Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Best ever crash stories

Spurred on as I often am by the immortal words of Captain Lance Murdoch - Bones heal. Chicks dig scars. - I thought we might compare bumps, bruises, breaks, and general tales of carnage.

My 'best' story was about 3 years ago, on the office outing. 8 of us in a gentle pedal through the forests up around the Rhine. We started down a gravel track with a slight incline, which then went round a corner and turned into a gnarly plunge. By this time the combined forces of gravity, kinetic energy, adrenaline and sheer downright muppetry meant that braking wasn't really an option so I charged on down.

At the bottom of the hill the track went back onto tarmac, and I kinda took my eye off the road. With the enivitable result that I skidded on some damp leaves and mud, and my eye hit the road. As braking methods go, #51 'Using the face' is very effective - 40kmh to 0 in a matter of yards - but it does have one or two drawbacks. And to compound matters the clip-on sun-visor on my helmet came off and gashed open my eyebrow.

Being stuck out in the sticks, there was nothing else for it other than to straighten the handlebars, hold on with the one good remaining hand and pedal like hell to the nearest docs before the adrenalin effect wore off. That's when the fun really started. I walked into the doctor's surgery in full cycling gear, covered in mud and blood and with half a forest sticking out of my left eyebrow and the receptionist asked 'What's wrong with you'. 'Ingrown toenail' - I replied. Fortunately she took pity on me and called the doctor anyway.

I was ushered into the surgery where this wee 70-year-old country doc was sitting there, a man who in his career has probably seen all sorts of wierd and wonderful sights and is unlikely to be phased by anything.

"There's good news and bad news" he said, taking out a spoon-like implement
"What's the bad news?"
"I'm going to have to clear all that crud out of your eye and it's going to hurt like hell"
"Fine, what's the good news?"
"I won't feel a thing"

Ah, the caring bedside manner of the Swiss medical fraternity. How we laughed. And he was true to his word, it did hurt like hell. Then came the next bit of banter.

"There's good news and bad news again"
"What's the bad news?", I said with a due sense of foreboding
"I'm going to have to sterlise the wound with iodine, and that's gonna hurt even worse"
"Great, what's the good news?"
"We're out in the sticks, you can scream all you want, no one will hear you"

and scream I did :D

and the worst thing of all is - the 5-stitch scar is actually under my left eyebrow, so I don't even have a scar to impress the chicks.

OK, Hoosier National Forest:

I got off the trail onto an "outlaw" trail....missed the trail marker, wound up doing a drop onto a 70º slope, and was in the process of sticking it, just fine......except for that pesky tree! I smacked into a branch at diaphragm height and scooped off the bike! I kinda hung over the branch and tried to breath, rolled off the branch and on down the hill, and at the bottom were two little rubber people( Children), saying "Doooooooooooooood! That was a gnarly crash!":eek: :p

i'm quite good at the whole crashing thing, i kinda learnt how to fall when i was a wean so i've learned how to roll and get back up on my feet as soon as. which has helped me no end it has to be said.

my last fall, which was yesterday and my m8 got on camera was hilarious(not got the vid myself yet), nothing too bad, making our way back from rowardennen we decided balloch train station was the closest to get to via a mixture of singletrack, roads, some fields and muddy LR track, so we come to this wee burn/river about 4 mibbe 5m wide, easy enough to cycle through slowly, which i did, but i then decided i could jump it, so i told my m8 to get his camera out and film it, so i duely starts peddling towards this burn and tries to jump it, wheels hit the water and i go flying, good thing was i did clear the burn, whist rolling with the bike boucing on top of me, i got up laughing, was hilarious.

last fall before that, was the day before on saturday, trying to down conic hill, i was sure there'd be some sort of track down that thing, big mistake, manage to cycle down about 2/3s of it at most, but about a 1/5 the way down the terrain got really wild, i duely bounce off one rock, and fly over the handle bars and land on my head, again known you should roll and try to get back on yer feet quickly saved me from any major damage, all got from that was a banged elbow and ankle, just as well i got myself a helmet a month ago for the first time tho, that kinda save me from what would have been a nasty injury!!!

