And This is Why We Wear Helmets When We Bike
I crashed. Bad. I got a concussion, cracked my ribs, and was a bloody, bruised mess. I was knocked out on the trail for around 15 minutes. I was such a mess that my wife tried to prevent me from going in the house after the wreck until I "hosed off."
I have no idea what happened in the crash. I was in a little section of 3-5 foot drops that come one right after another and remember as I approached one that I was going a little too fast. The next thing I remember I was feeling stickers in my back from the bushes I was laying in. I tried to stand up, got woozy and sat back down. Finally, I got up, checked myself out to make sure I was entact, and checked my bike. Everything seemed normal, so I continued to ride. I rode another 1/4 mile looking for turn and I couldn’t find it. (Turns out I did find it, but it didn’t look like what I was looking for — in hindsight I realize now that I was completely disoriented.) So I retraced my steps (and thanks to my GPS), found my way home.
That night my wife was pretty worried when I came home, despite instructing me to hose off, but I had promised to take her out so we went to California Pizza Kitchen. As we left the restaurant, she got really worried when I asked her were were were. Nothing looked familiar and I asked in all honesty. She said we were on our way to Ralph’s (the local grocery store), to which I answered, "Where’s Ralph’s?" But I refused to go get checked out. We went home and I helped shampoo the living room floor.
That night, vertigo set in. I get vertigo from time to time. But it usually occurs if I sit up too fast from a laying down position in the wrong direction. This vertigo just kind of happened with an audible "pop." So I went to the emergency room the next morning, got a CT scan, and found out I had a concussion and a cracked rib. Nobody can figure out why there was a pop. Maybe it was a dream.
I still have the video of the ride in my mind except for the actual wreck, which has been spliced out. I can’t remember a thing that happened, which is a little disconcerting. Later, I got my GPS log out and it showed the GPS didn’t move for 15 or so minutes at the point of the wreck. I remember being there for about two minutes. I think I was knocked out, sprawled on the trail still clipped to my pedals. It was the middle of a hot day in the mountains above Irvine regional park and I was riding alone… so I think I just lay there on the trail completely blacked out.
Yeah, good times.
This could have been my head. The orange circle shows where the helmet should be smooth, but is now cratered.
The orange arrows show where the helmet cracked. It was even worse inside.
Right in the middle, at around minute 00:56, the time continues, but my distance doesn’t. I was somewhere, but not moving for what looks like about 15 minutes.