As I write this I am sitting up in bed recovering from breaking my leg and the surgery that followed.
The weekend before last I took my new recumbent bike out for my third ride on it. (I have been riding mountain bikes and road bikes for about 4 years.) It had been raining for the previous 3 days, and the rain finally broke. I checked the radar on the weather channel and figured I had a good two hours to ride before it rained again.
I was riding a familiar paved bike path. In a curve that I have ridden many times the bike started to slip from underneath me. But I recovered without crashing. I wondered at the time whether or not it was because the ground was wet or if the EZ-1 SC Lite was not as stable as the other bikes I have ridden. I decided to be careful and continue on my route.
I was heading down the path, and it was straight, when I hit a bump in the road that caused my water bottles to jump out of their cages. I quickly hit both brakes and that is when I lost control of the bike. I was probably going about 14 mph when I attempted to brake. I pulled out of my clipless pedals and went down on my left side. I tried to stop my fall with my left foot, which got pulled underneath me and I landed on top of it.
At first I thought I had sprained it. But when I pulled it out from underneath me I could see that it was pointed in the wrong direction and that it was at least dislocated. Fortunately, I had my cell phone with me. I always carry it with me when I am on my bike, especially when I am going to be riding alone.
I have run the whole thing through my head over and over, trying to decide if the same thing would have happened if I had been on one of my other bikes. I just don’t know. I’m wondering if there are special safety consideration that have to be taken into account when riding a recumbent?
I wonder if the long wheel base recumbents are stable?
I wonder if I should have had some special training to handle crashes better?
I wonder if the same thing would have happened on one of my other bikes?
I’m ready to take a *crash* course in bike safety if there is one. Because I want to keep on riding when the leg heals.
Ride safe….