20+ mph going into a right turn during a tri near Toledo, OH. Non-ITU sponsored, and the volunteer course judges from the VFW aren't pulling the tire-leech behind me for drafting. He misjudged the turn, I slid on some gravel and we bumped wheels.

I saw pavement, tires and sky at the same time, then pavement again.

According to one observer, I went about 25' from launch to landing. I landed on my right shoulder and back of my head. My helmet exploded on impact (as it should have) and the bike came unclipped after that first hit back to the ground. I bounced once and then skidded to a stop.
Skid stopping with your body is a bad idea. Especially when you're only wearing a helmet, a speedo and shoes. My suit ripped and came off, and I'm thankful that one of the sideliners had the decency to pick it up and cover up my junk as I lay there bleeding and waiting for the ambulance.
I ended up with 9 stitches and burn-dressings from my shoulder to my knee on the right side to cover the parts of me that looked like I fought with a cheese grater and lost.


My most painful wreck wasn't that one. It was far more embarrassing...
Gentle off-road downhill. Out for a ride with a girl I was trying to impress. Bunnyhop a medium sized stump, misjudge the height and tag it with my back wheel which pops the bike up and the seat smacks me right in the nards. :eek: OOF! Landed, stopped, and then had to explain why I needed a 5 minute break. Girl was A) not impressed, and B) not sympathetic. :(

Unfoutunately, one of my best get-offs had zero witnesses.

We were vactioning in Boone, NC (home to Lance & Bobke's training ride) and I had rented a full suspension MB for the week. This was early summer, before the ski slopes (and lifts) at Sugar Loaf mountain had opened up for MTB fans, so I was riding unmowed ski slopes downhill. Well, shoot, I've never snow skied and never downhilled ski slopes before either, so I did not know about the water courses across the slope.

The first one caught me totally by suprise. I was doing what felt like about Mach 0.7 when I spotted it. I grabbed brakes, then tried to turn parallel to the ditch. My front wheel started to wash out, slipped & then caught. This resulted in me being thrown off the bike, over the ditch, to land rolling on the far side. I must have rolled 50 feet downslope before I stopped, bouncing to my feet. No damage, but the Russian judge only gave me a 7.2.

Spurred on as I often am by the immortal words of Captain Lance Murdoch - Bones heal. Chicks dig scars. - I thought we might compare bumps, bruises, breaks, and general tales of carnage.



Unless you happen to be married to them...then chicks just laugh at your pain! "I married this idiot and wanted him to be the father of my children...what was I thinking?!"

Best wreck involving a pedestrian: I was in downtown Denver on 17th St. duking it out with the idiot drivers. I was moving as fast as they were...around 20 mph...and I rounded the corner at 17th and California at a good clip. I saw a group of women on the left of me across the road and then I saw movement on my right. I heard her yell at her friends and saw her raise her hand to signal them just as she jetted out from between two cars and threw a body check on me that any NHL enforcer would be proud of! Down I went with her on top of me grinding my leg into the pavement. She hadn't touched the ground. She bounded up and asked "Are you okay?" I said I thought so and off she ran to catch her friends...without even a rip in her nylons. My leg and arm were bleeding from the road rash and my crank was bent but at least her nylons were just fine:mad:

The single crash with an automobile, thankfully: I was flying down Colfax Ave (a major street in the Denver area) on my way to class. It's downhill and very fast and I was flying! At Oak St., I saw the guy at the light turning left across my path but I had the green and thought he saw me.

He didn't. Next thing I know, there was a white car in front of me and no where to go. I smacked his passenger side quarter panel at the wheel and came off the bike, sliding across his hood. I yelled "Oh *****!" at the same he did and then saw dark, then light, and came to rest sitting up facing the way I was headed. My handlebar bag made an awful racket as it slide under the car waiting at the light on Oak.

I looked down at my left leg and noticed that I wasn't wearing that shoe (it later returned home in the toeclip of the bike). Then I looked at my right leg and noticed hamburger where my knee should have been. Curiously, it didn't hurt (I had severed the nerve and still can't feel anything there). People started running up and asked if I was alright, then turned kind of green and asked what they could do. I got a wonderful scar, an unfeeling knee, a new bike and about $1000 out of it.

