I was wondering if any other unicyclist has had a severe head injury. I hit a
metal crossbeam going full speed on a 28in unicycle. I consider myself lucky to
be alive and glad I wasn’t riding my new 36in coker.
RE: Head Injuries
Hi Ed, nice to hear from you!
> I was wondering if any other unicyclist has had a severe head injury. I hit a
> metal crossbeam going full speed on a 28in unicycle. I consider myself lucky
> to be alive and glad I wasn’t riding my new 36in coker.
This is one of the reasons why I wear a helmet on the trails. You spend most of
your time concentrating on the ground in front of you, and sometimes a branch
rudely whacks you in the helmet without any warning!
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone (reply to jfoss@unicycling.com)
http://www.unicycling.com
“Every once in a while, you just have to be an airplane.”
- Andy Jennings
Re: Head Injuries
UNICYCLE-MAN@webtv.net (EDWARD MOFFAT) writes:
>I was wondering if any other unicyclist has had a severe head injury. I hit a
>metal crossbeam going full speed on a 28in unicycle.
Hey Ed, Glad to hear youre still alive and still riding! I’ll weigh in with
some moments I could’ve done without… a) one time i was practicing some
sequential one footed spins and when i was on the backwards portion of the move
i hit someone’s stray juggling ball. the uni stopped and i continued moving
backwards through the air. i hit my head on the ground… pretty much ouch, but
nothing serious.
b) when i was 13 and riding a 10ft uni in a parade, an individual who will
remain unnamed, rode in front of me and fell. i had no place to go but down.
my feet hit, then my tail bone and finally my head hit the… i have to stop
here and explain that if my head had hit the pavement, i’m not sure i would
be here today. when the uni hit the ground the seatpost twisted 90 degrees
and my head landed in the cradle of the seat! the worst part wasn’t the
fall, but the doctors exam of my tailbone… and that’s all i have to say
about that!
c) sorry for the bike story, but this is just to humiliating not to share! 
in my road racing days, i was once cruising out of my drive for a training
ride and gaining speed rapidly. i had a new cycle computer and i was
monitoring my speed… 7, 10, 14, 17 CRASH! yup, i was going a whopping
17mph when a parked car decided to jump into my path. this resulted in 7
stiches on the chin and a couple hundred in damage to the bike. the car
wasn’t even scratched.
in 17 years of uni riding, i’ve never had a serious injury. other sports such as
skiing and bicycling have given me more injuries in a lot less time.
keep on trying, dustin klem unicycling productions www.dustin.kelm.com
isa 40:29-31
Re: Head Injuries
UNICYCLE-MAN@webtv.net (EDWARD MOFFAT) writes:
>I was wondering if any other unicyclist has had a severe head injury. I hit a
>metal crossbeam going full speed on a 28in unicycle.
Hey Ed, Glad to hear youre still alive and still riding! I’ll weigh in with
some moments I could’ve done without… a) one time i was practicing some
sequential one footed spins and when i was on the backwards portion of the move
i hit someone’s stray juggling ball. the uni stopped and i continued moving
backwards through the air. i hit my head on the ground… pretty much ouch, but
nothing serious.
b) when i was 13 and riding a 10ft uni in a parade, an individual who will
remain unnamed, rode in front of me and fell. i had no place to go but down.
my feet hit, then my tail bone and finally my head hit the… i have to stop
here and explain that if my head had hit the pavement, i’m not sure i would
be here today. when the uni hit the ground the seatpost twisted 90 degrees
and my head landed in the cradle of the seat! the worst part wasn’t the
fall, but the doctors exam of my tailbone… and that’s all i have to say
about that!
c) sorry for the bike story, but this is just to humiliating not to share!
in my road racing days, i was once cruising out of my drive for a training
ride and gaining speed rapidly. i had a new cycle computer and i was
monitoring my speed… 7, 10, 14, 17 CRASH! yup, i was going a whopping
17mph when a parked car decided to jump into my path. this resulted in 7
stiches on the chin and a couple hundred in damage to the bike. the car
wasn’t even scratched.
in 17 years of uni riding, i’ve never had a serious injury. other sports such as
skiing and bicycling have given me more injuries in a lot less time.
keep on trying, dustin klem unicycling productions www.dustin.kelm.com
isa 40:29-31
Re: Head Injuries
On Sun, 3 Oct 1999, EDWARD MOFFAT wrote:
> I was wondering if any other unicyclist has had a severe head injury. I hit a
> metal crossbeam going full speed on a 28in unicycle. I consider myself lucky
> to be alive and glad I wasn’t riding my new 36in coker.
I’ve never had to deal with a head injury, but I did take a nasty fall about
three years ago. You see, at some point I developed the bad habit of
unicycling with my hands in my pockets. This usually isn’t a problem, but
early one morning while I was at college I was riding to the dining hall for
breakfast and tried to squeeze between a couple walking down the loggia and a
very full bicycle rack. Well, I’ve never been much good in the morning – I
misjudged distances and clipped the rear tire of a bicycle. Luckily something
broke my fall. Unfortunately it was my left knee. In addition to the bruising,
scraping and swelling you would expect I actually managed to obliterate the
nerves in that area; I guess it must have been something to do with the fact
they were all squished between my knee cap and a particularly hard patch of
cement. It took two years for me to regain feeling around my left kneecap.
It’s still tender.
Of course, at the time I was more embarassed about falling off my unicycle than
concerned about anything so trivial as bodily injury… 
Toby
Re: Head Injuries
UNICYCLE-MAN@webtv.net (EDWARD MOFFAT) writes:
>I was wondering if any other unicyclist has had a severe head injury. I hit a
>metal crossbeam going full speed on a 28in unicycle.
Head injuries are a lot more common on bikes, on unicycles your head is normally
held clear of the ground.
Ask Duncan Castling about how he had to have 7 stitches in his ear this weekend
at Polaris. No it was not a unicycle… I will give a clue, it had 2 wheels.
and he wasn’t wearing a helmet! not a good example as an organiser.
I have been riding a uni for over 20 years and have only had one serious injury.
When I fell on over 18 mph on the Ride across Minnesota I fractured my Scafoid
(I’m still in a cast) and also got major gravel rash that also hasn’t fully
healed yet. Wrist guards would have saved my wrists but I would have still got
the gravel rash on my hips with what ever I was wearing. I also didn’t bang my
head at all during the fall.
Roger
Re: Head Injuries
>
>Ask Duncan Castling about how he had to have 7 stitches in his ear this weekend
>at Polaris. No it was not a unicycle… I will give a clue, it had 2 wheels.
>and he wasn’t wearing a helmet! not a good example as an organiser.
Thanxs Rog, I thought I was going to get away with this…
lets just put the record straight. Head 2 Head downhill slalom on minibikes in
Bellingham (UK) 20 mins after my 42nd birthday. I recon we wuz doing 25-30mph
and I got scared- bottled out hence trip to A&E + 7 stiches & numerous bruises
(I wasn’t even wearing a helmet-REALLY STUPID!!) lesson learned and I get a
little wiser. Yet another head injury card to add to my collection. Stay
upright. Wear a crash Hat. Duncan.