Rope burns

I went climbing today, halfway up a route I started falling and ended up instinctively grabbing the rope on my way down and got a nasty rope burn. I'm guessing I'm not the only one to have done this, any stories?

No stories, but I am guessing you learned a lesson. Not a good idea to grab anything. Learn to relax and position your body in order to prepare for or avoid hitting things. It takes practice but you can train yourself to feel comfortable falling which will allow you to climb more relaxed and thus more efficiently which will lead to more success. Good luck.

Top-roping?

no I was leading, I think the last bolt I clipped was a little below my waist and my belayer was a little slow reacting to it, so I fell a lot farther than I should have

Your belayer gave you a dynamic catch? Weird

Couple of decades ago was climbing the 'Burn' at Seneca Rocks, WV, with a buddy when he fell while trying to place a piece. He got the rope wrapped around his upper arm and sustained a nasty rope burn, he still has the scar.

My latest rope burn was on Bullet the Brown Cloud at North Table. Tried the route a little differently by trying to stay on the arete. Foot popped just as I was making the clip and got a rope burn on my thumb.

Careful trying to grab the rope or trying to grab anything while falling, some nasty things can happen, better to get your hands in front of you for the swing back into the rock.