Mike Clements Crash at the track

Trouty · Postby **Trouty** » 30 Jan 2009, 08:32

Mike had a crash at Tempe Track last night when we were racing with Randwick Botany. Luckily noone else was near him at the time, even though it was a combined handicap with A, B & C grade all racing together. Unfortunately Mikes pedal came away from his cranks when he was going at high speed, and he fell hard. The PEDAL was still attached to his shoe when they picked him up off the ground. He had a lot of abrasions and had a lot of trouble breathing, and was taken away by an Ambulance. He texted me this morning and he has a punctured lung and won't be riding for 6 weeks. He will be in hospital for 3 days. He is in RPA - Camperdown main building. Level 11 west, Bed 8.

I will probably visit him tonight or tomorrow night...and give him the usual collection of mens magazines to read whilst he is confined to bed.

Michael Chidgey · Postby **Michael Chidgey** » 30 Jan 2009, 08:41

thats crazy, he sounded horrible when he came off the track after the crash. also i think you mean that his pedal was still attached after the crash not his crank.

hope you get better Mike.

lindsay · Postby **lindsay** » 30 Jan 2009, 08:49

I spoke to Anna this morning (Mike's wife) & Mike did indeed have a punctured lung. Damage was 2 fractured ribs & a punctured lung. He was operated on in the early hours of the morning & is currently resting up in the ward at RPA.

Accidient was caused by pulling the pedal out of the right side crank and as Jo mentioned the pedal was still attached to his shoe when we picked him up off the track.

Get well soon Mike... Does a punctured lung count in the 2009 puncture competition??

Huw · Postby **Huw** » 30 Jan 2009, 08:58

Get well soon Mike!

Trouty · Postby **Trouty** » 30 Jan 2009, 09:02

Get well soon Mike... Does a punctured lung count in the 2009 puncture competition??

Lindsay ... that is hilarious !!!

Maybe we could all chip in $1.00 and start the "Buy Mike some new parts FUND" seeing every thing on his bike is recycled or preloved. I believe he is still using Toff's seat that Toff was going to throw in the tip years ago.

matt · Postby **matt** » 30 Jan 2009, 09:04

Wow thats shocking news. really bad luck. Hope you get better soon Mike.

weiyun · Postby **weiyun** » 30 Jan 2009, 09:23

Will pay Mike a visit later this morning. Will find out what "op" he had. I'd be surprised if it was anything more than just an intercostal tube, which is just a minor procedure done with local anaesthesia in A&E.

How did the pedal come off? Did it unscrew itself or was there a failure of material? I thought that pedal threads were designed to self-tighten.

Well, this has got to be the puncture of the year, but Mike didn't go flat and didn't do the change himself... So can we say that on Jan 30, Mike has already won the 2009 DHBC Flat Tyre Competition?

matt · Postby **matt** » 30 Jan 2009, 09:32

I'd hate to think what we'd have to do to beat him at this stage.

Then again, if the doctor was female she might outdo him on bonus points.

Camilla · Postby **Camilla** » 30 Jan 2009, 09:49

I think Johnno deserves half a point. His Red Cross skills were in full flight. If only Marion hadn't left the track 5 minutes earlier she could have made a significant dent in the board!

Poor Mike. The crash was pretty spectacular - he just hit the deck as though being slapped very hard from above. I'll drop by the hospital on my way to Uni this afternoon and say hello. Maybe he'd like a teddy bear.

insomniac · Postby **insomniac** » 30 Jan 2009, 10:02

Sheesh ... sounds like a nasy accident. Get well Mike ...hope you don't go stir crazy not riding.

christian · Postby **christian** » 30 Jan 2009, 10:02

I've never heard of anyone pulling a pedal out of an alloy crank before. They are designed to tighten themselves, so they'll only undo themselves if you ride backwards a lot. Maybe he ripped it out stripping the thread out of the crack arm. A post-mortem will be required to find out what actually happened.

Could just be all that power Mike produces.

Get well soon.

Trouty · Postby **Trouty** » 30 Jan 2009, 10:06

Does a punctured lung count in the 2009 puncture competition??

Mike has responded from his hospital bed:
"Do I lose my points because some one else fixed my lung". I guess he is feeling better.

