Creakyknees

And re: the OP and poll... some of us old guys have been doing this a long time... I can't even remember all the times I've crashed, fallen, or executed an uplanned rapid dismount. And if you include MTB in scope... well...

But in general I feel safest solo or with my regular buds. Even a typical race I feel reasonably ok. But bike shop rides, local hammerfests, and rallies are the scary parts.

urbanknight

Well yeah, crashing is just a way of life in MTB. As for the age, is it that you are seriously accident prone or your memory is starting to slip in your golden years? You don't have to answer that

jmp66

1st crash in 4 years of racing at harlem crit 2 weeks ago. minimal damage to bike but wasn't rideable at the time. very sore shoulder and ribs. crashing sucks.

sojourn

5+ on my MTB but only 1 on my road bike. Nastiest one was on my MTB last July, fell and punched a hole in my thigh with the brake lever; thank God I just missed the femoral artery.
The next nasty one was on my NEW CF road bike last December. I remember a car coming into the bike lane, as I slowed to avoid rear ending the car, I got too close to a 15" curb and next thing I know, I'm standing on the sidewalk with a bunch of young folks asking me if I was ok. Lots of fun!

nickthaquick1

damn...

Frunkin

3 times this year. Cat 4/5.
Most recent crash a guy clipped a pedal through the last turn of a Superweek Race. He was the first guy through the corner, and he ended up taking 8 people out. I knew I had to be inside through the turn, but I obviously wasn't inside enough. Chalk it up as a learning experience. STAY INSIDE!!

Brian Ratliff

I've got an update. I originally put down "1 time in a race". Make it twice now. Last Friday I hit the deck after someone fell in front of me on the track. Broke another helmet, but at least this time there was no ER visit. Roadrash and a handful of minutes of memory loss, but the helmet did it's job well.

CastIron

Does turtling at a busy intersection on a group ride because you forgot to clip-out count? If so, add one more to my tally.

shapelike

I have bad hips to begin with.

At last year's cyclocross provincials I crashed twice on the same hip and it was actually crunching through its range of motion. Aside from the seering pain the sensation of the joint grinding was revolting. I basically had to hop back to the car after I crossed the line because that leg was useless (also, remounting after barriers was not pleasant).

Earlier on this season I was on the maiden ride with my new singlespeed mountain bike. I was coming up to a "whoop" in the trail that dropped down to a lazy downhill on the other side where I knew I could get a lot of speed. I got out of the saddle to sprint over the little rise in the trail and juuust as I crested the top of it I flexed the chain off the stock cog (which turned out to be a POS stamped cog from a 6speed cassette or something) and launched myself over the bars, head over heals down the trail and off into the bushes. Bike and rider were both fine but it was like I hit the ejection seat button on that one - just gone and off into the air.

This season's count: 3 honest-to-goodness "I ate ****" crashes, all offroad (I don't race road). I expect the crash count will increase by an order of magnitude as soon as 'cross season begins.

urbanknight

Only because there were other riders around to see it. (j/k)

But seriously, no, otherwise almost everybody here would have to add at least one to their tally.

brian416

Just once while racing for me. I got caught up in a 10 rider pileup 1/4 mile from the finish. A rider's bike tumbled in front of me and I couldn't avoid it.

OCshark

My coach said it best to me: There are those that have crashed, and those who haven't will.

MrCrassic 

Crashes; I've had them.

FIRST: June 2007, I was rushing back to university, trying to deliver a report that was due that day. A driver hesitates at making a left-handed turn, stops right as I'm coming and I hit him at the front. I fly right into his windshield, shattering it completely. No major damage to me (just an abrasion), but my frame was totaled. Which was a good thing because the frame itself was pretty ugly, and I got my current bike out of it.

SECOND: October 2007 (?): Driver rear-ends me while I'm commuting to work. Permanently destroyed rear wheel, but no damage to me or the frame.

THIRD: March 2008 (?): I was riding back home at night, with no lights, and a driver makes a left handed turn. I just barely hit his car, but I went down. He was actually really nice about it and recommended that I get lights. Great tip; have lights and always use them.

FOURTH: April 2008 (?): Climbing up the Brooklyn Bridge, the pavement was wet and I was riding with a tire in pretty bad condition. The rear wheel skids, and I go down. A few cuts and scrapes here and there, but my laptop screen was done for. No damage to the frame.

FIFTH: June 2008: Commuting back home from work, I make a turn at 15 mph. Not looking at what's in front of me, I look up to the rear of a Honda Civic. ZERO time to react, so I just let it happen. Head goes right through the rear windshield. Helmet was dinged up, so I guess it saved me a couple of cuts. Apparently, my dad (who was a surgeon and a doctor) says that I was VERY close to puncturing a main nerve on my neck that would have caused some VERY serious bleeding (i.e. likely hemorrhage). Lots of abrasions and cuts, plus a cracked front tooth (fixed with dental polymer).

My front brake caliper doesn't work correctly, and somehow my rear wheel lost tension on a spoke (and eventually came off). Surprisingly, no damage to my front wheel.

SIXTH: I was JUST coming from a bike shop with my new headset and a pretty pricey tune up (because of the headset and some other part replacements). Riding to my job, a messenger was in the way, and as I was turning to avoid him, he kept going. We collided, and I had to take my bike straight back to the shop (REALLY long lunch break. No wonder management was pissed at me?).

SEVENTH: Coming down a stretch at 20+ mph, and this guy comes out about to cross the street. My face collided with his shoulder, and I just SMOOTHLY came off the bike (I was taken off my bike, but landed on my feet and walked it out). He was somehow really cool about it.

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DannoXYZ 

I've had way too many crashes to have kept count. One of my most memorable ones was when I was 9-years old. We lived near the top of a hill and of the neighbor kids had set up a little ramp using a piece of wood over a cinder-block. I got up to speed down the hill and hit that ramp pretty hard. Not sure what happened, but I probably leaned back thinking I was gonna fly. Well, the bike flew alright and I feel on my ass! Had that awful metal taste in my mouth and I was walking like an old man for a week or so.

Tonnes of crashes in training. One of my teammates and I had a training course on campus to practice pedaling and cornering at the limits. Basically it was a figure-8 course around two planter-boxes that were about 40-ft apart. We'd start on opposite ends of the course and the game was to catch the other guy. Gotta have fast reflexes when you cross at the middle of the figure-8 to not hit the other guy. We'd get the hang of pedaling continuously through the corners while clipping the pedals. Sometimes you'd dig in the pedals a little too far and end up with a low-side or high-side crash.

One time coming back from the pubs, we tried another game, trying to shove the other guy off his bike. So we started slamming into each other and trying to get an elbow under the other guy's armpits to lift him off his bike. We went around a corner and was leaning into each really hard. And we started drifting apart while leaning over, leaning over more and more... Finally coasted to a stop about 5-ft apart and leaning over at about 45-50 degrees... then plop! Not sure if that was considered a crash, but flesh hit the ground, so I think it counts.

hollow

Three crashes all in my first year of racing, 2006

1st - In my first ever race...52 mile road race, 15 miles in...squirrelly (go figure, Cat 5) rider in front of me slowed and swerved and took my front wheel out. Went over the front, have beautifully disgusting knee scar to show for it. Finished the race.

2nd - Crit a week later, 6 of us in a break, I was in 4th wheel going into the second last corner, guy in front of me loses his rear wheel. I chose to hit the curb rather than run over him.

3rd - Ride/race with my team. I broke away, hit some oil during a turn through an intersection, laid the bike down, easiest of my crashes.

Haven't crashed since. And my "delicate" Cannondale CAAD8 frame only has a slight scratch from all of the incidents.