Northern California - B ride crash

I was out on the AV B ride yesterday cranking up one of the hills on Portola Valley Road when my left crankarm snapped in half. The resulting crash left me a bit dazed and confused, but the AV folks helped me get to the side of the road and made sure I had someone coming to pick me up before continuing on the ride.

Thanks to all of those folks (I was in no condition to collect names) who made sure I was going to be all right!

The aftermath: 1 broken crankarm, 1 broken helmet, a bit of road rash on my knee, and some very sore ribs.

and the really annoying part is that this was the first time I've gone on the B ride where I was able to keep up with the group on the hills (although we hadn't gotten to OLH yet).

Curses! :)

What kind of cranks were you using?

You didn't miss much, though, as we cut the ride short. We rode up OLH but the weather didn't look too promising on the other side so we didn't do the WOLH part. It was raining on Skyline (which wasn't so bad when climbing) and d@mn near froze on the descent. The descent on 84E was a bit tricky (had to take the turns slower than normal). Ended up pretty much heading back to Peet's via Tripp/Kings Mountain/Woodside Maze and trying to stay warm.

I was out on the AV B ride yesterday cranking up one of the hills on Portola Valley Road when my left crankarm snapped in half. The resulting crash left me a bit dazed and confused, but the AV folks helped me get to the side of the road and made sure I had someone coming to pick me up before continuing on the ride.

Thanks to all of those folks (I was in no condition to collect names) who made sure I was going to be all right!

The aftermath: 1 broken crankarm, 1 broken helmet, a bit of road rash on my knee, and some very sore ribs.


Glad to hear you are ok.
How long is the B ride and what kind of pace do they ride at?

SteveE - they were Ritchey WCS Compact cranks, I have had them about 8 months. I've emailed Ritchey to see what they can do for me.

BigSean - The B ride is usually 40-50 miles, and it leaves out of downtown Los Altos at 9am Saturday. It's a great group ride to go on. More information about it can be found at http://www.altovelo.org.

SteveE - they were Ritchey WCS Compact cranks, I have had them about 8 months. I've emailed Ritchey to see what they can do for me.

BigSean - The B ride is usually 40-50 miles, and it leaves out of downtown Los Altos at 9am Saturday. It's a great group ride to go on. More information about it can be found at http://www.altovelo.org.
Where does ritchey make their parts? Only reason I ask is so I can make a joke about "cheap poorly made Chinese parts" vs "Quality parts from good old USA." :D

Glad you are okay. Too much power for those Ritchey cranks.:)

More like too much weight (I'm 250), but strangely they don't have any sort of posted rider weight limit.

Found this gem on the Ritchey website:



Cold forged design focuses strength at the high stress pedal and BB interfaces, while removing extra weight from the lower stress center of the arms.


Gee, mine seems to have snapped right on that "lower stress" center of the arm.

I've spoken to Ritchey's warranty folks and they've indicated that they're going to send me a replacement arm - only replacing the one part that broke. I'm a little disappointed that they weren't willing to send me a new crankset since I don't trust the other side. Ah well, such is life.

More like too much weight (I'm 250), but strangely they don't have any sort of posted rider weight limit.

Your personal weight should have nothing to do with a crank arm. Someone lighter than me can put more force on them.
Did someone wait behind with you until you were picked up?

The folks on the ride included an EMT and a doctor, so they checked me out and made sure I was all right. A fire truck also happened to be driving by, so they also stopped and checked me out to make sure I was OK.