Best mountain bike jumping accident:

I went for a morning ride at the Mathews-Winters Open Space before going to work. On the way back to the car, I took the high trail which drops quickly to the parking lot. It had lots of really good water checks that you could get good air off of and I was doing well until the last one. On that one I gave a mighty heave as I launched into the air and noticed, rather curiously, that my right hand was floating about 4" above the bar. As I flew through the air, I remember thinking rather calmly, "This is bad." . And then I hit the ground. This is the only accident where I don't remember the impact but I remember coming to looking straight up as a cloud of dust floated over me and thinking "That was a cool crash. Wish I'd had a video camera." I drove to work, took a shower and realized that my eyes weren't tracking right. Got a concussion out of that one.

ive had a few crashes. none really terrible harmful.

i've always been into Bmx and jumping bikes, anyways; i was at my local state park and there was a big step up, about 12 feet long and 3 feet up and in front of the step up is a real steep section of hill about 35 feet long used by the bmx'ers to get speed. ive done it before on my 20 inch but i wanted to try it on my friends full suspension bike. anyways i get a decent amount of speed for it, head down the hill for the little last few pedals and the bike lifts off the ground for a little bit. that was fine and it hit the bottom of the hill and front tire slid a little bit so i corrected and went about 4 feet off of the trail and hit a tree. Ruptured my spleen and took 2 weeks off of school.

Over-shot a 16 footer and landed on my bike. 8 stitches in the leg. after it closed up it started to get greenish yellow and hurt a lot more. headed back to the doctor and they cut open the softball size ball i had on the front of my shin. he spent the next hour cleaning out the greenish sand colored puss that was inside my wound. all the nerves died in that area so i never needed anthestetic. it felt like it was supposed to hurt but it didnt.

actually just stuck this up, you can see where i fell head first, about 3/4 of the pics in there's one looking back up the hill from where we just came over the left(as you look at the hill) shoulder, next pic after it is looking downhill to loch lomond where the path descends into complete mentalness for a bit and ye have to walk a bit, then there's another bit you can cycle not long before you come to some stairs about 30 of un cycleable, welll beat me anyhow, then there's over a fence a few more stairs and easy we forest jaunt, like a minute into the carpark at balmaha..

http://ardri.150m.com/startwhw/index.html

Story #1. This one took place approx. 35 years ago...

I was riding my bike into town along the right side of the road and had almost meet the main drag when I heard a car approaching behind me (a VW bug). Realizing the car wasn't moving towards the center of the road, and not feeling brave enough to assert my right-of-way, I decided to use one of the driveway openings to pop up onto sidewalk and avoid a potentially tight situation.

Unfortunately, this is where theory and reality parted company:

1. The sidewalk had been built long before the road and there was a small 1/4 - 1/2" vertical gap between the driveway opening and the road surface.

2. The driveway apron opened up onto an empty lot (i.e., no day-to-day use), so a collection of fine gravel and dust had built up in this gap.

3. Given that I was already riding on the far right-hand side of the road meant that I hit the driveway at a VERY small angle.

The next thing I know my front tire is sliding on the gravel and down I go...right onto the apron. The next thing I see is the car go by (in fact, it didn't even slow down). It was then that I noticed that five or six teeth of my front chainring were embedded in my right calf and it had been quite some time since I cleaned my chain (i.e., they were very, very greasy/dirty). :eek:

I looked around, but there was no help. So I gently removed my calf from my chainring, stood up, and ripped the front pocket out of my cutoffs (people didn't wear "shorts" in those days) and wrapped it around my leg. I looked around again for a police car/sympathetic motorist/ambulance, but none was to be seen. So I hopped on my bike and started off to the hospital about 3-4 miles away.

Upon reaching the hospital, I had no idea where to go (hey, I didn't have a driver's license yet!), so I walked into the front entrance and up to the front desk to ask for instructions. What I didn't realize is that my little bandage, while effective in keeping the wound closed, wasn't checking the flow of blood (not too surprising as I had just ridden hard for several miles), which had now crept down my leg, into my shoe and was leaving a little spotted trail wherever I went. The front clerk took one look at me -- with very large eyes -- and pointed me in the direction of the emergency room.

