As you can see, I had my new unicycle, it was my first ride with it, and I went too fast, and fall forward, ending with a front roll and hurting my shoulder, knee and elbow. Something like 5 minutes after, I was laughing about it, and the next day I was riding my uni. This kind of fall happened a few times, always for the same reason: excessive speed and loss of control.
I also got hurt a few times on a small wheel, but it was when riding in a skatepark so not exactly what a beginner would do.
Thanks Dino and Aurelien. Iâm not disheartened. I live in a community basically cut out of a pine forest with many very lightly traveled roads throughout and lots of shadeâŚcritical in the summer in Texas. Other than some hills, seems like a great place to learn and enjoy riding. I donât see myself doing much of the risky stuff, so Iâm not going to worry about injuries.
I made a bad decision at a skate park getting carried away chasing my kids on their scooters. First it was ok on my 24â trainer, idling and bit of quick cycling. Got plenty of the usual attention from others at the park. Cycled up and down the less steep ramps.
Then I got the KH29 with cranks set at 127mm intending just to ride around the share paths nearby. With kids still in skatepark I went back in. Found I could get over the small hills/ bumps (3ft) high, which I couldnât with the 24â and up/ down steeper rampsâŚbut then got over confident and decended the steepest slope without using brakes. Couldnât control left pedal and left ankle got a sudden uplifting shock.
Front half of foot was positioned on the pedal, so got a sudden bending of ankle upwards.
Jumped off unicycle (onto right foot) and hobbled over to sit down.
How long have others taken to recover from a mild sprained ankle?
What are the best recovery exercises and for later⌠strengthening exercises of ankles?
There is not much swelling. I was wearing a rigid ankle guard with hinge in line with ankle.
I elevated and iced it for a day and can walk on it by putting weight on heel without feeling pain.
Am walking the dog now after 2 days and feeling I do not need to limp. Not sure if it is too soon.
Morning after the incident I felt the ankle stiff and dull pain.
2nd morning after incident I felt it was almost back to normal.
3rd morning after incident I felt the ankle stiff and dull pain, so stopped walking dog and am elevated and icing again.
So, Iâve ridden quite a bit over the last few years and had many tumbles and rolls onto dirt, rocks or pavement, but never any serious injuries.
And Iâve never had problems with mounting the unicycle and I use several mounting techniques and donât care about the pedals being âjust rightâ, as the mount almost always works for me, with a missed mount having negligible consequences.
BUT⌠2 days ago I attempted to mount my 29er using a simple static mount on an easy slightly downward sloping smooth concrete path. I must have been a bit careless, my tennis shoes were wet and slippery, with part of the sole a bit loose, and somehow several things must have gone wrong (no, it was NOT a shoe-lace problem) and I ended up slamming into the concrete - weirdly I didnât get my feet properly to the ground, nor did I get a protective arm out. So the impact was taken pretty much entirely by the left side of my chest (and my helmet hit the ground).
I got up, a fair amount of pain, a strange popping feeling in my chest, walked for for 50 meters, remounted, rode for a few hundred meters, then every breath was painful, and I dismounted, then walked about 6 kilometers through the forest back to my car.
At the emergency department of the hospital I was checked and scanned, and kept overnight before being allowed to go home. I had 2 broken ribs, a small pneumothorax, and subcutaneous emphysema (aka âcollapsed lungâ). No external cuts or bruises. I had a feeling that being a 73 year old unicyclist in the trauma ward gave me a treatment advantage in that the doctors and nurses were quite interested in my case.
The moral of my story is that accidents really are random and unpredictable, as are their consequences, but Iâm looking forward to riding again âsoonâ.
Wow Gocup, you are a champion. Hope you recover soon.
Hoping Iâm still riding my unicycle at that age.
Makes me think about wearing my Leatt 3DF Airfit body protector with chest pads, shoulder pads and elbow pads combined.
I always wear it when commuting by bike.
