It could've been worse, but thankfully no broken bones. The actual cyclists that were tangled up happened in front of me.

With a nice tail wind, we were gearing up to the finish at 37 mph. I thought I had more time to react to the collision in front of me, but I went down.

At the final stretch, a riders front wheel touched another's back wheel. At that moment, I proceeded to hold my breaks with caution...slowing down. When they went down, I pressed them harder!! My rear tire locked (I was seated and clipped in). I started skidding, then I was horizontal (I'm not sure what to call it ... kind of like when a truck "jack knifes") Then i slid and fell.

I have a nice cherry on my hip! Got home and scrubbed the area.

I'm asking for some advise because I know I did something terribly wrong by locking my breaks. I knew they were going down before it happened (4 seconds).

I know in certain situation, crashes just happens and you can't avoid it. But I had a gut feeling about this one, where I could've maneuvered better

I'm about to head to CVS. Should I pick up some 3x5in gauze? Ointments?

Much appreciated!!

Keep it moist -- Vaseline works as well as Neosporin.

I usually ride off to one side rather than the middle of the pack, so if something like this happens, I can swerve around it. Usually it's one-for-all during an accident.

Keep it moist -- Vaseline works as well as Neosporin.

I usually ride off to one side rather than the middle of the pack, so if something like this happens, I can swerve around it. Usually it's one-for-all during an accident.


Yep... I was in the middle! :mad2: Should I get gauze?

Get the teflon gauze that won't stick. Put either Vaseline or Neosporin on the affected area, cover it with the gauze, and tape the gauze on. Change it at least 1X per day.

Glad your ok, and if its an option get silvadene cream, the stuff works miracles, although I remember it being much more expensive in the states.

And don't try to blame yourself for your crash, it happens to everyone sooner or later and in this case it most defiantly wasn't your fault.

if someone crashes in front of me, i will do my damnedest to avoid it and people behind me arent really in my considerations unless its team mates, because my a^^ is worth more than anyone elses. ESPECIALLY AT 37 MPH.

Also, i like tegaderm for road rash, it works very very well in my opinion and it doesnt get stuck to the rash as gauze sometimes will.

locking your wheel isn't ideal, but realisically in a pack crash i'm not you have a choice really - you'll still go down w/ perfect technique...

as for rashes, i dunno... when i lost a whole patch of skin in a crash, i left it open. The silicon patch i bought from the pharmacy kept it from healing and was gross ! some disinfectant and some tissue paper / sticky tape to prevent shafing w/ my clothes and i was healed inside a week. I am talking NO skin left to covered and healed. scabs came right off. wish i still had the pics.

A soak in a bath with epsoms salt each night will do wonders and actually dry scabs are good but soak it with a saline solution each day,after it gets good and hard (before the bath is good) and peel off the scab with tweezers. It will bleed a little but there will be less scarring and a quicker heal. Re the crash, lucky it was just skin and stay on the edges of the pack unless your at the front.

A soak in a bath with epsoms salt each night will do wonders and actually dry scabs are good but soak it with a saline solution each day,after it gets good and hard (before the bath is good) and peel off the scab with tweezers. It will bleed a little but there will be less scarring and a quicker heal. Re the crash, lucky it was just skin and stay on the edges of the pack unless your at the front.

It may be different under the Southern Cross, but in the northern hemisphere the conventional wisdom is to use either an antibiotic ointment (if there is any redness or sign of infection) or petroleum jelly, etc. to PREVENT scabs from ever forming. Bleeding from scab removal is repeated injury. The medical community in the USA is pretty strong that allowing scabs to form SLOWS healing and promotes scarring. Maybe since your water swirls in the opposite direction from a draining sink, this affects medical practices as well :)

It may be different under the Southern Cross, but in the northern hemisphere the conventional wisdom is to use either an antibiotic ointment (if there is any redness or sign of infection) or petroleum jelly, etc. to PREVENT scabs from ever forming. Bleeding from scab removal is repeated injury. The medical community in the USA is pretty strong that allowing scabs to form SLOWS healing and promotes scarring. Maybe since your water swirls in the opposite direction from a draining sink, this affects medical practices as well :)

There are modern bandages designed on this principle. This stuff works unbelievably well, IME
http://a1468.g.akamai.net/f/1468/580/1d/pics.Drugstore.com/prodimg/68768/200.jpg

You make sure the wound is clean and infection-free, stick on the stuff to cover, and leave it on for 5 days or so. When you take it off, there's new pink skin covering the wound site, and very minimal scarring.