Less than a minute later I was standing outside the reception desk at the emergency room door, facing a small window-like opening. Well, the attendent on duty was busy collecting a bunch of information from someone already inside (name, address, phone number, etc., etc., etc.), so I patiently waited there for her to finish up. And sure enough, the trickle of blood had kept up and had now formed a small pool (~1") of blood beside my right shoe.

The next thing I see out of the corner of my eye is an emergency room attendent walk out into the hallway. To my surprise he took one look at me, turned on his heels and ran back into the emergency room. I thought to myself, "now we'll get some action" and sure enough, less than 15 seconds later he ran out pushing a wheelchair, almost threw me into it and raced back into one of the operating "rooms".

The good news is that although it required some careful cleaning and between 6-12 stitches, it did heal fairly well.

OK, Hoosier National Forest:

I got off the trail onto an "outlaw" trail....missed the trail marker, wound up doing a drop onto a 70º slope, and was in the process of sticking it, just fine......except for that pesky tree! I smacked into a branch at diaphragm height and scooped off the bike! I kinda hung over the branch and tried to breath, rolled off the branch and on down the hill, and at the bottom were two little rubber people( Children), saying "Doooooooooooooood! That was a gnarly crash!":eek: :p


You were lucky. I watched this real life tv show filmed in an emergency room and they brought in this guy who had a freak accident and had a big tree limb, maybe 6 inch diameter, stuck right straight through his neck, and he was fully conscious. they interviewed the emergency room doc in another room and he allowed that he didn't have a clue what the hell to do, but he had to act like he pulled big tree limbs out of guys' necks every day of the week, like no problem, dude, nothing to worry about, just stay calm. The amazing thing was that they removed the branch and the guy fully recovered.

Story #2....about 4 years ago.

After many years away, I decided to start riding again after many years away and set a goal for myself of completing my first century at the end of the summer.

Well, I'm on my first 30+ mile ride and have just started back when I run head-long into another cyclist while navigating around a large brick planter in the middle of the sidewalk. The good news is that we're only doing 5-10 miles an hour when we first saw each other and that he was able to stop. The bad news is that I was clipped in and standing on top of my pedals. As we neared each other I put out my hands to slow the impact. This, in turn, meant that as we collided at about 30 degrees to each other, my center of gravity passed over my front wheel....

The next thing I see is a blur as me and my bike flip over and I land, with a thud, on the sidewalk below. It was then that I realized that my left shoulder area was not okay. Luckily, the other cyclist is fine (in fact, as far as I could tell, he didn't have a scratch). Cell phones pop out and the ambulance is called.

The next thing I see is the police show up and start asking me if I'd gotten the license plate of the car that had hit me. It was with some embarrasment that I confided that no car had been involved in my accident, just two bicyclists (and he had already taken off).

Next on the scene was the ambulance. It was at this point that the police wanted to know where my car was (so they could secure the bike) and weren't too pleased when I pointed south and replied, "13 miles that way." "Well sir", they replied, "we don't want to leave it here (it was practically brand new) and we can't take it with us, it won't fit in our trunk!" Luckily for me, the kind fire-fighters agreed to put it on their fire engine and follow the ambulance to the hospital.

Well, we get to the hospital and the nurse/attendent takes one look at me and asks, "what happened?" Needless to say I'm lying on the stretcher in full bicycling attire (jersey, padded shorts, bike shoes, gloves and my helmet tucked under my good arm). I look at the ambulance worker, who quickly surpresses a snicker, and with great restraint (a million and one smart quips on my lips) simply say, "bicycling accident".

Well, the kind firefighters off-load my bicycle and give it to the hospital security guard for safe keeping. You know the type....thick glasses, overweight, no real prestige...but now he had a mission! He walks up to my gurney and proudly (but quietly) announces that he has my bike and won't let anyone touch it without my permission! I smile and thank him, all the time wondering where the nurse was at with the "good stuff" to cut the pain.

