As some of you will have heard, I crashed going down Oxton Bank on Saturday when we went to see the Tour of Britain. I was unconscious and went to the QMC but I have no recollection of what happened, and the entire day is a complete blank - I can't remember going there at all. The whole day is a blank even before the fall.I do know that I'm usually ultra-cautious going down there and get dropped.
Good news is that I came home from the QMC this morning with no serious injury. My helmet was destroyed, but I don't have a bruise on my head and a scan showed no bleeding. I have a bruise on my lower back, a bit of a graze and a bit stiff in my legs.
Thanks to those who have enquired and anybody who helped on the day.
Sorry to hear that Ed, wishing you all the best 👍
you owe me 10 pound for the food at the café stop do you remember that
I thought I'd paid for yours!
Get well soon Ed.
There is speculation that my rear QR came undone. I've never had that happen before.
Glad to here that you’re ok Ed, I hope that you have a swift recovery.
Get well soon Ed and wishing you a swift recovery. Did you ask the Doctor if your bike was OK when you came around :-) ?
Man from the Bike Shop, Arnold got hold of it and passed it to John Phimister to get it back to me. Thanks are due.
Pictures from Michael Falter.
Sounds pretty scary! So glad you’re not badly hurt. Hope to see you back in the saddle before too long.
So sorry to hear about this, Ed. Get well soon. When I left to go down the hill, there were a lot of people walking and cycling up the hill on the wrong side of the road and without paying any attention to those of us coming down on the correct side of the road. Michael
I've now seen a video covering the point of impact. I went off the road onto the grass verge, and then hit someone from behind, who was walking on the grass and was not at fault. I seemed to try and get back on the tarmac just before, but spun and fell on my back banging the back of my head on the ground. Hence my broken helmet and being knocked unconscious.
I don't know how, or why, I went off the road as I wasn't going very fast. Perhaps the road was a bit wet and slippery? I still have no recollection of the day, until the evening in hospital and then I didn't know why I was there or that I had come off my bike.
Again, thanks for everyone's concern and I'm thankful that the consequences were not worse.
I'm still hurting and struggling to walk up steps or get up from a chair but it will get better!
There's definitely a large bang when your head hits the ground in the video. It all happened so fast. You were lucky not to hit the tree and exhibited incredible skill in keeping the bike upright on the verge.
I think you may have reconnected with the tarmac prior to the impact with the pedestrian (who was on the wrong side of the road or facing the incorrect way should I say irrespective of the fact they appear to be on the verge).
Notwithstanding that, if they had have been facing the right way they may have been able to dive out of the way and perhaps, just perhaps, there may have been a very slim chance of you keeping upright when you landed back on the road.
It could have been so much worse but thankfully you came off very lightly considering. Falling off certainly knocks the wind out of your sails!
I think the most likely explanation is that I hit a slippery patch and went onto the verge. I don't go very fast down this hill (or any other) as it is where I broke my collar bone some years ago. My Garmin shows a max of about 24 mph. I don't attribute any blame to the people walking on the verge, they wouldn't expect a cyclist to be in the grass!
I am gradually getting better and a bit more mobile. I can walk and fetch a newspaper, walk up stairs non-stop but haven't tried driving or cycling yet.
I've ordered a new helmet but I do have an old one I could use.
For anyone who hasn't seen it here is the video https://youtu.be/xT7uI93VfqI