Mine happened in 81. I was leading 15X moto at the Orange Y. heading into the third berm after the doubles and this knucklehead drilled me and sent me sailing off into the chain link fence. So I grabbed my bike then looked down. My leg looked like an L it was a compound fracture. Had 3 operations on the leg. One scar looks like a Z. The other one is about a foot along the front of my shin

good night! sounds pretty horrific. Do you still feel lingering effects on cold nights?

When I am on my feet alot and the cold nights gets to it. Even 25 years later.

at the flow skatepark.i jacked up my knee.i could not bend it for over 2 weeks.i think it's my acl. it has never gotten better,and it's been 4 years. i might have to go under the knife.if i go under the blade, i will have a tattoo of a rusty bolt over the scar,and on the other side of my knee, i will have a rusty nut tattooed.

Last year at Prunedale, main on Sunday. Manualing the last jump into the first turn. I heard a very loud "SNAP!", it was my left gastrocnemus (inner calf muscle) tearing. I got hurt without even crashing! If you've seen my calf's, you'd know that it hurt bad! I got myself a trainer and a GREAT doctor and massage therapist. I was walking in 4 weeks without surgery, got to training and raced again. I went back last weekend, made the main on Sunday again (don't think that there weren't any lingering memories about that before the gate dropped!) and came away with 6th in the main (even though thte NBL website says that I was the 2nd guy to get 4th!).

You have to get back on the horse that bucked you!

-HinkDog

Dont even get me started, its a long list

Today. I racked my nuts! ?@#*

In 85 at Detweiller Park in Peoria IL, I cased a jump, snapped the headtube clean off of my Race Inc. and fractured both my legs from the impact to my bars. That ended my racing career!

Jeesh Race Inc. That had to hurt....yet we still love Race Incs. I'm going to Detweiller tomorrow night for the races. Its only ten minutes from the house.

Yo Brian! Detweiller was one of my favorite tracks BITD!!! Down hill starts rule!!!

They have breathed new life into that track the last couple of years and are doing tv and radio advertisements this year also. They had 200 riders last weekend according to Dave that is the track director now. Things look good for them.

In a single wreck in Dothan, Alabama at a state race I ruptured my spleen, broke two ribs, broke my left collarbone and got a concussion. It was a nasty one!!!

Broken arm in 82. Went otb into the face of a jump. Seperated shoulder/torn rotator cuff last September. Bruised ribs last week.

About 12 stitches in the chin after going over the handlebars about a block from the folks house.....Never had an injury racing. Guess I was too slow???

My ONE AND ONLY!!! Last year at Capital City BMX In Austin TX. I had not raced since I was 14, & I Had just sold my 1988 Champ Pro. I thought I could "Get Back Into IT", Yeah RIGHT? I bought a 24" Floval Flyer, 2005 model, even though I had never raced Cruiser, And Raced.. I broke my sternum, and three ribs in my practice runs, and then placed 3rd, 1st, and 3rd in my motos and final. I went into work the next day and got pummelled by buisness, and gimped for 12 weeks thereafter. I continue to build bikes, but racing is A Total Wet DREAM!!! YOU GO VETERANS!!!!

I raced after my my leg healed, but not as much. Now I am trying to get back in to shape for the old guy cruiser class. My plan is to build a practice track at my new place in Oregon.

I was at the regional national in Long Island back in 85 or 86 down the first straight into the first somewhat corner going left tied for first this nit wit put decided to throw his pedel in my spokes and over the bars I went. After that beauteas adventure I had the other six ***munchers ride over my back, and thank the higher power out there only one person hit his brakes on my back TY. What a story I had when I went back to school the next week, especially in gym class everyone looking at me.

LMAO Dirtybobafett - There are far more who did as you did than are fast! I was lucky and wacthed my friend Mike totally trash it over a jump (about 10 min's after I assembled his bike). I raced conservatively a couple more times then called it a day. No broken collar bones or other as an adult.

As a kid, June 26, 1980 - Stu tossed me down in turn one at Clackamas BMX in Oregon. Broken wrist in a cast for 6 months.