Well, I call my wife and friend and explain the situation. About that time the nurses take me back for xrays. About 30 minutes later I was told that I was free to go since I had broken my left collarbone and there was nothing they could do for me other than give me an arm sling. It was about then that I looked up and saw my wife come into the room....followed by my friend....followed by the guard. After I told my wife the news the guard walked up and asked if it was okay to turn over the bike to my friend. I told him it was okay and off he went. It was only later that I learned that my friend (& riding partner) had tried to get the bike, but had been told empatically by the guard that he needed to check with me first!

The break(s) never did fully heal -- I have what is described as a "fibrous union" -- but still ride regularly to this day.

As a 3 year old, manage to get my trike out onto the road, straight downhill, hit the kerb, missed the wall, landed 12 ft down the otherside.......

As a 5 year old playing in the summer sun, wearing a pair of swimming trunks, lost control and landed on loose gravel which was sitting on tar, so I had minor puncture wounds from head to toe.

As a 16 yr old coming down a good steep in heavy rain, no waterproof clothes or glasses, loked up roads clear head down, look up roads clear, head down ..... smash. A guy had turned right, an old lady with one of those bags with wheels was blocking his route so he blocked mine, so I went straight through the passenger window. My dad thought I was just messing around due to the rain and wouldnt come and collect me......

My best crash is on my Blog, it was last year, in fact the 1 year anniversary is coming up, I need to write an update, if you go to my blog you will find the whole story, complete with pictures of blood and gore. You can read the full details there... I'll summarize here, though.

So I ride along a paved road that goes across the dam for a reservour, at the end a path takes off to the right, the path goes sharply up, so I don't want to lose speed, I cut the entrance a little early, and discover that hiding in the grass is a ditch, it's about 12cm wide and just as deep, this grabs the front wheel of the bike, and I do a header over the bars. I land on an angle, sufficient that the right side of my face is banged up, and my left shoulder took an impact. Amazingly nothing was broken, but I did manage to strain the nerves that go through my shoulder. This is mostly healed now, but I still have a little numbness in one finger, and a couple of small scars on my face. I lost two months of bike time, and it was a month before I could do regular duties at work again.

The best one I was involved with I was walking. There was a large group of people walking across an intersection in NYC and this guy on a bike comes barrelling through the intersection (probably over 20 mph) in full kit. I saw him at the last minute, and could only duck a little bit. He slammed into me full force, the bike stopped and he flew over me and landed in front of two cops. I was pissed that he was so careless but the only thing I could muster was, "Man, I bet that hurt, huh?" and kept walking. The two cops were amazed that I was fine, I overheard one of them say something like, "That guy should have been knocked out cold!"

What can I say, the Clyde advantage? :D

You were lucky. I watched this real life tv show filmed in an emergency room and they brought in this guy who had a freak accident and had a big tree limb, maybe 6 inch diameter, stuck right straight through his neck, and he was fully conscious. they interviewed the emergency room doc in another room and he allowed that he didn't have a clue what the hell to do, but he had to act like he pulled big tree limbs out of guys' necks every day of the week, like no problem, dude, nothing to worry about, just stay calm. The amazing thing was that they removed the branch and the guy fully recovered.
I just had the wind knocked out of me, it was a clothesline impact.:(

some classic stories here :D

the other thread about SPDs reminded me of my most embarrassing crash ever. The first day I ever tried riding with clipless pedals. Spent all afternoon round at a mates getting them set up right and practising getting in and out. No problem at all. Cycled back home. At the time I lived right in the centre of Zurich, on one of the busiest streets. Major crossroads, traffic light at red. I pulled up at the side of the road, next to a bus full of commuters. I then had a major brainfart - for some unknown reason, I clicked out my left foot and then tried to stand on my right leg. Yep, it looked as stupid as it sounds. :o

some classic stories here :D

the other thread about SPDs reminded me of my most embarrassing crash ever. The first day I ever tried riding with clipless pedals. Spent all afternoon round at a mates getting them set up right and practising getting in and out. No problem at all. Cycled back home. At the time I lived right in the centre of Zurich, on one of the busiest streets. Major crossroads, traffic light at red. I pulled up at the side of the road, next to a bus full of commuters. I then had a major brainfart - for some unknown reason, I clicked out my left foot and then tried to stand on my right leg. Yep, it looked as stupid as it sounds. :o

This reminds me of a great crash story, that fortunately I was only witness to. My buddy and I were out on a nice singletrack trail above the local college, his first time out with SPDs. He had practiced clipping out several times before we hit the trail, but you know how these things go. We were negotiating a particularly tight section, and he stopped to take stock. Of course he forgot to clip out until he was already falling over to the downhill side. He tumbled a$$ over teakettle until finally coming to rest just a few feet shy of a large patch of prickly pear cactus. Once we both realized he was OK, I fell over in the dust laughing until I could gather myself enough to help him drag his bike back up the hill.

