Vlad gets Asphalt Surgery?

Slappy Maxwell · Post by **Slappy Maxwell** » Sat Jul 26, 2003 11:07 pm

Just got back for skating with Wes, Anthony, and Rene.

Supposedly Vlad took a nasty spill on a 36 cone run at the RFK race track. He split his chin open and took off to get stitches.

Everyone wish him a speedy recovery and hope he keeps those sexy looks! Dalv can't become the better looking one.

Rene Hayden · Post by **Rene Hayden** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 3:40 am

Poor Vlad,

it was me and him alone for about an hour, (I will remember from now on: D.C. slalom time is actually somewhere in Nebraska). It was windy, and nobody showed. Wes E finally came around, and Vlad had just decided to humor me and run cones, and then boom. What a bummer.

Well, lets just say that anyone who says tight slalom is for pussies better eat their words.

The injuries looked a lot worse than they probably were. No concussion/bone breakage/ligament tears that I could see. I'll let Vlad tell it in his own words, if he wants to. Vlad was a good stoic Russian and drove himself to the hospital. cleaning the inevitable glass and crap out of the wounds was probably not a lot of fun.

Me, Wes E. and Andy S. hung out with some junkies shooting heroin, and then went and had a fun old time with Slappy at the DNC lot.

hope Vlad's resting comfortably with a nice cold warsteiner, some pain meds, and his very understanding sig o to change the gauze.

Now, everybody, what have we learned? Don't do the Vlad. Pads gooood. No skin baaaad.

Cheers,

Rene.

[ This Message was edited by: Rene Hayden on 2003-07-26 22:48 ]

Wes Eastridge · Post by **Wes Eastridge** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 5:16 am

I hope he made it to the hospital alright. There was still no answer at his house at 9pm.

Vlad or Victoria! Where are you? Give us a sign that he is OK.

Brady Mitchell · Post by **Brady Mitchell** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 5:59 am

Can we say FULL FACE HELMET?

I hope Vlad`s doing OK, but here`s another example of the need for better protection. I know first hand. I took a spill last fall, with a Protec, and ended up with road rash from in between the eyebrows over to my left ear, It healed pretty good but I still have an eye twich and it sucks

Get well Vlad, Brady

[ This Message was edited by: Brady Mitchell on 2003-07-27 11:19 ]

Vlad Popov · Post by **Vlad Popov** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 7:30 am

O'ck'mn! I'm ok. A couple of scratches and stiches. Nothing serious. Pads wouldn't have helped the injuries. Nor would have a(n) (open face) helmet.

I skated for some time after the hospital and now am heavily sedated with vodka.

Thankses.

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 4:54 pm

Chinners suck. Would chin cups help? Who knows.

I got mine when I was falling and got too lazy to react in typical panic mode. At 14 you feel invinceable. Razor slashes it everytime- Vlad time to go Electric.

Andy Bittner · Post by **Andy Bittner** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 7:49 pm

Someone ought to start a Topic called, "Chinners". I got mine bouncing my chin off the steel flat bottom at Cedar Crest Country Club Ramp. I probably shouldn't have been skating, was already sporting a cast on a broken left navicular (wrist) and wearing dress shoes and business attire. All that blood sure can ruin the basic business look! I sort of shaved around that scar for years, but I guess I eventually shaved it off. It doesn't get in the way anymore.

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 9:36 pm

Let's not forget to recognize LBK's WORLD CLASS chinner on the hill at Avila Beach. I still wince when I think about the tumble he took.

Vlad Popov · Post by **Vlad Popov** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 10:10 pm

Prelude:

A guy asks his veterinarian for help with his cat.

-Doc, my cat used to wiped his ass on the carpet by dragging it around the room. But lately he’s been running in and wiping his ass at speed leaving trails of crap on the carpet. We tried everything but nothing seems to work.

-Have you tried sandpaper?

-What do you mean, Doc?

-I mean have you tried putting a long sheet of sandpaper on the carpet where your cat likes to slide?

-Sounds like a good idea. Thanks Doc!

One day later.

-You’re back so soon. What, it didn’t work?

-It worked alright, Doc. When I got home today I found my cat’s ears... at the end of the bloody trail.

Racetrack story.

