"Cycling Injuries Revealed", an US infographic by Christensen Law Firm

click for larger view

Inconsiderate cyclists on pedestrian paths pose a safety threat

"Don't compromise safety," letter from Max Yeo. Today Online, 23 Feb 2010.

RECENTLY, my wife tripped and rolled down a grass path along Block 647 Yishun St 61 because of an uncovered drain. This happened because she was trying to avoid some cyclists. She now has a bruised swollen knee and elbow. She had only a few choices left to her at that time.

She could either have stayed on the path and been knocked down by the cyclists, step into the uncovered drain and possibly break her leg, or hop across the drain onto the grass patch beyond it.

She took the third option and that was how she slipped and fell.

I had reported the uncovered, 76-cm deep drain to the relevant authorities last year but nothing much was done except that a yellow line was drawn along it. The Sembawang Town Council also wrote back to tell me that the "apron drain slabs" had been removed some years ago upon instructions from the National Environment Agency to prevent mosquitoes breeding.

It said the apron drains in the estate are covered only at footpath crossings and areas with many children, for example near the child care centre and kindergarten.

I don't see why the drain can't be covered and regular maintenance done to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. How can residents' safety be compromised?

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"Cyclists are more reckless now," letter from Charles Remedios. Today Online, 25 Feb 2010.

I REFER to "Don't compromise safety" (Feb 23). The accident suffered by Mr Max Yeo's wife is indeed unfortunate. The reason for the accident is the reckless behaviour by cyclists who use the pedestrian pathway.

Pathways are meant for pedestrians but many cyclists assume they have right of way and expect pedestrians to get out of their way; this happens not only on pathways but also at pedestrian crossings.

It is rare to see a cyclist dismounting and pushing his bike where there is heavy pedestrian traffic. More often then not, the cyclist will ring his bell and zoom past or head straight for pedestrians, forcing them to jump out of his way as Mr Teo's wife did, with unfortunate results.

Cyclists and pedestrians know that in any accident involving a pedestrian and a cyclist, it will be the pedestrian who will suffer the greater injury and this fear forces the latter to quickly get out of the way.

This defensive action has emboldened cyclists. With the increasing number of motorised bicycles using pedestrian pathways, the incidence and seriousness of accidents is now greater.

Education and persuasion have not had an impact on the behaviour of cyclists and the millions of dollars spent on surveys, campaigns, and even the creation of so called "shared pathways" seem to have been a waste. In fact, wider pathways could be encouraging cyclists to travel at even greater speeds.

The Police need to enforce the law and protect those most vulnerable.

Advice to newbie MTB riders

Advice to newbie MTB riders

Having ridden a little on local trails but not very much, here are some thoughts for newbie mountain bike cyclists, seeing that the next SMURF clinic is around the corner, on 19 Sep 2004.


SMURF Clinics - a foundation

SMURF clinics are a necessity. They aren't about how to ride a bike, so you have to learn to balance on a bike, change gears and brake reasonably well first. Get help from a friend for this.

The clinics provide a proper foundation which casual instruction does not achieve since it is guided by a syllabus. Ad hoc instruction on the trail by friends tends to respond to challenges of a specific trail. Without a lesson plan, familiarity leads to overlooking significant issues such as lowering seat posts when going into trails. I found out only much later and it was very helpful when I did!

Having advised newbies myself, I found this worked well - try something easy like general trails in Ubin, then to the SMURF clinics, and finally rides with instruction by friends at T15. The clinic provides a useful foundation which were upgraded later on other trails.

One way to pay instructors who provide these free clinics is to help them out at their cycling events or during the next round of clinics. SMURF clinics are run by "Uncle Nik" [Ho] and friends.

On mental preparation and confidence

When I first tried out trails, two experienced friends, Athena and Chi provided instruction and demonstration for specific (easier) trials at Sentosa. I listened, watched and followed and so it was relatively easy there.

On another occasion, Airani and I were late, rushed down meet the gang as they emerged at BT, did not realise we were doing the BT trail that day but followed them in and kept up (our first taste of BT as well). We had simply been too hasty, were not focused so both crashed at easy bits, mind you! My crash was mild (I tend to bounce off the ground) but Airani cracked a bone and her wrist was in a cast for a few weeks.

I realise for myself at least, the ability of both rider and bike outweighed confidence. When I work at confidence, I have an enjoyable rides free of excessive braking and dismounts.


Knowing your bike and practise

The more I got used to my GT Avalanche 1.0, the better I could estimate its ability and response to terrain. After more than five years on the Champion Du Monde, I am at times still compensating for the wrong bike!

A friend from the clinic I attended, YZ used to frighten me with stories of his spectacular crashes when he first acquired his new bike complete with disc brakes. He has since got used to it and there are thankfully fewer dramatic stories.

Since I did most of my haphazard learning with my heart in my mouth. I tried something else with some newbies - practising basic skills on simple trails and even on flat ground. Something they could also do near their place, on their own. It helped to build familiarity with braking ability, gearing, balance etc., and does wonders for confidence. They later realised a tough trail was simply an amplification of what they had already tried and the principles they learnt help them overcome these.


Riding kakis
On any ride, always go at your own pace. If are the riders are too fast and leave you behind, abandon the ride; its best to have company in case of emergencies. Ride leaders on Wheels Are Turning or DREAM-Escapades
usually indicate the type of ride and if they will wait for newbies. Find out if unsure.

