Cut by chainrings [o]

[Chaos]

Has anyone every been cut by their chainrings? I know it can happen especially while running all 3 up front. You never think it could happen to someone you know... but as this summer has proven with all the injuries it can happen to anyone. Well it happened to my wife last night as we were on our nightly bike ride through our 'hood.

She was riding behind me while I was pulling our daughter's Chariot... she says she didn't notice me slowing down and she ran into the back of the chariot. she wasn't going particularly fast but we took a pretty good bump. I guess while trying to dismount off her bike her inner ankle got caught up in the chainrings and cut her open pretty good. We inspected cut and it looked pretty bad so we rushed home.

Gail's an ER nurse, to say our home is pretty well stocked with first aid stuff is an under statement... After cleaning the wound we knew some band-aids and gauze weren't gonna cut it. So off we went to the ER. We live under a mile from the Mission Viejo ER but knew we could potentially be waiting hours to be seen by a doctor so we ended up driving an extra ~15miles to the Irvine Hospital ER where she works.

We were in an out of the ER in about 1.5hrs with 12 stitches, a tetanus[sp] shot and prescription for antibiotics. Could have been a shorter visit but there were no available beds/rooms for the doctors to treat her so we waited a bit for someone to be discharged.

[SIZE=1]excuse the images... poor quality from a blackberry.[/SIZE]



[SIZE=1]doctor stitching away.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]almost done...[/SIZE]


Her foot is really sore and she can only manage to hobble around. She doesn't feel like traveling this weekend.... so this means my trip to Brianhead today is cancelled . but that's ok by me as I've got to return the favor of taking care of her since she's seen me through 2 broken collarbones [in the past 3yrs] and sprained both elbows [this summer] .

She has taken all the blame for her mishap but I really think it's my fault... after all she's still a newbie and I think I should have been warning her of my intentions as I think it's hard to predict when pulling the chariot. Anyways she says she can't wait to heal up and get back on her bike

I am thinking about replacing her big ring with a light bash guard... She's still kinda terrified of really high speeds on the DH so I don't think she'll miss it one bit.

Heal up baby!

[ride hard]

ya... when i first started riding the chain ring would always be cutting the back of my leg up... it still does occasionally

[sandblast]

I know it seems kinda newb- like, but my wifes Giant Yukon has a guard on her big chain ring. It really does not seem like it weighs much, and it will stop her from cutting herself, yet allows the use of the big ring for street rides. No real down side.

I hope your wife gets better soon!

[Dino Brown]

1- get well soon!

2- a lightweight bash guard is a great idea!

3- I have only been cut by a chainring once! BMX days. I felt every little tooth piercing their way into the back of my leg. I literally "feel" her pain.

4- Wanna have some fun? Run platform pedals with sharp pins! Now that is a good time. After every ride, I notice a pin (or five) has taken a new chunk out of my calves (sometimes shins). Just looked at my calves- "heroin" tracks all over them!

All joking aside, keep the wound clean! Get some rest! Most important of all- get her back on the bike!

[Tighe ridr]

The Pain, I can still feel it now myself. I have had numerous incidents with my bmx bikes, but none with my mountain bike. Now my motorcycle is another story: I was cleaning my chain and I used to soak it in wd-40, which I found wasn't the best thing to use but who cares chains don't last that long on motorcycles, 10,000 miles or more if you take good care of it. Anyway I was spinning the rear wheel and wiping off the excess with a rag. I was in kind of a hurry and was doing it real fast. The rag got stuck in the rear sprocket and so did my finger. One of the teath went all the way through the tip of my finger and also caught some of nail. Man that was a joyous occasion, its amazing what you can do with duct tape. Just taped that baby all up and kept cleaning the wound everyday. Kind of a useless story but thought I'd share it!!!!

[foofighter]

definitely BTDT i think i still have the scares to show for it...3 or 4 teeth come to think of it but your wife's wound looked menacing. Here's to a speedy recovery so she can get back on that ride

[dstepper]

Appearantly you have not seen my scars. Have done that more than once. Difference is I don't get stiches, hope she is OK and gets back on the bike soon.

Off to Wrightwood....new dirt...enjoy your rides today....and no I would not thinking about riding the PCT.

[Big Guy]

She did the good thing to seek medical help. those rings are nasty, I got a prefect 4 rings wound that took 2-3 months to heal, it kept getting infected.

Take off the big ring and put on a bash guard.

[Pain Freak]

I think if you ride long enough, it's going to happen to you.

A lot of mtb'ers make fun of the roadies because we will shout out and signal our intentions or to let others know of road hazards. I found it is very worthwhile to let others know what is coming up. I've seen a lot of people end up in the hospital, because no one let them know of a problem ahead.

[mtnbikerfred]

Ouch!! I looks like she "twisted" on the way down, or she was moving.