Today, Arthritis is both ankles from a college move leave me from moving quickly.

Sept 1977, Rancho San Diego by the finish line. Pam Coble turned me down and broke my heart...

Or was it Las Palmas track?

1999 was accidentally put in open class instead of 25-30, figured I'd give it a good hard go and was coming third until I overshot a set of doubles got messy and came off. I was strapped to a strecher and removed from the track screaming out weather anyone got it on video.

I fractured my lumbar 3,4,& 5 vertebrae,given my name "broke L345". Still riding and started racing again but havent raced for a couple of years now.need to take my testicles out of my purse.

Redwood Empire BMX, my local track, April 1997. I had just returned to BMX since 1985, bought a brand new dialed in Redline cruiser, practiced and raced a few times slowly getting my skills back. A coworker/friend who was an A pro BITD had started a few months before me and and won often, as most returning former pros do.
I had raced about 8 - 10 races. I had finally found a gear that I could snap out of the gate with and keep momentum, had my A pro friend test me with a practice gate, but full on speed, and I beat him to the first turn. "OH YEAH, I'm on it" I thought.
On this same April day, a full gate for 26-30 Cruiser moto 1. I had gate 5, not bad because I was psyched or maybe overpsyched. Gate drops, *SNAP* I'm outta there, 2 others even with me down the hill, first obstacle at full speed was a rather tall step up. I came up to and that's all I remember......until I opened my eyes and the rest of the class, and track officials, is standing around me. They helped me up, I kind of pushed myself up with my left arm, thumb felt a little sore and it felt a little hard to breathe. I thought I'd knocked the wind out.
By now a couple guys are asking if I'm OK for moto 2. Yeah, I'm fine (coughing) and grinding my teeth in pain. OK, here's the good part.......
The crowd started to clap after I was up and walking, I go to wave back at them with my right arm and as I swung it up to wave, my arm bent backwards at the elbow almost all the way back, the opposite bending direction that it normally would. Aw yeah, you can imagine that reaction from me and those near by. I kinda disqualified myself for the day. Apparently I had endo'd at the high part of the stepup and over the bars I flew, breaking my fall with my right arm.
The damage? A radius fracture of the right elbow, stretched out the "capsule" with the bending. Schaphoid fracture in the right wrist, luckily not harming the vein that runs through it at all, so no surgery there. Completely dislocating my left thumb, had to undergo surgery to screw it back into place. Yes the screw is still in there. Finally, 3 cracked ribs. I will add that about 4 weeks home, ribs were healing and my wife decided to wrestle with me out of fun, as I was relaxing and rebroke 2 ribs. I felt the cracks that time. All forgiven and I still love her.
I didn't race for almost a year, after 5 months for complete healing, the weather, AND getting my "bearings" back.
Here I am still in the cruiser class, now 36-40, and 36-40 Novice as well. 2 kids racing now too.
I love this sport more than any other, racing and spectating.....OK, this is way too long, that's all.

Six months ina cast BEN? Jesus Please us... you got them slow motion marrow menders? Well, off to work.....grrrrr

the grands/.. 88 or 89.... in louisville...
i was in 5th in my semis... needed 4th to transfer.... dove low into the second turn just past the tower.... hit the soft dirt. bars spun around,,, i went over like superman.... hit the dirt square on with the center of my chest..... broke, cracked seperated my sternum....


That sucked!
they almost had to airlift me out...
i was laying there... they asked me if i could get up... move.. etc....
i eavily breathed....NO....
The gate from the b pro semis dropped then and there....
they had to pick me up and move meto the infield.....

SUCKED SUCKED...

As good as I was.. Louisville was my home track.. i never trophyed at the grands..

22 years ago in 1984 while racing a national up in NJ I had a really bad fall that instantly threw me head first into the ground shattering the 4th cervical vertebra in my neck. This caused a severe spinal cord injury which left me a quadriplegic (quad)...permanently paralyzed from the chest down. I’ve been in a wheelchair ever since.

[ May 27, 2006, 06:03 PM: Message edited by: Brad Dalbec ]

Bear Traps.... nuff said.

While in 2nd place during a practice the guy in front fell down and I hit him with my jofa mouth guard on his shoulder and cracked my septum on my nose. I just recently had it fixed... F'n painful!

Hey Brad,

I could not help but thinking about you this past week while I was in the hospitable. I just had a similar crash last Saturday. Chain came off at the base of a jump. Head, shoulder first into the lip of the jump. Broken shoulder blade, collar bone, 4 cracked ribs and both lungs collapsed. I was very lucky that it was not worse that that. I kept thinking about what happened to you and thanking god that he maybe gave me a little bit of a lift to clear the top of the jump.

No matter which way you look at it getting hurt SUCKS!!!!!

Hey brad D.....

not much I can say after yours, good to see you still love the sport.

My Astabula stem broke as I landed a jump in my front yard as a kid. That quil bolt with the stripped out head from using channel locks on it, tore my sack open to my you know whats(yes, ouch). I also broke my tailbone twice from slamming down on my top tube after breaking pedals. I had a real problem picking good pedals as a kid.

...and Brad absolutely has the worst injury here but I have to say after reading his posts here for the last 4 years has led me to believe that his injury only affected his physical self. I have always been impressed with his great additude and pleasantness.

Since age 13, I've broken 17 bones, not counting ribs, all but one of which have been BMX or MTB related.

And not one of these has been in competition. It always happened going for the big air or generally screwing around at the trails and jumps.

Worst one resulted in this dandy installation that I wore 12 weeks:



Myself and another guy dropped into the famous V-Jump in Denver from opposite sides and collided in the botttom of the ravine. Couldn't see through the trees, failed to call our drop-ins, text book case of horrid timing. Crushed my right wrist, broke my left hand and my nose.

You shoulda seen the other guy.

Fractured collarbone in two places. Feels like it was just yesterday. Hang on, it was yesterday. First race back 4 weeks ago (23 year 'retirement') and was practising at my second race meeting. Got back from the hospital in time for the presentations. So I'm out for more time than I have been back racing.

Day wasn't a total loss as I picked up a PK Ripper and LG forks.

James

In 85 I was jumping at a small track a few streets back from my house. My feet slipped off the pedals when i was landing off of a table top. I cracked my balls on the headtube harder than ever. I threw up 4 times and then made the bad decision to RIDE HOME, that didn't go well. My Mom took me to the hospital and the nurse gave me two shots of morphine in my right butt cheak. I felt awkward when a cute nurse was performing an ultra-sound on my balls... the doctors told me that i might lose a testicle and the only thing i could do was wait and rest. My friends were already calling me one-nut-pete the next day. Fortunately a urinologist told me it was fine about two weeks later. It may make me seem like a redneck but i have a pair of those chrome testicles hanging from the reciever hitch on my truck to this day.

Damn Fine Hardware EVAN!!! You Get The Gold!!! Screw That Tomato Kid In The Olympics!!!

Mine was at red devil in Union City, California. I believe it was in 1980. I yelled out " COMING DOWN " when I was going down the steep hill to get over to the otherside of the park. My buddies watched as I went down and they saw some big guy on the otherside getting ready to go down the hill from the otherside. They yelled out " STOP !!!! " Well, it was too late and we both collided head on. It was really bad. Blood all over the place from both of us. I ended up getting stitches on my eye lid about 1/4" from my left eye. Anymore closer, I would've ended blind in the left eye. I've had alot of crashes when I was younger, but this one is the one i'll never forget.

....that freakin' end of the handlebar! Grrrr! Uppermusclesection of the leg got hit 2cm gone... and the face...

Dislocated the Navicular bone in my right foot during practice at the Utica, NY Regional last July. 10 months later still working on getting it better. I still limp but thank god I can at least play hockey! The doctor said it may never heal 100%, I am determined to prove him wrong!

Also blew out my ACL back in '86 at Woodward. Tangled with Doni Hier and a freshly watered down turn. (Can't tell you how much I like paved corners) That injury healed perfect and have no problems with it.

Seems like all my bad injuries happened during practice hmmmm.................

Broken ribs and fractured sternum, ouch !!

I dead sailor'd over a big set of CFB contest doubles in JAX Florida. Busted ribs and bruised the shoulder opposite of the one I landed on. I was wearing an MX full face and I believe that saved me serious head trauma. Its bmx, ish happens.

JessD

Broken collar bone @ Worlds in Orlando in 87....that one hurt

[ May 30, 2006, 01:36 PM: Message edited by: Mike'Ultimate Sin of Bmx'Crehan ]

I was practicing before a race at Clearwater around 78, after the tabletop there were a set of woops that you could jump if you were booken. Well I got a little squirley off the first one and hit the second front tire first and went tumbling down the track, real gnarley...well I dislocated my right Thumb....luickily It went back into place by itself...had to were a splint on it for a bit....

[ May 30, 2006, 03:10 PM: Message edited by: Florida Vaughn ]

Bunnyhopping over the seat of a friends bike & to make sure I really endoe'd the rear end to make it over , well....I made it over alright , endoed too much & landed right on the top of my head (no helmet , as we were riding in the neighborhood ) last thing I remember , I was in the ER & nurse trying to keep me awake , I woke up the next day in the ICU with moniters all over me & half of my hair shaven as a cat scan revealed a benign cyst ( not from the accident ) so the neurologist decided to remove the affected portion of my skull , sew me back up (I was there for about 2 weeks ) , yes I LITERALLY HAD A HOLE IN MY HEAD , but the only thing covering it was my scalp ! A month later I went back in so they could put an acryllic plate in (about the size of a fifty cent coin ) I was there about a week that time & was on Dilantin (anti seizure ) for about a year after . Needless to say my racing days were over .

funny how when I think back on it, the worst and only real injuries (injurys?) I had were when I was doing something:
a. really stupid
b. not paying attention or
c. on an unfamiliar bike or one not intended
for what I was doing

I don't think I ever had anything really bad happen when I was either competing, learning a new move, or just dialing in a routine.

Nowadays, at this age, I seem to be more interested in the bikes, than the riding. Somehow I know that a shattered collarbone, fractured skull, or even a tweaked wrist means no paycheck.

I'm a little sad about that. But the bills get paid.
And I still ride, just not with the same onions.

Stacey whats up ? I remember that night at orange turn 3 very scary moment i was standing right there when it happen you forgot to mention that the bone was stuck on the chain link

Brent you have a PM. There's alot of things I forget about that night. Still trying to remember who put my Jofa on after I puked in it.

I'm sittin' here right now healing up from a broken collar bone (mtb crash, took a bone graft , and a plate with 7 screws to put it back together). But my worst BMX crash happened in '00, Prunedale...one silly fat old man thinkin' he could still pedal over anything....

(click for larger size)
not as impressive a piece of hardware as Evan's, but see the small spot of blood on the bottom of the bandage? A plate with 4 screws that are still in there, and a pin that got removed. My wrist still does not bend backwards very far. Still, maybe not as painful as being the first guy to post after Brad D.

[ May 31, 2006, 04:38 AM: Message edited by: warthog101 ]

2 that stand out:
Howell NJ State race, my TNT team mate slipped a pedal and jammed it in my front wheel at full tilt on the front straight.....Over the bars I went, head first into the ground. Result = 2 fractured vertabrae and a sprained neck. Basically ended my BMXing career. Was thinking about coming back until reading the other posts!!!!!!!!!!

The second was during JC Armory practice, missed timed the first wooden table and tossed myself over the bars onto my shoulder, dislocating it. As I rolled over on the track I got hit by another rider and it popped back in. No problem, I raced that day! Could not move my arm the next morning or for a couple weeks..

Kmart

My worst is a torn meniscus cartilage in my right knee from planting my foot wrong in a flat corner - not bad, but it was the start of a long line of issues w/ my right knee.

Well not a bmx injury but I tried to kill myself today. Took a digger down some stairs and landed on both knees then my shoulder. Kinda like the old bmx days for me.

Did this 2 days ago !! waiting for operation next week. Lucky for me I landed on me head first.

Two broken arms (at the same time)

I broke my collarbone at the NBL grands one year. That was worse than both arms.
Justin