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I only had one significant off this year, but mercifully got away injury free.
I was whizzing down a local DH track in the summer-time, and randomly decided to try the jump/drop line instead of the pump line, but my brain was stuck with the instruction to pump. So I took off, then nose-dived into the landing, full travel, almost recovered balance but lost steering control during the rebound and banged/slid rapidly into undergrowth! Cue much giggling.
What's your story?
Got off lightly from what could have been a bad one - a daft slip whilst riding over an 10ft+ high rock slab and fell upside down off the top still clipped in.
Next thing I knew I was upside down feet still clipped in and hurting. Fortunately there was a small fir tree underneath and it broke my fall as everywhere else I could have landed was a rock garden. A few big bruises - one about a foot square on my hip and a few other big scrapes and bruises on the inside of my leg, upper arm and shoulder.
I felt pretty lucky. Apparently a person who'd had the same fall the week before broke their arm and shoulder in several places.
Broke my hand in March, my nose in September.
A relatively injury free year really. I do fall off quite a lot.
Not quite. Got squashed by a falling 400/600kg pallet that put an end to my riding just two weeks before the 3 Peaks. The hospital had trouble finding my liver.
Badly injured my back the previous year trying 'just one more section' with no front brake.
As you'd imagine I'm desperate to stay injury free next year.
I think perhaps my only visit to a trail centre this year resulted in nose diving a jump at Innerliethen quite badly, overcorrecting and looping out onto my side at speed. Cue badly grated ankle and gravel rash on my thigh.
No big deal really but took AGES to heal, and resulted in an infected foot which required antibiotics to clear up. A known side effect of said antibiotics was to heighten the chance of tendonosis in the area*, and lo and behold, two months off with a very tender tendon.
Shouldn't complain really, but it was a lot of time off the bike for some very 'mince' injuries.
*or something like that, I read it on a website about tendonosis.
over the bars on my first time at the monkey trail cannock,
1 broken finger and two broken ribs when i landed on the rock chute,
This year I have had roughly 6 broken ribs at various points due to bike related incidents. Have done very little biking in the last 12 months.
i was concussed for a while 2 months ago after falling off a ladder at herts 🙂
Slipper on a grate on the road at 10mph or so and made a reet mess of my collarbone, cue a biiig delay on my Royal Marines application. Not a big crash, but big consequences!
Broke my wrist while riding in southern Spain in March after going over my bars. Spent 2 months off bike so pretty pissed off
Broke my pelvis in April hitting a tree after landing too far to the right. Air lifted to hospital. Month in hospital, three months in a wheel chair and five months before walking without crutches. Happily riding again but I have sold my Downhill bike.
f'd my shoulder up on the tabletop at the bottom of Ski Run at FOD after an awesome uplift day in August. After coming about 6" away from clearing it, it was one of those "one last go" moments and I hit it a bit faster. Think I tensed up and looked down rather than ahead, causing the bike to turn in the air and as I landed my front tyre went pop, washed out and I landed hard on my outstretched arm, popping it out of the joint 🙁 Starting physio soon to try and get it sorted out.
I had a ride in an air ambulance as well...
Out riding in the Lakes, went over the bars spectacularly on a fairly easy bit of trail and sliced my lip open on the peak of the helmet as I landed head first. Briefly knocked out, definite concussion so got the heli option out. Stitched up in hospital and had a really sore neck for a few weeks afterwards - they said I was lucky not to break my neck.
Scarring has almost gone now which is very lucky.
Headbutted tree at speed on The Wall at Afan knocked out bust helmet in two and broke knuckle somewhere along the way also - not sure what happened, cant remember, came too in heap on the trail. Shame really cracking uo to that point.
jedi - Memberi was concussed for a while 2 months ago after falling off a ladder at herts
Even a Jedi makes mistakes. 
Broke my wrist earlier in the year,Its what happens if you jump something in a gusting cross wind.
It looked nasty but wasn't bad at all to ne honest.
[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/5138668351_c76989492a.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/53067724@N00/5138668351/ ]arm3q[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/53067724@N00/ ]Jon Wyatt[/url], on Flickr
It's left an impressive scar mind.
Wrist broken, head dented (hemet smashed)
Can't remember the crash, leading up to crash and about 1 hour after the crash due to the knock on the head.
The STW ride in the Q's down Weacombe apparently it involved a 6ft high side and a 12ft drop (at least I landed on my head smashed my Hex)into a ditch photo evedance in the mag
Out of action for 2 months
The minor wound below was incurred after a long, fast slide on neve into some rocks, above the town of Trient. Got off light - could have been dire...
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More serious was an over-the-bars on the Bourgeoisie descent from Morzine to Samoens. I gashed my chin wide open and was badly winded - again, got off lightly. Reason for the crash: brakes on my new bike were set up conti-style and I hadn't noticed...! What's more retarded is that I still did not notice, until several rides later when randomly checking my headset...
Liability!
Broke a couple of ribs in April, in an embarassingly stupid crash on a diversion down a walker's path at glentress 😳
Biggest crash did no real damage but only through mad luck, I threw myself off a bit of a cliff in the pyrenees and ended up in a massive steel fence. Still not really sure how I got away with that one, knee was messed up for a few weeks and I've got a fair old scar down my back from where a steel cable ripped me up but that's nothing really considering.
Took a 30+mph tumble on the fireroad at the top of the Mega Quali track when I clipped a crank on a rock whilst pedalling flat out. Took a long time before I came to a halt, but other than a smashed up fullface - no damage. I think I was going fast enough that I slid rather than splatted, and I was wearing a LOT of armour. Thank god...
Broke my wrist in the Alps in July, spent 3 days in a French hospital, various pins and a plate, still having physio on it and its still not right.