The tetanus shot and antibiotics are prophylactic and probably not necessary* After a couple of days clean, dry life (just till the outer "derma" starts to heal) I like to ditch the gauze dressing BS and let the air get to it and shower normally. I wash all the scabs off from around the stitches and keep it clean with soap and water. I use judicious amounts of "BPN" ointment (Neosprorin®) and have NEVER had an infection. I also remove my own sutures about a week later sometimes sooner. I can tell when they're ready on me. If I waited as long as the docs reccomend, I'd have allot of adhesions around the stitch it self. When the the underlying tissue has healed, I can "rotate" the suture a little like a piercing. That and the "itchiness" are my signal that it's "time to cut"

*I'm not a Dr. and you are just stupid if you take medical advice from a moutainbiker or anyone else on the internet.

I (like so many others) just have a "shark-bite" scar where the row of teeth impaled me straight on (broke a chain coming off the gate in BMX days). I've also got scars from a broken crank (tried to pull a one footer too many times), a facial from a plate-glass patio table, and at Christmas when I was eight, I gave myself a partial digitectomy trimming the lower branches off the tree with a butcher-knife. My personal favorites that didn't need stitches are from "Bear-trap" pedals (they were supposed to make NOT slip). The irony is thick here. The only pedals I NEVER slipped off of were the Crupi's whose cages I actually SHARPENED into little teeth that sank into my shoes!!!

Gail, I pray you heal quickly, and tell your husband to signal when he's stopping next time!! Chaos, You're the husband. this is CLEARLY your fault. Own it bro

[coldbrews]

I remember reaching down to check the chain tension on my bmx bike when I was a kid ( not very smart) while I was pedaling. Smashed my finger in the chainring with one of the teeth through my nail, very painful.

[Singletrack Angel]

I got an almost identical chain ring hole in my inner calf a month ago near the start of Whiting, not from a fall, just a spaz/dab. Slightly smaller hole but with all the lovely layers visible. Didn't really hurt, so I just rode the rest of Whiting - blood running down your leg looks pretty cool on a Trail Angel ride.

Guess I should have gotten stitches, but I just slapped some neosporin on it and kept bandaging it on and off - three weeks later there was still a hole in my leg! Still all the lovely layers visible, still oozing. Week 4, layers are filling in, light at the end of the tunnel.

Moral of the story - if you can see layers, you probably need stiches. Just pass on the tetanus shot - you don't need it, and it's full of a lot of nasty preservatives you don't want in your body.

Guess I'll have a cool scar/dent now...

[RustyIron]

Sorry about your sweetie.

To answer your question, yes. After multiple "incidents," the back of my right leg looks like I'm the victim of a shark attack. That's ok, I never had much of a future as a leg model anyway.

Here's the hot ticket for antibiotic/healing/feelgood medicine. Ichthammol. It smells like oil and it's dark brown (but it seems to wash out of fabric ok). But it works wonders on infected wounds. It's better than any goop that the doctor has prescribed.

Most recently, I've purchased it here:
http://www.wonderlabs.com/itemleft.php?itemnum=1225
I keep a tube in the garage, in the truck, and in each bathroom. If you crash a LOT, it's the same stuff they use on horses hooves. You can get it from the horse store in 1 pound tubs for not much more than the cost of a small tube.

[sladnas]

all i can say is.... dang, 1.5 hours in-and-out of the ER? That's amazing. I waited almost 6 hours for my buddy to be treated (i.e., given a sling) for his broken clavicle.

Anyway, I hope she heals up fast

[Pain Freak]

Originally Posted by Singletrack Angel

I got an almost identical chain ring hole in my inner calf a month ago near the start of Whiting, not from a fall, just a spaz/dab. Slightly smaller hole but with all the lovely layers visible. Didn't really hurt, so I just rode the rest of Whiting - blood running down your leg looks pretty cool on a Trail Angel ride.

Guess I should have gotten stitches, but I just slapped some neosporin on it and kept bandaging it on and off - three weeks later there was still a hole in my leg! Still all the lovely layers visible, still oozing. Week 4, layers are filling in, light at the end of the tunnel.

Moral of the story - if you can see layers, you probably need stiches. Just pass on the tetanus shot - you don't need it, and it's full of a lot of nasty preservatives you don't want in your body.

Guess I'll have a cool scar/dent now...

Guys dig scars.

[RustyIron]

Originally Posted by Singletrack Angel

Guess I'll have a cool scar/dent now...

When the guys get wounded, I often quote the immortal words of Captain Lance Murdoch, "Broken bones heal, chicks dig scars, and the United States of America has the highest doctor to mountainbiker ratio in the whole world!"

I think the same would apply for biker gals.

[ericfoltz]

Few years ago I went over backwards on a really steep climb, ended up falling over the edge of a drop off and hanging upside down by my calf on the large chainring. Had to do an inverted situp, hold my bike in place while I pulled my leg off then fell down the rest of the hill. Great scar.

[PacMan]

My dad had a tip-over crash about 2 years ago. When he fell, the big chainring went into the back of his leg, right behind the knee. He ended up having to get 17 stitches.

The next day we both took the big rings off our bikes and replaced them with bash guards.