âdid you fall when trying to mount ?â yes, I had dismounted to wait for traffic, then attempted a really simple remount that somehow went wrong before a full pedal revolution. I can still hardly believe it happened. I feel ok now (I can even briskly walk up steepish hills with one and a half lungs), coughing is certainly not fun (VERY painful!) but is needed after breathing exercises for rehabilitation. It is hard to imagine how ribs (which are constantly moving 24 hours a day) can rejoin and heal themselves, but apparently they do, but it takes about 6 weeks (and the lungs should be ok in about 10 days).
thanks Pokalde, âLeatt 3DF Airfitâ seems like it would be ideal, but I know I am too lazy to use it - I like the âfreedomâ of minimal protective gear (except for hands and head). I think my accident was a freak âone offâ for me (BUT, if it DID happen again, I would be too embarrassed to post it in this topic
Found a really informative you-tube video that answered all my worries about treating and recovering well from my recent ankle sprain.
Going to see doc tomorrow just to confirm itâs not a broken bone.
Thanks for posting this. It gives me hope that if I get serious about riding now at 57, I have plenty of time to enjoy it before I probably shouldnât be riding anymore.
Best wishes on your recovery. I know first hand that broken ribs are tough.
Went to see doc yesterday, just a sprain.
He says 4 to 6 weeks to heal.
Not the usual ligaments though. It wasnât a roll over like runners would get. When chatting with the ultrasound guy, he told me I had 3 tears in ligaments on the top side of my ankle.
Just speculating, but I am starting to feel that the ankle brace I was wearing may or may not have contributed to the injury.
It is a rigid brace with a hinge inline with my ankle.
I read that the benefit/criticism of ankle braces is that they restrict the ankle movement. But in my case it could have not allowed my ankle to deal with the impact naturally, which came from the Pedal suddenly jutting up going down a steep 30 deg slope with out brakes - not a fall from the unicycle onto ground.
I have to agree about the brace - a fair while ago I went on a trek to K2 base camp via Baltoro glaciers, but just before that I stupidly had a crash riding no hands down hill on my dirt motorbike, slamming into a bank and damaging my ankle. As a result I could not do the trek in my âproperâ mountain boots as they were too rigid, and caused pain on irregular surfaces - so the whole trek was done in sandshoes. Seems like a trade of in flexibility versus severity of possible damage in different anatomical locations, while taking individual differences into account.
How did you manage the cold in sandshoes on the glacier?
Did you return from K2 base camp down Baltoro glacier or go over Gondogoro la (pass). In 1994, me and a 3 other backpackers I meet in Skardu, hitched on a supply Jeep up to Hushe and trekked up to Gondogoro la to see K2. So lucky to see it for the 1hr we had on the pass before having to descending.
I did pretty much the same. Return was via Gondogoro La.
That, and a subsequent motorbike trip through Mongolia, are my international travel highlights.
I had 2 pairs of sandshoes, each with inner soles added, and wore warm leggings etc.
Iâm curious what free-mount technique did you do?
a.) The standard 3 & 9 oâclock "no weight"on pedal method = typical standard mount?
b.) The roll back mount with âfull weightâ on pedal at about 6 oâclock?
I mainly stick with method (b.), and when I used to do method (a.) Iâve had a few accidents when I put my weight on the pedal. The unicycle shot out behind me, and I just dropped straight down on my knees. Ouch.
The actual mount for this incident was your type âaâ ( 3+9 ânoâ weight).
So that is the classic âstaticâ mount starting with seat in place and one foot (left in my case) positioned on the near pedal (although of course it is never exactly static, and there is always a tiny bit of weight on that pedal).
I once used the the roll back mount all the time, but abandoned it for the 3+9 with which I have never had a problem in years (except this once!).
I have found the static mount reliable and especially good for larger wheels.
I also (about 25% of the time) use a âstep then mountâ with pedals starting at 9+3, and jumping onto the seat and hitting both pedals in quick succession when the pedals get to 3+9.
And sometimes I do pretty much the above by walking and waiting for 3+9 so I can jump onto the seat.