I myself experienced the classic 'stop at light, can't clip out in time, fall over to the side in a crowded intersection' story. :D

Jim

15 years old, going down a set of stairs out on a trail, assembled of 2x4's and spaced fairly wide apart, I locked up the front brake, went over the bars without twisting to the side, and landed flat on my back. No injuries and no witnesses to back up the story.

A few months ago, trying to hop up a curb, hit the curb with the front wheel and went right over the bars. Knee got scraped up quite a bit but the bike was ok.

here's the vid of my last crash btw! piss poor attempt at trying to jump that burn!:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozY_RtR7S1A

here's the vid of my last crash btw! piss poor attempt at trying to jump that burn!:D

belter! :D

you needed a wee ramp to get you going

I had a good one today... but I landed in a bush so not too exciting. I did break my first frame though.

My absolute best crash was with a car.... about 4 days before I graduated high school.
I was biking down Central Ave. in Great Falls, MT going to my dad's bike shop. I was going on and off the sidewalk doing bunnyhops and enjoying the late spring weather. A car didn't see me come off of the sidewalk and pulled out right in front of me... I thought he saw me. I smacked his hood going about 20 mph and flew about 7-8 feet past his car. Totally my fault but ended up with about $600 worth of damage to my bike, and a cracked helmet. The car ended up taking off... not that it really matters. A nice older couple ended up picking me up after they saw what happened.

Needless to say, I had a hard time walking the platform to get my diploma. Still have the bike though and works great... 7 years later!

I haven't had that many spills. I have been caught in a ridge or two and toppled over. Fallen of the bike another time or 2 but my only real accident was a preventable one. I admit it could have been preventable, but I don't take full responsibility. I was going down hill on the side walk and just got some momentum and up came a driveway. It was a little strip mall and there was a sign block my view of the driveway. I car just pulled out and hit my front tire. If I had come to a COMPLETE stop then i may have avoided it, but even then the sign would have been in the way. luckily there was gridlock in the streets and she didn't floor it on to the street, she just pulled out over the crossing area and stopped after. The worst part about it was the stupid quick release on the seat couldn't hold my weight flying to one side immediately. So it twisted and it acted like a reverse ream trying to create a new orifice through my scrotum. I had to get picked up I could ride with the seat and tire like that. It was actually mothers day of 04. And I was at home and going to the bathroom later that night when I saw my balls were a dark shade of blue. I was taken back and I went to the hospital. It turned out that through an X-Ray I had sprained my left knee and had a severe hematoma. Though now looking back I really should have followed up on my knee because I have suffered a torn meniscus on my right knee and my left has become just as bad as that know. Weak, wobbly, spasmtastic!

I had a good one today... but I landed in a bush so not too exciting. I did break my first frame though.

My absolute best crash was with a car.... about 4 days before I graduated high school.
I was biking down Central Ave. in Great Falls, MT going to my dad's bike shop. I was going on and off the sidewalk doing bunnyhops and enjoying the late spring weather. A car didn't see me come off of the sidewalk and pulled out right in front of me... I thought he saw me. I smacked his hood going about 20 mph and flew about 7-8 feet past his car. Totally my fault but ended up with about $600 worth of damage to my bike, and a cracked helmet. The car ended up taking off... not that it really matters. A nice older couple ended up picking me up after they saw what happened.

Needless to say, I had a hard time walking the platform to get my diploma. Still have the bike though and works great... 7 years later!

