      8450 6600    custserv@portenf.sa.gov.au

Salisbury       8406 8222        city@salisbury.sa.gov.au

Comment by heather on May 24, 2011 at 18:26: Jon, I have added your accident to the AC group under Cyclist Versus Object at http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/group/lookforcyclists/forum/topics/...

Comment by Juz on May 24, 2011 at 18:34: Hey Jon,

Sorry to hear you've been hurt.

I second Jim's comments - I hope you've a quick & full recovery.

Comment by VOD on May 24, 2011 at 19:52: Me too wishing you a speedy recovery. It seems that collarbones are the cyclists injury (except for Jim, he was a special case :).

Keep your chin up and don't forget to reach out to your cycling friends even while off the bike as many before you have noted it is lonely when all the hours you usually spend on a bike are free :)

Comment by Nigel "Griffo" Griffiths on May 24, 2011 at 23:04: Sorry to hear of your injuries Jon. Hope you recover well.

Comment by Jon H on May 25, 2011 at 9:49: @ Heather, the stretch of road is in Oakden and is currently being upgraded. While yes it was a pothole i hit i was riding a mtb that has taken many many bigger drops jumps and bumps when being ridden off road. It wasn't an overly deep pot hole and one that i would have easily spotted and avoided if it had not been for the torrential rain. Due to the rain and the gutters being full i was riding in the middle of the road, a place where i feel i nor any other cyclist would not normally ride.

It is on my regular route home so i will monitor the road upgrade and if it is an obvious hazzard i will report it.

Thanks everyone for your warm wishes

Comment by Gemma K on May 25, 2011 at 17:37: Jon,

So it's a one-bolt seatpost, clamping to a normal railed seat? And the bolt failed (not the sear rails?)

It's very concerning that you have had this fail three times now. Something is certainly not right. I have seen failures caused by the clamp being assemblies backwards, and also from people trying to clamp too close to the rails' bend and overtightening because of slippage.

Get a Ritchey 2-bolt MTB post, at least there's some redundancy then (same goes for 4 bolt stems)

the newest member of the clipped wing cycling club

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