Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - first crash

riding down comm ave. today heading east.
light was green but people were crossing anyway
i go to blow through and avoid them like ususal but some guy walking a mountain bike walks in front of me.
i plow into him and go over my handlebars and land in front of a car that was also waiting for the people to get out of the intersection.
first fall ever, and it was kind of a confidence boost cause i was able to jump back up, fix my bike and keep riding.
my stem was super crooked (luckily i had my alan wrench in my bag) and there is some weird squeeking coming from my crank, i think, which i'll have checked out tomorrow.
it was really weird, it was all really calm in my head. like i saw the guy walk in front of me and i didnt panic or try to emergency stop or anything, just accepted that i was going to hit him and let it rip. i dunno. strangly reassuring though, i must say.
however, the thought of what would have happened had i been clipped in (on my other bike) does make me a little nervous about those clips.
anyway, just thought i'd share.

however, the thought of what would have happened had i been clipped in (on my other bike) does make me a little nervous about those clips.
anyway, just thought i'd share.

I don't think the outcome would have been any different (from someone who went over the bars and face planted while clipped in).

i was thrown pretty clear of the bike, when i got up i was 4-5 feet away from it, and i feel like it would have been much worse if i was clipped in. like legs tangled in the bike and what not? anyone had any experience crashing with clips?

Riding clipless I found that I disengaged from my bike when I got intimate with a minivan. A bit of sideways torsion and you're disengaged before you know it. I'm glad I wasn't riding with clips and straps - I'm still apprehensive even about trackstanding with both feet strapped in.
Good thing you're OK and got the bike rolling right away.

I think there might be confusion on the 2 pedal systems mentioned.

There is clipless and clipped. Clipless uses special pedals with cleats and shoes. Clipped uses pedals with toe clips, and straps, and any tupe of shoes works with this system.

I've never ridden with clipless pedals, but I have ridden (and crashed) extensively with clipped pedal systemsm both on road and off. I never ride with the straps so thight that I cannot get my feet out in an emergency. It takes some learning, but in panic situations, I can get my feet out with instinct. In crashes, my feet have twisted sideways in clipped pedals so that they come loose.

Ok this is embaresing for me to ask but Clipless?? I am old school and I use what we called Rat traps I slide my foot in and out of a cage I asume clips are the ones that attach to the bottom of your shoes

"rat traps" i assume are clips.
clipless are the ones that attach to the bottom of cycling shoes.

wish i could have been there to catch you in my arms and break your fall. :)

Glad you're allrite. I hope the guy you hit is ok, and that you apologized.

whoever named those things weren't thinking...clipless pedals are indeed the ones with clips, where as "clip" pedals are the metal or plastic things you put your toes it...nothing resembling a clip on it...

-jason

i don't think I had to point that out, but better to be too helpful than not enough so..

the guy i hit was fine and i certainly did not apologize. the light was green.

whoever named those things weren't thinking..

That's because they didn't have a Unified International Pedal Naming Committee. Toe clips came along and were differentiated from the old rubber blocks. All serious cyclists rode clips. That lasted for around 70 years when various companies created different mechanical linkages that attached the sole of the shoes directly to the pedal. This allowed us to get rid of the clips and voila, they're clipless.

As for the pedestrian thing, Mass General Law gives peds in a crosswalk the right of way at all times. To wit:


No driver of a vehicle shall pass any other vehicle which has stopped at a marked crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross, nor shall any such operator enter a marked crosswalk while a pedestrian is crossing or until there is a sufficient space beyond the crosswalk to accommodate the vehicle he is operating, notwithstanding that a traffic control signal may indicate that vehicles may proceed.

"or until there is sufficient space beyond the cross walk to accommodate the vehicle he is operating"
one of the beauties of the bicycle as opposed to the car is that said "space" is much smaller. i usually am able to time it well and people usually are not completely oblivious.
do you really stop at every crosswalk whenever a pedestrian is present?

I don't but that doesn't change my liability or legal responsibility.

The correct abridgement in your case would read something like, "no driver of a vehicle shall enter a marked crosswalk while a pedestrian is crossing." Full stop.

You're also not allowed enter if you can't fit on the other side, but that's beside the point here.

...i usually am able to time it well and people usually are not completely oblivious.
do you really stop at every crosswalk whenever a pedestrian is present?

Yes. A good reason to do so is that an oblivious cager may follow & go as well (seeing you go). Happens a good bit when cyclists run red lights.

Now if pedestrians "jump" rite out into the crosswalk, or street, without looking (and giving me reaction time)-that's a different story. Seems in the initial example, peds were allready in the crosswalk, so more would be expected.

people were about half way through the crosswalk, from the left, and i thought i could get through it before they reached the other side, obviously not. the guy didn't jump out, i just didn't see him until it was too late.
i pause at red lights, stop fully if cars are coming, and continue on when there is a break regardless of light color. i never fly through red lights.
i guess i'm defensive about this, because i feel like people think i was just being wreckless or that i have no idea what i'm doing, and i don't believe that to be the case at all.

it's actually kind of funny, cause the exact same thing happened to me about 4 years ago, only i was the pedestrian. i was on newbury and some biker was heading north on some cross street and i was crossing the intersection and just walked in front of him, totally not paying attention. i felt like an ass then, but i guess it was the biker's fault.

I think there might be confusion on the 2 pedal systems mentioned.

There is clipless and clipped. Clipless uses special pedals with cleats and shoes. Clipped uses pedals with toe clips, and straps, and any tupe of shoes works with this system.



You realize that people clip in and clip out of (or unclip from) clipless pedals- regardless of etymology, those terms are part of the clipless pedal lexicon.

The nice part of using clipless pedals is when you do go over the bars, your bike stays with you so you do't need to walk so far to get it. Also, providing you don't get run over by a bus, neither will your bike. And, if you just go down (no acrobatics involved), you can use the skin on your legs and arms to protect your bike.

As everyone knows, bodies heal, but bikes don't!

i guess it was the biker's fault.

I'm not trying to get on your case, I'm just saying that you're not as entitled as you might think. In both cases, the cyclist was "at fault" which is not necessarily the same thing as who actually was being more of a jerk. I know I hate it when I'm spinning along or boosting to make my light in time and people are filling the crosswalk against the signal. The worst is when they make direct eye contact and go anyhow. I will play chicken with those people if that's what they want to do. F that.

i understand.
no hard feelings.

the guy i hit was fine and i certainly did not apologize. the light was green.

I once cut off and crashed into a guy. We were both fine (a little blood), and our bikes were fine. I apologized profusely, and as he was riding away, I realized: he was riding the wrong way down a busy three-lane street, coming over a hill. What the hell?I can't expect random two-way traffic on a one way. And I certainly didn't owe him an apology.

It's actually one of my pet peeves: we have a lot of one-ways in downtown Madison, and lazy / unaware bicyclists will travel any direction they like on 'em. Gets hairy in heavy traffic when you're expecting a straight shot down Johnson in the bike lane...then some college dude on a Magna with no lights appears out of nowhere, truckin' up the hill. Sometimes you can't find a gap in the auto lane in time to avoid 'em. So, yeah, I wish people wouldn't do that.

What is this the advocacy and safety forum? Cut it out guys or I'm going to start talking about suing people. :D