Daryl · Postby **Daryl** » 30 Jan 2009, 10:38

Ouch!!! Think Mike's superman legs are just too strong for normal bikes...titanium all the way from screws to the frame.

I'm hurting just reading about it. Get well Mike!

jimmy · Postby **jimmy** » 30 Jan 2009, 10:58

Pedals are designed to self tighten, however, they need to be sufficiently tight in the first place, if you don't tighten a pedal enough when you install them, then they do stand a risk of unscrewing.

I have had pedals come off a couple of times, but not as bad as Mike's. Both times, it was a result of constantly changing pedals between bikes, so I probably never did it tight enough in the first place. In both cases it was the left hand pedal.

Does anyone know which pedal it was that came off on Mikes bike?

And get well soon Mike.

James

lindsay · Postby **lindsay** » 30 Jan 2009, 11:42

When I looked at the pedal the thread contained the alloy thread from the crank, so it was pulled out rather than unscrewed. This could be a mechanical failure or could be from overtightening sometime in it's life.

Toff · Postby **Toff** » 30 Jan 2009, 12:44

Ouch. Suspected a pneumothorax when I saw him. Common for injury for people who are tall, lean and fit, and Mike is all three!

Might pop in to the hospital on the way home...

weiyun · Postby **weiyun** » 30 Jan 2009, 13:56

Paid a visit to Mike late morning. He looked a bit tired due to a lack of sleep since the accident but is otherwise comfortable. When I arrived, he was mucking around with his cut up pair of knicks, wondering what starting price he should set it on eBay. He only has one of those small chest drains in, suggesting that it's only a traumatic pneumothorax of limited size. Looking at discharge over the weekend.

In his usual style, he is still trying to push the limit of his physical capability by asking how deep he should breath and how frequently so that he can attain early recovery. Man, this guy is all about performance!

timyone · Postby **timyone** » 30 Jan 2009, 14:11

lol about the how much he can breath bit?!
Go mike!

malee · Postby **malee** » 30 Jan 2009, 15:10

Sorry to hear it happened last night. Sounds like Geoff and I had just left! We will be heading in there this evening.
In terms of points: Mike got the flat - flat lungs so it should score big points for the competition. If someone rang me, I could have accompanied him into RPA and fix the flat myself. Then, being of female gender, and fixing a flat and another DHBC flat, I could score some points! That is probably the only type of flat that I am happy to deal with.
I will give Mike a few Key Performance Indicators tonight in terms of blowing the deep breath physio balloon! That should keep him happy. He gets to go home sooner if he can blow alot of hot air!

weiyun · Postby **weiyun** » 30 Jan 2009, 15:14

I will give Mike a few Key Performance Indicators tonight in terms of blowing the deep breath physio balloon! That should keep him happy. He gets to go home sooner if he can blow alot of hot air!

Let the PA physio teach him. They are Goood...

williamd · Postby **williamd** » 30 Jan 2009, 23:29

Mike .

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

fenn_paddler · Postby **fenn_paddler** » 31 Jan 2009, 05:29

Get well soon Mike!

I'm sure you'll come back from this enforced break rested and more motivated than ever.

Cheers,
Alan W.

micklan · Postby **micklan** » 31 Jan 2009, 08:44

only just saw this post. Mike C didn't pull a pedal he pulled a pedal out/ the Ox to strong by far....

get well soon Mike

**Update photo**

micklan · Postby **micklan** » 31 Jan 2009, 13:02

Mike on the mend

Jersey is cactus

Nice view from L 11 RPA

Mike is on the mend and will perhaps be out of hospital tonight....

weiyun · Postby **weiyun** » 31 Jan 2009, 13:35

Nice photos... But he isn't going anywhere without getting that tube out.

Ahhh... The view out of the old E11N window. Brings back memories.

bucko · Postby **bucko** » 01 Feb 2009, 13:09

Get Well soon Mike. Having experienced broken ribs and a punctured lung myself I can definetely sympathise with you.

We will be submitting the Commissaire's report to Cycling NSW on Monday 2 Feb 2009 now that we have all the details thanks to the forum.

You may have a little trouble expanding the lung as it heals due to scar tissue pulling on the ribs. The good news is that the absolutely best way to push past the scar tissue is riding your bike. I suffered like a dog for a week trying to stretch it past a certain point with little walks around the park as suggested by the doctor. I then, contrary to Doctor's orders, got on my bike and within half a lap I had pushed past the sore spot, fully inflated the lung and felt like a new man again, swapping off turns with the bunch. They heal really quickly so don't worry too much about it. Get well soon.

