I know all y'all must have a war wound or two you are proud of the marks left by you pedals when you forgot your shin-guards, or the ones left by mother earth when you become disconnected from your bicycle, or even the ones left by a tree you came a bit too close to. Pix are super good here; before and after are the best.
I've got a few:
My chin (my first)- At age 18 (15 years ago) I went over the bars because my bike lock was dangling from my handlebar and the padlock, which had never come close to my front tire when doing this before, was able to reach out and grab my front tire as I was doing at least 20mph down a side street. I went over the bar and landed face and shoulder first. I was knocked out and kept waking up and passing out. I found myself in the hospital with lots of relatively minor surface abrasions; they weren't little scrapes and I'd pass on having them again, but they weren't that bad in the grand scheme (I forgot how many stitches I needed). I kept asking for a miror and the nurses kept saying "no." After they were done with me, I found myself without a ride home. My bike was rideable, but tweaked, but the hospital wasn't going to release me without a driver. I ran through all the phone numbers I had memorized and nobody was answering (long before cell phones)... except one number. My freshly broken up with ex-girlfriend; I didn't want to call her, but she was my last hope. She wasn't thrilled to hear my voice, but was kind enough to come and give me a lift once I told her what happened. She dropped me at my mom's house, just as my mom was pulling in the driveway. My mom's jaw hit the floor as she saw me getting out of my ex's car, with my bike scratched and beaten, my shirt cut open (the medics needed to do that to do their job - I was out cold and they had to strap me to a board because of my obvious head/neck trauma), and bandages everywhere (face, shoulder, elbows, knees) all starting to bleed through. To this day , I still have a scar on my chin from it. I grew a goatee for years to avoid shaving over it, but I don't mind it anymore.
I've got a few others I might share stories about, but I'll give others a chance to chime in first.
I've got a few:
My chin (my first)- At age 18 (15 years ago) I went over the bars because my bike lock was dangling from my handlebar and the padlock, which had never come close to my front tire when doing this before, was able to reach out and grab my front tire as I was doing at least 20mph down a side street. I went over the bar and landed face and shoulder first. I was knocked out and kept waking up and passing out. I found myself in the hospital with lots of relatively minor surface abrasions; they weren't little scrapes and I'd pass on having them again, but they weren't that bad in the grand scheme (I forgot how many stitches I needed). I kept asking for a miror and the nurses kept saying "no." After they were done with me, I found myself without a ride home. My bike was rideable, but tweaked, but the hospital wasn't going to release me without a driver. I ran through all the phone numbers I had memorized and nobody was answering (long before cell phones)... except one number. My freshly broken up with ex-girlfriend; I didn't want to call her, but she was my last hope. She wasn't thrilled to hear my voice, but was kind enough to come and give me a lift once I told her what happened. She dropped me at my mom's house, just as my mom was pulling in the driveway. My mom's jaw hit the floor as she saw me getting out of my ex's car, with my bike scratched and beaten, my shirt cut open (the medics needed to do that to do their job - I was out cold and they had to strap me to a board because of my obvious head/neck trauma), and bandages everywhere (face, shoulder, elbows, knees) all starting to bleed through. To this day , I still have a scar on my chin from it. I grew a goatee for years to avoid shaving over it, but I don't mind it anymore.
I've got a few others I might share stories about, but I'll give others a chance to chime in first.