new way to hurt myself on a unicycle

General
1

99% of the time coming off a uni is straightforward- the 1% of nasty ones usually happen cos some part of you is caught/trapped on the unicycle. I thought I’d have experienced most of the bad ones by now, but tonight encountered a totally new one.

Just about to head down my (very steep) hill, i had to come to a stop cos a car was coming up- I messed it up a bit and think I was trying to get my right foot on the ground to dismount.

Unfortunately it somehow got lodged between the uni frame and crank (which I didn’t even know was possible) and the foot wasn’t on the ground. My first focus was to keep from tipping forwards as I was behind a parked car and didn’t want to go face first into it.

Then i became aware of my lower leg being crushed by the crank and realised that any forward motion of the wheel would only increase it, so there was no way i was getitng my right foot on the ground. My left foot must have been on the ground, but there was no way i could use it to push me back.

So I was kind of balanced on the left foot, while my right was trapped and my weight was basically crushing it- any forward movement would have crushed it, falling over to either side would probably have snapped the bone, and I couldn’t move backwards.

Luckily I realised that I could reach for the wheel with my hand, grab it, and pull it backwards, releasing my leg.

Then I sat on the curb to check it out- I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been broken or gashed/blood, but there was nothing visible- just a dull, sick kind of ache.

Should probably have just gone home, but thought there might be a good chance that I’m not going to be able to ride for a few days after that, plus a bit of dodgy logic about ‘flushing’ the damage by exercising the damaged leg, lead me to continue the ride.

I knew that when it started to swell it would probably start to hurt, so figured I might as well have a bit of fun riding while the exercise adrenaline minimised the pain.

Managed to ride for an hour, with no issues other than the ache.

===================

Now it’s the next day and the achilles tendon area is very swollen/tender: been running it under cold water to help minimise the swelling, think I’ll be limping for a few days.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get round on my bike and can imagine unicycling would be OK, except when it comes to putting my foot down on UPDs

Has anyone else managed to crush their leg between the frame and crank?

2

I like it when people discover new, creative ways of doing things … in general … :wink:

This means that your foot was above the hub while you had the impression the foot was on the ground? Seems like a significant distance between the two possitions. What is the wheel size of your unicycle?

No, I never experienced this. However I managed a few times to turn my foot and hook the top of my shoe behind the magura brake. This also lets one taking off quite horizontally. :astonished:

Get better soon!

3

I’ve gotten my leg stuck between the crank and wheel before; most often during basketball, but occasionally at MUni. It does seem to have potential for a nasty injury, but I think as long as you and the unicycle fall in the same direction it probably won’t be too bad.

4

beware for some people a snap of the Achille’s tendon is not obvious: I walked for two weeks with a severed Achille’s tendon (broken by my Coker’s handle). It seems incredible but it happens : the Achille’s tendon is broken but the sheath around it is still there… and holds your muscle in place.

5

Yes- I got it wrong in the op: messing around with a unicycle to understand what happened, it was obvious that my leg must have been jammed between the wheel and crank, not the frame.

My problem was that, cos I was balanced on a very steep hill with the right leg totally trapped and under serious compression between the wheel and crank, falling was not an option- would probably have trashed my leg if I’d gone over.

I think under the circumstances my approach of grabbing the wheel by hand and pulling it backwards was probably the best approach.

6

I’m thinking that’s not likely in my case due to the fact that it was compression rather than impact?

But, if my achilles tendon was broken in the way yours was, is there any way I’d be able to tell, other than going to a hospital and getting a scan?

7

Oh man, this topic.

I think I’d rather watch a Saw movie than read this. I don’t want to hear about how onewheeldave nearly became onelegdave.

8

Yeah, I’m just amazed that you managed it in that situation.

9

Not quite the same but I had something similar.

When I ride to work I go in my smart shoes and trousers and the other day my flat solid soled shoe jammed between my crank and the inside of the outer pedal pins to the point that no tug would get it free. I had to pedal hard to keep moving as there was massive drag from my stuck shoe. Even the rotation of the pedal didn’t free my foot as my pedals are very thin and my cranks pretty wide so even in the horizontal position it was still jammed

I did an un-elagant dismount with my non-dominant foot and tugged my foot free. :stuck_out_tongue:

10

I had a very unpleasant UPD like this the day before Christmas last year. I was riding home from work with no leg armour (I have always worn it since then) and hit a pothole and did what i thought was a normal UPD but i noticed that my ankle got jammed between the wheel and crank a little as I came off. i did land on my feet but I could tell I had hurt something. Picked the uni up and limped off the road and noticed quite a bit of blood. It was one of those times where you know its not good but can still walk and don’t really want to look. It turned out that when your wheel is spinning and the spokes are forced against your ankle/shin bone they act like a potato peeler. They took a big flap of skin off down to the bone. Fortunately my dad was a surgeon and my mum was a nurse so I got good treatment when I visited them for Christmas the next day. Took ages to heal though and I have a nasty scar now.

Shin guards with ankle protection are good!

11

Sounds harsh :frowning:

What size wheel were you on? (I was riding a quax 26")

12

in my case doctor number one saw absolutely nothing … but doctor number two (in hospital) howled that it was evident … I can offer no advice…

14

I have jammed my right foot between the crank and the spokes twice (on a 24). Both times I have ended up crashing with my foot still stuck. Other than a few scrapes and a dented pride no major injuries. The first time though it took me a bit to get my leg free. I have not had any problem since I started wearing leg armour though and it has not happened to me on the 36.

15

I was on a 29er.

16

I hear some chicks dig scars Tim. Let’s hope your wife is one of them! Haha. :stuck_out_tongue: