protective clothing

Commiserations. I came off this winter and last winter as well; got away with scrapes and bruises. I just stick to my winter hybrid/tourer until the spring arrives. 32 tyres at 80psi, mudguards, nothing sexy about it, but it's better than nothing.

Yesterday I was making a recipe that required crushed pistachio nuts. I wrapped the nuts in a load of cling film, put it on a chopping board, and bashed it with the bottom of a wine bottle. And bugger me, when I opened the cling film hardly any crushing had occurred!

And the best bit is that its on special at Waitrose at the moment - buy 2 rolls and the second is half price.

Have to agree with the don't go out notion. Having come off myself a couple of times and managed to come away with only a fractured thumb and bruises, and knowing at least two people who have parts of their body bolted together after damaging hips it isn't worth it.

Quite simple really, keep of the roads if it is icy, even gritted and salted roads can have patches where run-off has refrozen. Even with body protection on, after you hit the ground you run the risk of 38 tonnes of out of control wagon hitting you too. As you have shown, winter miles is not a basis for a good season if the conditions are dangerous. Rollers or turbo are there for a reason.

Sympathies from a fellow "broken hipee". I came off on a greasy bend mid-October. Got rid of my stick a week ago but still limping (or is that leg shorter now? ) and the leg's still weak and "slow".

I'm hoping to get the bike onto the rollers (prob with a fork stand) in the New Year and on the road asap afterwards. I'd pondered shorts with extra protection for the hip and ultimately discounted it. Sufficient protection, if it were possible, would probably make the shorts impractical, if not downright uncomfortable.

I fully expect to be nervous the first time I'm back out on the bike. I'll certainly be more aware of the road conditions, and the likelihood of ice would probably keep me indoors. But I'm not ready to "retire" just yet.

Good luck with your recovery and I hope you do get riding again in the Spring.

I agree with comments above... just move on from the accident as quickly as you can, and just continue as you were. There are real risks with cycling, as there are risks with anything... the point to remember is that you have to be very unlucky to be involved in anything that does significant damage to your body.

As I've said on here before; unless you are being reckless, you are unlucky to have a fall. And should you fall, you are very unlucky to do any real damage, which gets ramped up to extremely unlucky to be injured to a level that has mid-long term health issues.

In fact, I'd say such an injury is a once, maybe twice in a lifetime event.

What I am saying is that actually, on balance, cycling is very safe.

As for riding in ice, the easiest way forward is to avoid riding when the temperatures are near or below freezing.

Allmost all sports are dangerous to some degree. If you gave up cycling what would you do instead? Football? Rugby? Running? All of these carry significant risk of injury.

Moving to a lifestyle away from sport or phyical activity would arguably be much worse for your overall wellbeing and the 'safe' alternative comes in the form of the gym or indoor trainer: boring.

As for protective gear, I'd forget about DH/BMX/MX kit. This sort of kit just wouldn't work on the road in my opinion. Too hot and chafing/discomfort would be very likely. Maybe you could borrow something from other sports that would give an acceptable result. There might even be a gap in the market for protective gear for roadies but I see a lot of challenges with designing something that would be effective without being unpleasant to use.

I can sympathise with the way you feel. I'm off the bike right now too following being hit by a car. I've got broken wrists and it looks like I'll be off the bike for at least 8 weeks in total, maybe more if I'm not strong enough to jump back on once they're healed. I've thought about giving up riding on the road but in reality I'd have to ride on the road to get to the off-road locations that I would ride instead, unless I wanted to start driving for journeys under a mile. Personally I don't go out on the road for fun/training if its icy or if visibility is limited (fog, torential rain etc.) but that's more to do with concerns about the other traffic around me than the prospect of decking it of my own accord.

If this is the first such incident in six years then I'm not sure I'd go with the penalty of wearing body armour...

If there's ice around - I won't go out cycling. Bikes and ice aren't a happy mix.
Spend an hour or 90 mins on the turbo instead. Get trainerroad and its a satisfying and targeted way to spend some time - and probably better than just 'getting the miles in'.

I know sometimes you'll find ice when you didnt expect to - but thats a rare occurrence and not every crash will break a hip. Once the hip is healed - you should be stronger anyway ?

You could go MTBing off road to avoid the ice - but thats another area of accident to have.

I'd not class cycling as dangerous.

It's more a case of reducing the risks where you can. So knowing the local councils road salting program will help you to make educated plans before venturing out on the bike.

My local authority have detailed maps showing their salting schedule (high priority roads/ low priority roads/ no cover roads). Check online for your council. Local knowledge also goes a long way. There is a particular area near me that floods, so cars drag water up the road which freezes even when the road is treated.

Ok, so you will need to stay on slightly busier roads which in turn creates different risks. But if you stayed on your sofa to negate all risks we would never go out.

I used to play American football and have occasionally thought that something like hip and tail pads would be useful in case of a cycling crash. The design of these things has moved on a great deal since I played, fortunately, and are now slim enough that they might be acceptable. Most of these garments seem to include thigh pads, but I suppose one can always just cut those off and sew a new hem. I spotted this one that has just the hip and tail pads, though.

Obviously, however, they're designed for a completely different type of impact. How well anything like that would work in a road crash scenario, I'm not sure. I suspect the best protection might come from something like ice hockey shorts, but they'd be way too bulky to be practical. I think they also make padded shorts for paintballing (called slide shorts), which might be worth investigating. There's clearly a gap in the market for road cycling armour.

I have been involved in two crashes, one with a couple of broken bones and best thing to do is to get back on.

Cycling is fairly dangerous but it is bloody good fun and most of all it keeps us middle aged men fit ! Seriously body armour would not have stopped my broken bones as the twist caused them in my ankle and wrist.

the sense of achievement I got today for doing 75K and some decent hills can not be matched by anything and including sex !

I understand almost exactly were you are coming from. I have been on crutchers the past 4 weeks after a spill on a iron man hole cover. Amazingly I got on my bike for a few minutes but then couldn't walk. X-ray show a displaced pelvis and cartridge damage but no broken bones. The last time I had a nasty spill was on boards over 12 years ago.

It has made me very aware of how vulnerable we are in Lycra with no protection, well maybe a helmet depending on you point of view. It has caused a lot of reflection, I'm lucky enough to be employed by the NHS so will get paid but I have still lost a few bob in unsocial and extra hours.

I thought about body armour having worn it during my motorbike days. I don't think it would really help too much as it would need to be comfortable and also stay in place during an impact.

I think the real decision for me was do I accept the risk of riding a bike fast (ish) or do I look for a safer pass time. Ok I would imagine playing snooker is less risk but most physical sports carry risk, my knees aren't good enough for running and beside I have loved riding my bike since my Raliegh Dart as a kid!
Is it less dangerous that sitting on the settee? I'm not sure, would I miss riding God yes the past few weeks have been awful, apart from the pain I miss my bike. Just eager to sit on my turbo for a light spin, it's still some time off.
IMO if there was body armour which could limit injury with out reducing performance I would think the pro teams would use it to protect there investments?
For me I will just have to overcome the undoubted fear I will experience while getting back on the bike.
Good luck with the fracture, am I right in presuming there was no NOF damage/replacement needed? If you do find protective gear that works please share the info but more than anything I hope you keep on riding my friend

If there is a risk of ice just stick to the main roads that have been salted. It doesn't have to be awful trunk roads, lots of the lesser A roads and many B roads are salted as a priority

These are for inline skating where sliding down the track is an occupational hazard. Not sure you'll find a UK dealer, but I have bought stuff from them OK.

http://der-rollenshop.sportkanzler.de/en/Helmets-Protection/Powerslide-C...