The track wasn’t clean, but there seemed to be no glass and rocks where the course was set. PlankkR2 doesn’t seem to have any performance limits and can be pushed hard at any speed, even beyond 5 cones per second. The only weak link is the rider.
I didn’t push it that hard on a warm-up run. When things got out of control I stepped off the board and started running. The racetrack is so grippy that catching the edge of my shoe lead to a crash. When crashing was inevitable, I decided to roll. Only the racetrack was like sandpaper and rolling stopped as soon as my shoulder hit the pavement. From that point it was sliding. It happened at about 5-10 MPH. The chin suffered the most even though it just barely touched the ground. The shoulder took most of the impact.

Conclusion(s).

An elementary risk analysis yields that wearing a fullface helmet at 5MPH at all times is not the answer.

In this particular case the only item that could and probably would have prevented my face injuries is a pair of wrist guards. None of the limb joints suffered any injuries.

In this particular case the racetrack’s sandpaper-quality asphalt is the only cause of the extensive damage.

Recommendations:

Do your own risk assessment. You know better your limits, your crash tendencies/frequencies and your ability to crash/recover. Your recent past experiences is the best guide. Dress according to your own crash history.

I’m an active member of the “Drunk Riders Against Padding” organization and would not recommend any protection at any speed for drunk slalomers.

Vlad.

Terry Kirby · Post by **Terry Kirby** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 10:25 pm

Vlad, are you OK? Call me I am worried. I skated today and yesterday with young henry and Joe and MR Friend. I skated poorly. I will probably sit out the farm and just watch. I hurt my chin once too. It was at Breck last year. Kenny has pictures of my chin. We can talk about our chins. I felt so slow this weekend. TK

[ This Message was edited by: Terence Kirby on 2003-07-27 16:29 ]

Terry Kirby · Post by **Terry Kirby** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 10:36 pm

BTW, Russians are among the toughest bastards on the planet. I enjoy ultimate fighting competitions and there is this Russian named Oleg Taktarov who's pain threshold is off the charts. Vlad is mabey is cousin or something. TK

Vlad Popov · Post by **Vlad Popov** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 10:47 pm

I’m ok Terence. Getting faster. PL-R2 is the fastest TS board I’ve ever tried. Traction is insane! I can’t wait for the GS and LB-SL ones.

I've seen your chin footage. How about the "Ultimate Slalom"? Will the Russians do good in it? Would it be like slaloming on a racetrack without any protection at 25 MPH?

Farm’s possible. Will call you later.

Emergency room story.

The wound was about 1/4 inch deep, 1/2 inch wide and 1 and 1/4 inch long. There was a lot of blood and bleeding would not stop. I decided not to clean all the blood before going to the hospital. Instead I got a napkin and held it at my naval letting it to collect all the blood. When I got to the emergency room, the napkin was soaked in blood and my entire chest was bright red, just like after the crash. It looked like a gunshot wound.

No one asked my for my ID, Social Security, a major credit card or anything. Admission time was about 30 seconds setting my second emergency room visit record. The other record is on the other end. It is a 7-hour emergency room wait after a major car crash in which two cars collided head on and were totaled.

Several stitches, internal and external. Plastic surgery is an option later. Time to go electric.

Terry Kirby · Post by **Terry Kirby** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 11:15 pm

That is total Gilmour style on the E room time. You are learning the ways of the Silver Fox well. Ask JG about the time back in the 80's when he got past the line at Studio 54 BEFORE Farah Fawcett, Andy Warhol and Truman Capote. Its all about the image.TK

Henry Julier · Post by **Henry Julier** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 5:22 am

Vlad, glad to hear you are ok, my bud Elisa took one on the chin @ the Gathering, it was gnarly.

Remember that at the speeds you are going, if you fall it could be all over. I don't want to see my slalom loverboy get hurt!

H

[ This Message was edited by: Henry Julier on 2003-07-27 23:25 ]

Wes Eastridge · Post by **Wes Eastridge** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 8:05 am

This was the gnarliest injury I’ve ever seen in person. It was right up there with pictures of drawn & quartered victims. When you imagine what it looked like after Qusay Saddam Hussein ordered someone to be executed by shredder, THAT’s what Vlad’s chin looked like. I’ll probably have nightmares about it.

Chris Eggers · Post by **Chris Eggers** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 8:37 am

Every skater over 25 has a chin scar.
Welcome to the club, Vlad.

