SpeedyManiac
New member
Had a good wakeup call today out riding. I was blasting through some sand whoops, right along the edge trying to find some smoother ground. Anyways, I hit a planted rock and got tossed over the bars in 4th gear tapped. I was tossed pretty hard and the bike came down on top of me, smacking me in the back of the head. I got a mouthful of sand, but seemed alright. I bent another mounting bolt for my barkbusters (don't get me started - this is becoming a regular occurance when I get ejected over the bars) but no other damage to the bike.
I got home later this evening and could barely walk. Turns out when I got pitched off the bike my right leg tried to hyperextend at the knee. I started wearing Asterisk Cell knee braces this season and that one crash paid for them. What happened is the knee braces prevented my knee from hyper extending and instead applied pressure to my quad and shin. The shin is fine but the quad is very sore and will likely get a bruise. Some people claim this is bad since I could have potentially broken my femur. Personally, I think I'd rather break my femur than blow out a knee. As I'm already booked for the ISDE this year, a knee injury would've cost me a lot of money (I already have flights, hotel, rental vehicle, etc booked). A lot more than the $500-700 for the braces. I also wear a Leatt brace which has paid for itself 5 fold this season due to some nasty crashes.
So, as someone who has no affiliation with any protective equipment companies, GET SOME GEAR! A lot of people complain about the cost of all this gear (it is expensive) but it's a lot cheaper than taking time off work due to injury or being crippled for the rest of your life. We only get one body for life, so try and take care of it!
Happy and safe riding to you all!
Steve
I got home later this evening and could barely walk. Turns out when I got pitched off the bike my right leg tried to hyperextend at the knee. I started wearing Asterisk Cell knee braces this season and that one crash paid for them. What happened is the knee braces prevented my knee from hyper extending and instead applied pressure to my quad and shin. The shin is fine but the quad is very sore and will likely get a bruise. Some people claim this is bad since I could have potentially broken my femur. Personally, I think I'd rather break my femur than blow out a knee. As I'm already booked for the ISDE this year, a knee injury would've cost me a lot of money (I already have flights, hotel, rental vehicle, etc booked). A lot more than the $500-700 for the braces. I also wear a Leatt brace which has paid for itself 5 fold this season due to some nasty crashes.
So, as someone who has no affiliation with any protective equipment companies, GET SOME GEAR! A lot of people complain about the cost of all this gear (it is expensive) but it's a lot cheaper than taking time off work due to injury or being crippled for the rest of your life. We only get one body for life, so try and take care of it!
Happy and safe riding to you all!
Steve