I managed to shoulder barge a dry stone wall at about 20mph and break my collarbone in to 4 bits. I was off the bike less than 3 weeks after some nifty non nhs treatment.
I also suspect I broke a knuckle earlier in the year. A lot bigger than the one on the other side and was sore for ages after the crash. Didn't stop me riding though so didn't get it checked.
Highsided on a berm after slipping over the edge. Slammed onto my side. I have never been in so much pain, i thought I had broken my hip. In the end there was a massive bruise,a lot of swelling and a couple of ribs that hurt for a while. I was off the bike for three weeks. Thankfully I was wearing body armour this time and it was one of those daft 'just one more run' runs.
do you reckon skiers and snowboarders have war stories like these? everyone here seems to have had some incredibly hardcore experience in the last twelve months alone. wonder if mtbing unique in this regard. do most proper skiers and snowboarders have equally bad stories in their repertoire?
None this year but still suffering from a shoulder injury from 3 years ago. Was in hospital on 21st for surgery and was told no more biking or snowboarding till after my next appointment.
Shoulder dosnt feel any better.
Of to Pebbles for 5 days in the morning, had loads of rides planned, so a bit disappointed.
Came off on a small 6ft drop at the mega this year, chipped a bone in my hip and had assorted scrapes.
Just spent a week skiing and had some big offs, but snow, whilst cold is rather soft, providing you miss the trees.
Generalising my experiences, prepared piste skiing is a fairly sanitised experience - few trees, cliffs, berms, jumps, and drops to crash into unless you venture off the runs. Of course there are the slips and tumbles, but truly serious incidents seem, more often than not, to involve collision with other skiers on the packed runs.
But they keep building more beds in the resorts which pumps more people into the same space, increasing the dangers. I've not been to Morzine, but I hope MTB does not become like this. But I suspect it will go the same way.
I managed a slow backward somersault, landing on my head, while snowboarding into a deep stream bed in Axamer Lizum a couple weeks ago. I was surprised but completely unharmed, landing in the soft snow.
In the UK, not much to report, several trips into the Swinley undergrowth after traction/skill ran out, and one random OTB on a completely clear trail with no obstacles in sight apart from a fist sixed tree stump that must have caught the rear wheel as i pumped it round a corner.
In Spain, multiple OTB's, was wearing the full face though so each time I bounced straight back up again and carried on, you'd say each one was a 'big' crash, but none resulted in any injury beyond a sctuff right on th top of my lid and a sprained thumb that was a little swollen/tender for a few weeks.
My first year in mountain biking that i've stayed out of A&E.
Nearly fell off a cliff and few times, but did everything possible to stay safe and well.
Broke me leg and knee also damaging ligaments in September
getting there now though!
highsided at lee quarry before xmas, huge bruise around my left hip plus cuts, back very sore and ribs aching. also broke my hand earlier in year
Torn the ligaments in my ankle and put the brake lever into the nice soft bit at the side of my knee at the same time. Then, my first real ride back after MONTHS of ankle pain I binned it again and broke my wrist. Doh.
Still, it's better than breaking my neck . . . . again.
The week before all the snow we had an episode of black ice which did not become evident, to me, until I took a right hander, on the road, at speed. Say hello to hyperflexed knee joint, ****ed MCL, crutches for 3 weeks, no riding and much hobbling. 🙁
Not yet, but there's still time.
Clipped bars with another rider (my fault) on a quick downhill track during an Enduro - 28.5mph according to my GPS.
I was fine (apart from split helmet), he broke his wrist plus lacerated both knees/shins and I rotated the drop-out on my Ti frame (took a trip back to Lynskeys to fix).
I did the same in August, 4 pins but no plate though,
No big bumps this year to keep me off the bike, but to many bad things that stopped me from riding. Heart attacks to parents, lost one still have one recovering from the attack (within the space of nine weeks), I got diagnosed with a disease (not fatal or owt just a pain to deal with), lost a good friend to a brain haemorrage, have another fighting prostrate cancer and a heart defect. Just waiting for the year to end and try to start anew. 🙁
I need a good start to the year, fair weather and determination to get on the bike. Got a puncture last time I was out in August and the front wheel is unchanged still, lying in the garage gathering dust.
depends what you'd call a big crash 😕
this year has been relatively injury free tho.. er.. so far 😳
My only off was on the road this year on my hack, clipped some railings on Brentford High St, kinda burst my knuckles open on my right hand and probably broke my left hand, severe friction burn on my left upper arm, a twisted right knee and grazed right knee. Three days off the bike then back on it, could'nt use my front brake properly for 10 days or so.. a slow 10 days.
Didn't hurt much though...
High speed washout and head took a bit of a knock that left me in AE for 12 hours under observation as I couldn't remember my name, cracked three ribs at the same time and the usual lacerations.
Dislocated collarbone grade 3 when a tree jumped out on me.
Otherwise all good and only lost a few weeks riding.
As other posters, had a stupid rather than big off that left me with some stitches and glue in my right shin, followed by a 2 week course of horse strength antibiotics to kill the infection in the wound 🙁
Nice scar though, and only a couple of weeks off the bike!
Came off very hard and very fast coming down Ventoux in a sudden downpour. Wheels locked up and I went off the side of the road, landed on my head on a pile of nicely positioned rocks. Was off the bike for about 3 months. Lots of physio. But the most annoying thing was it happened on the 2nd day of a 2 week holiday. Missed out on loads of mtbing and the chance to do d'Huez. Hopefully will get another shot this year, or next.
Shattered collarbone last week, gutted!
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/broken-collarbone-with-surgery
Face planted onto rock at Fort Bill on the red run when wheel went into a hole - had left my ff at home - doh but not too bad