Jeff Boswell · Post by **Jeff Boswell** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 7:09 pm

Get well soon Vlad.

Vlad Popov · Post by **Vlad Popov** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:01 pm

This was then. And this is now.
With a support from PlankkR I've gotten better psychologically pretty quick.
My mind is ready for the Farm. My shoulder isn't.

Rene Hayden · Post by **Rene Hayden** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:29 pm

hahaha!

I *knew* you were going to post a picture.

Yup, that's pretty much what Vlad looked like, except a lot bloodier and scraped up and in live, 3-D surround-sound gore-o-vision. Just like a mutant Russian radioactive hamburger.

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:41 am

"A study at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found skateboarding to be a relatively safe
sport (yet slalom skateboarding is lethal in many cases). There are likely to be fewer injuries if skateboarding is done off the streets and while
wearing safety gear (ollie endlessly in your basement with shin guards with futons all around you). "

and from another source-

"According to an article in the Illinois Telegraph, studies by the US Consumer Safety Commission have shown what many people have known for a long time: statistically, skateboarding is a relatively safe sport (read- "skate pathetically slowly"), and that "skateboard injury rates are lower than those of other youth-oriented sports (sports sampled included -sky surfing, bullfighting, rioting, Porcupine wrestling while naked) ."

In fact, the article goes on to quote Jeff Stassi, the director of Wood River Parks and Recreation in Illinois, as saying that some insurance carriers will tell cities that it is "no greater liability to have a skate park than the Aquatic Center." (unfortunately all such insurance carriers are in chapter 11 at this time)

The article goes on to say that "experts all over (Unfortunately there were no living slalom skateboarding experts available for comment) agree that skateboarding is a safe sport, especially when the appropriate safety gear is used. "

The article also states that out of the more than 10 million skateboarders in the US, about 15,000 Americans (and one Russian immigrant) are treated yearly for skateboard-related injuries, and that the most common injuries are sprains, fractures, contusions and abrasions, usually because of "accidental falls due to loss of balance", followed by "about half of all falls due to rough riding surfaces." (at FCR contests and half of the other serious falls involved high performance stiff wooden decks such as the PlankkR slalom decks and yet still another half of the falls never actually happened...but were written in to NCDSA.com Crashing forum for kicks) The reports goes on to imply that more attention be paid to the quality of the skate surfaces, noting that "small stones, sticks, bumps and holes in or on a riding surface are the leading cause of falls of experienced riders."

The article also notes that the average age of a skateboarder is between 13 and 14 (with some scattered misfits in their 30's and 40's), and that "underdeveloped motor coordination (Spastic Syndrome) is the main cause of falls to younger and less experienced riders." According to the article, "experts state the smaller the child, the higher the center of gravity, due to the larger proportion of their head to their body."

and finally http://www.bhcs.com/HealthNews/reuters/ ... 200217.htm

Hmmm...rail slide...to backside headslam to hospital- to late frontside grab (executed to nurse in hospital bed)

These articles say nothing though of slalom skateboarding. Though "Road Rash Quarterly" magazine may want to run a feature story on you.

John Gilmour on 2003-07-30 05:52 ]

[ This Message was edited by: John Gilmour on 2003-07-30 15:31 ]

John Dillon · Post by **John Dillon** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 7:41 pm

Vlad: Glad to hear you are OK! Bring my plankr to Da Farm if you can...das gut warstiener!

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 2:51 pm

You were missed at 'da farm 3.0 Wasn't the same this year without you and the Mrs.

What's the healing time ? Does this mean Dalv has more time to make decks?

Karl Floitgraf · Post by **Karl Floitgraf** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 8:56 pm

My favorite part of the article

"Her study found injuries requiring hospitalization were 11.4 times more likely to have occurred because of a collision with a motor vehicle, compared to injuries for which a person was treated and released"

Vald you got off easy.

Steve Prue · Post by **Steve Prue** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 11:29 pm

On 2003-07-26 21:40, Rene Hayden wrote:
Poor Vlad,

Well, lets just say that anyone who says tight slalom is for pussies better eat their words.

i have a broken collarbone to attest to the vicious struggle that is tight slalom...

get well soon - you gots to be purty for ECES.

cheers!
steve

Wes Eastridge · Post by **Wes Eastridge** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 11:31 pm

Have a safe trip in the old country, Vlad, and good luck. We missed you at Das Farm.

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