Cheers
John Buckton
President Randwick botany Cycling Club

kevinllewellyn · Postby **kevinllewellyn** » 01 Feb 2009, 14:30

Mike discharged RPAH (Sunday) at 14.15.

Get well soon Mike. Kevin

malee · Postby **malee** » 01 Feb 2009, 15:27

Good one Mike. Thanks for the post Kevin.
Mike, we will ring and annoy you soon to see how you are doing. I hope you were not serious about taking the roller session on Thursday!

weiyun · Postby **weiyun** » 01 Feb 2009, 16:49

I hope you were not serious about taking the roller session on Thursday!

Ummm... One legged (Lt) pedaling drill hasn't been shown to be of value.

mikesbytes · Postby **mikesbytes** » 01 Feb 2009, 16:49

Mike on the mend

I look fat in that photo, must be the hospital food.

I had trouble getting my pain killers from the chemist, as they were written on the wrong paper. So had to go the doctor to get a replacement script and she explained that these pain killers are sort after, due to their addictiveness. Anyway, got that sorted out so I'll hopefully sleep well tonight.

weiyun · Postby **weiyun** » 01 Feb 2009, 16:57

I look fat in that photo, must be the hospital food.

That's what all bulimics/anorexics say.

I had trouble getting my pain killers from the chemist, as they were written on the wrong paper. So had to go the doctor to get a replacement script and she explained that these pain killers are sort after, due to their addictiveness. Anyway, got that sorted out so I'll hopefully sleep well tonight.

January interns.

All "good" pain killers are addictive. I wouldn't worry about using them while you recover from you injuries in the short term. Focus on getting rid of the pain so that you can function normally.

Terry · Postby **Terry** » 01 Feb 2009, 18:16

It's good to see tha you are out of the hospital Mike I hope you have a speedy recovery

micklan · Postby **micklan** » 01 Feb 2009, 19:19

well done Mike

mikesbytes · Postby **mikesbytes** » 01 Feb 2009, 19:54

That's what all bulimics/anorexics say.

Worked it out, it was due the the pain killers preventing a #2 for 3 days

weiyun · Postby **weiyun** » 01 Feb 2009, 21:58

Worked it out, it was due the the pain killers preventing a #2 for 3 days

No evidence of that. Whatever was backed up would all be in your pelvis, you won't see it.

Trouty · Postby **Trouty** » 02 Feb 2009, 12:30

[/quote]I look fat in that photo[/quote]

Welcome to my world.

PeterOS · Postby **PeterOS** » 02 Feb 2009, 12:40

Mick, hope to see you back on your bike soon.

mikesbytes · Postby **mikesbytes** » 02 Feb 2009, 17:36

Welcome to my world.

Wider tyres make your behind look thinner

mikesbytes · Postby **mikesbytes** » 02 Feb 2009, 18:26

Just as well I wasn't wearing bib nicks

Kosy-Moto · Postby **Kosy-Moto** » 04 Feb 2009, 09:56

Great to hear your home safe and well...

geoff m · Postby **geoff m** » 05 Feb 2009, 11:35

Mike,

I heard a rumour that you turned up last Sunday and departed with the Middies, with two broken ribs and a hole in your lungs, but turned around after 10 minutes because you were in pain!!!!

Surely someone was dreaming or it was an imposter?

mikesbytes · Postby **mikesbytes** » 05 Feb 2009, 12:27

Rumor untrue, I was still in Hospital.

Thanks for the support Guys/Gals.

BTW, does anyone know how far I slid? One of the questions for the helmet study, I didn't know the answer.

timyone · Postby **timyone** » 06 Feb 2009, 10:40

good to hear you are all right mike!

mikesbytes · Postby **mikesbytes** » 06 Feb 2009, 14:37

Camilla said that I hit the ground and just stopped, ie didn't slide, so it sounds like I kinda dung into the concrete.

mikesbytes · Postby **mikesbytes** » 08 May 2009, 16:50

Finally dug the bike out of the storage at Tempe, remarkably little damage, considering it was ground into the concrete with me still on it.

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Mike Clements Crash at the track

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