Knowing the trail builds confidence
Don't be disheartened if everyone you are with on a ride seems to zip through a trail and are then are always waiting for you at the next slope. E.g. the T15 slopes. When you get to know a particular route well, you will become familiar with each slopes' incline, distance, corners, dangers etc. Regulars who zoom far ahead have this knowledge and it makes a big difference.

It's just like racing drivers who learn their circuits down to a T!

So learn a particular route well and tackle it regulary; you'll soon find yourself zooming ahead in the easy parts wiothout hesitation. Does wonders for confidence too!

From a post to Wheels Are Turning



First posted in Otterman speaks.

About concussions and memory loss

One of my friends, "Ling the Merciless" recently suffered a concussion. She fell down a steep slope and was thrown off her bike, landing on her face. She was immobile but eventually regained consciousness, was taken to SGH, observed and released with a one week MC.

Now she suffered a mild concussion and lost consciousness. Although it is not an exact science, with some 28 measures, the Cantu scale is often used, probably due to its realistic simplicity.

And it indicates my friend suffered a Grade II concussion.

Grade II concussions are not common even amongst collegial and high school American football players - a study of 17, 549 players revealed 88.9% suffered Grade 1 concussion and only 10.6% suffered Grade II concussion. Serious impact she took! If you perch on a bike at the top of the slope you will understand.

She experienced the "usual symptoms" - disorientation, confusion, loss of consciousness, partial loss of memory about events prior to (retrograde amnesia) and events after the impact (post-traumatic amnesia).

Maximal post-traumatic amnesia immediately after the injury is not unusual - hence, it was good that she as surrounded by friends who did answer her repeated questions about her whereabouts.

Though her memory may recover with time, a complete recovery often does not occur. There are apologetic psychiatric explanations about this but a mild head injury, though prominent for its transient functional loss, may be in all likelihood, accompanied by pathological damage - in one instance I read about microscopic shearing of nerve fibers in the brain. Ouch!

The treatment for concussion is rest - *Oh! Gasp! Really?* - tell that to my adventurous and active friend. 10 days to two weeks is a recommended rest period. Not that it means she get to mount her bike and tackle Bukit Timah immediately after that.

Some sports medicine researchers suggest a hasty return to sport may result in "second impact syndrome," which can be really serious? I haven't read enough but it appears to be linked to symptomatic patients (e.g. still suffering from headaches) returning to the fray, undetected or because an athlete's conscious choice.

Though supposedly uncommon and even disputed, it still makes for fascinating reading - there is some evidence that a period of change in brain function (e.g. in metabolic uptake of glucose) lasts between 24 hours to 10 days to allow for healing. During this period the patient may be vulnerable to injury.*So rest!* Somewhere else, I learnt that old fogies like me (>18 years old) are apparently less vulnerable since we don't have developing brains. Wait a minute!?

Anyway, the threshold for subsequent trauma may also be lowered, meaning any subsequent concussion may result in symptoms consistent with a more severe injury.

I've taken two hits myself in the past, mild ones. Grade I if you must, with no loss of consciousness.

In the first instance, I was in Secondary 4, and it was a PE lesson - we were playing rugby. I suffered a blow somehow but continued playing, and only experienced symptoms significantly, after the game was over. Walking back to class, I panicked at the thought of the 'O' levels the following week! I hadn't studied as yet! A classmate looked at me strangely and said it was still early in the year.

Then I could not find my schoolbag - it had been hidden earlier in the science block. I had a game going to evade prefects on guard in the mornings. I would slip past them into my classroom, after morning assembly but before classes began. It was test of how well we knew the school's nooks and crannies. Ironically, first thing I did was to mark attendance of the class since I was class monitor. It became too easy so I abandoned the game.

Luckily my buddy, the class chairman, knew about this duel and brought me to where my bag was hidden. So I got to change and study.

Second time, also during a rugby game, but this time in university grounds. Rather embarrassedly, I collided head first with the other prop - I was trying out playing with the forwards and was enjoying the heightened tacking immensely - up to that point. The little runt (opposition scrum half) we were after slipped out of our hands but even he as taken aback at the two of us groaning on the ground.

Interestingly I was brought back 5 years in time to the hazy events of the first concussion. Right there in the university field, my mind was flooded with the images of schoolboys and our rugby match that day, some six years ago. I silently struggled to overcome the same feeling of disorientation I felt then and now.

This was no namby-pamby deja vu. This was the stuff of time portals! Presumably the memory fragments associated with a hard blow to the head had surfaced with the right stimulant.

As I struggled to bring myself back to the present time, I pondered about playing in the last game of that day-long inter-faculty tournament. In the end I decided to go ahead and strangely enough, and to my relief, I appeared to regain clarity as I played! Now I find how silly that was.

In both cases, the other players were unaware of my mild trauma. Apparently in the US, they are thus concerned about "bell ringers" who continue playing, unknowingly at the risk of long-term risks. If coaches and other staff are able to recognise mild symptoms (presuming they want to) the athlete's may be spared critical injury.

For some reason, players who suffer a concussion are three times more likely to do so again! Just makes you wonder, doesn't it?

For me at least, its probably good to know the memories of the playing fields of my old school are just a hard knock on the head away.

Reference:
Guskiewicz, KM. NL Weaver, DA Padua, WE Jr Garrett, 2000. Epidemiology of Concussion in Collegiate and High School Football Players. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 28: 643-650. The literature cited leads you to a large numbers of papers in this field.

First posted in Otterman speaks.