Shave your legs... ;-)

For some reason Silvadene (silver sulfadiazine) is a prescription medication in the U.S (as least in Virgina and a few other states that I know of).. But is great for topical wounds, promotes healing, anti bacterial as well as anti-fungal. Used in burn patients, does a great job of preventing scaring and deeper infections.

WOW, glad you are okay! Good luck with the healing process.

I'm a proponent of those Johnson & Johnson bandages, but with the road rash I've gotten I usually need a larger size than I'm able to find. They leak a lot from the edges when wet and can start to detatch with showering so it's best to tape them down. Short of that I have been using nonstick guaze and standard cloth tape along with bactine and neosporin for a recent injury. I'll see which one yields better results.

It could've been worse, but thankfully no broken bones. The actual cyclists that were tangled up happened in front of me.

With a nice tail wind, we were gearing up to the finish at 37 mph. I thought I had more time to react to the collision in front of me, but I went down.

At the final stretch, a riders front wheel touched another's back wheel. At that moment, I proceeded to hold my breaks with caution...slowing down. When they went down, I pressed them harder!! My rear tire locked (I was seated and clipped in). I started skidding, then I was horizontal (I'm not sure what to call it ... kind of like when a truck "jack knifes") Then i slid and fell.

I have a nice cherry on my hip! Got home and scrubbed the area.

I'm asking for some advise because I know I did something terribly wrong by locking my breaks. I knew they were going down before it happened (4 seconds).

I know in certain situation, crashes just happens and you can't avoid it. But I had a gut feeling about this one, where I could've maneuvered better

I'm about to head to CVS. Should I pick up some 3x5in gauze? Ointments?

Much appreciated!!
How are you feeling today?:)

hope you heal fast!

are you sure you were going 37? thats a darn fast sprint! Was it downhill? It sounds a bit like a fish tale. Very rare are riders that can sprint that fast without a crash or dozen in their history...

tegaderm tegaderm tegaderm! try and find a patch big enough to put on it. Nothing else! I leave it on, shower with it on, train with it on, and pull it off when I am healed up. Gauze just leaks and sticks to you and gets the sheets dirty.

3M makes tegaderm and you can leave it on for several days.

I have only used it twice...but we recommend it in our club when riders go down.

Ummm....at that speed and that close, you are just $crewed, unless you can bunnyhop them (just kidding--you'd probably hurt yourself even more), ride over the bike (I've done that on a wheel). Generally, just use that four seconds to say, "Bummer, dude."

hope you heal fast!

are you sure you were going 37? thats a darn fast sprint! Was it downhill? It sounds a bit like a fish tale. Very rare are riders that can sprint that fast without a crash or dozen in their history...

That's the last thing I say before I went down. I was sucking wheel with a good tailwind before the final sprint. Unless I was hallucinating and saw "73 MPH" when I flipped and went down..:rolleyes:

Generally, just use that four seconds to say, "Bummer, dude."

hahaha. the last two times i've had my wheel slip off pavement (water, strong wind), the only thought that passed me before I hit the ground was "this ends poorly..."

hahaha. the last two times i've had my wheel slip off pavement (water, strong wind), the only thought that passed me before I hit the ground was "this ends poorly..."


I had a crash very similar to that described by talentous, with the exception of not enough time to lock my wheel up, and all I could think was "This is going to be bad..."

Strange how certain thoughts are universal.

For some reason Silvadene (silver sulfadiazine) is a prescription medication in the U.S (as least in Virgina and a few other states that I know of).. But is great for topical wounds, promotes healing, anti bacterial as well as anti-fungal. Used in burn patients, does a great job of preventing scaring and deeper infections.
Medicines are regulated on the federal level, not state.

I second the Silvadine. I was prescribed this when I had my crash in December of 2004, but I am a diabetic so wound care is closely monitored by physicians. As for preventing scarring, that didn't happen. My right shin is several shades darker then the rest of my body.

Don't hesitate to take pain relievers and anti-inflammatory drugs (OTC). My experience was hydrocodone after my crash.

Please see a physician if something doesn't feel right.

It's deffinetly all about avoiding scabs and sticking. Tegaderm is great but a llittle pricy. Vaseline and gauze or neosporin and gauze work nearly as well. Just change it at least daily. That worked great when I went down this summer. Don't feel bad about going down in a group. All of my wrecks have been self-induced.

Tegaderm FTW