Your Dad own's a bike shop. Is that why you seem so calm about breaking your frame? I would be freaking out 'cause I couldn't afford to replace it. :)

Not mine, but here's some great crash and burns!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDom2OvK564

About 2 years ago, my brother and I stayed in a cabin at the Ft. Wilderness campground at Walt Disney World. Since all of the electric carts were rented we decided on a late night bike ride to look at Christmas lights after numerous beers. I lost my balance trying to resume after stopping and tumbled into a log fence. Banged my head (no helmet) and left abdomen and got a nice 3" diameter rash on the right knee. When we got back to the cabin, my brother lost his balance and got a 3" diameter rash on his left knee. Two days later I could still hardly move. An x-ray confirmed a #7 rib fracture. No more drinking and riding for this kid.

Not mine, but here's some great crash and burns!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDom2OvK564

Somehow I think a better song for that would be Wipe Out by the Beach Boys:D They look like they were all taken in roughly the same place, wonder if it's called suicide hill:eek: .

Mine would qualify for the stupidest crash. I was riding on the Cardinal Greenway trail (converted RR track) and was messing around with my bike computer. I never bothered to look up and was slowly drifting to the right. I figured out my mistake when I rode into the ditch at about 18 mph. Once you get into the gravel on a steep slope it's all over. Lucky for me, I wasn't hurt and the bike was o.k. other than a couple of scrapes and I had to re-center the handlebars. My left Barcon is a bit bent but still works. Every time I look at it I'm reminded to pay attention!

Mine would qualify for the stupidest crash. I was riding on the Cardinal Greenway trail (converted RR track) and was messing around with my bike computer. I never bothered to look up and was slowly drifting to the right. I figured out my mistake when I rode into the ditch at about 18 mph. Once you get into the gravel on a steep slope it's all over. Lucky for me, I wasn't hurt and the bike was o.k. other than a couple of scrapes and I had to re-center the handlebars. My left Barcon is a bit bent but still works. Every time I look at it I'm reminded to pay attention!
Remember when I got off the trail onto the soft stuff gravel on a skinny tire road bike over there on the Card??

Time singletrack riding sure does sharpen the skills when you get in the nasty on a road bike!:D :D

I'm on a 50 mile ride with about 5 miles to go. Coming off a slight decline I am pedalling hard to try and maintain speed across a short flat section. While looking down to replace a water bottle an SUV reverses out in front of me and stops. I never saw it and rode straight into the back of it at what my bike computer says was 24mph. I broke the front wheel, broke a carbon frame in 2 places and put my head through the back windscreen splitting my helmet in the process. Ambulance, neckbrace, hospital and morphine ensued.
I was discharged from hospital that evening after 7 hours in the neckbrace while they confirmed I had no damage to my spine. I felt that chipper that evening but was back in hospital the next evening for more morphine to counter the worst headache I have ever had. I was screaming.
All's well that ends well though. Because I had a potential head/neck injury, here in Australia when the ambulance is called to attend a car accident the police are required to attend. They apportioned 100% of the blame to the SUV driver. I was able to make a claim on her insurance and ended up with new bike,helmet,jersey and glasses. The LBS and the helmet manufacturer (Kompact) came to the party and I was able to upgrade stuff at no cost to me. Tough way to upgrade though.

I'll post my last 2 crashes as they were my worst.

2nd last crash:

I was riding on the grass by a very busy road w\ big trucks and all that. Being in an industrial area, the curbs were a bit higher than normal. I had some really good speed going and came off the curb to cross the street, so far so good. I misjudge the height of the curb on the way back up and clip it with my front tire enough to point it skyward. In my stuggle to put the tire down, I turn it towards the heavy traffic. Front tire back down I have somehow managed to maintain my rate of speed and am now cruising straight towards the faster, heavier trafic on the road. Panicking, I reef on the handlebars away from traffic... straight into a lamp post. I bounced about 5 feet off of it. My handlebars spun all the way around and creased my top tube. I laid on the ground for about 15 minutes getting my breath back and slowly testing for broken bones. I find it interesting that even though this took place right off the side of the road, no one stopped to see if I was okay. I had a big bruise on my shoulder, nothing broken, no blood.

Last crash (much shorter):

Truck turned in front of me, I bounced off the side. I didn't even fall down. However, my bike slid under the truck and got run over... twice. Nothing broken, no blood, big bruise on my knee (it hit the truck first). Some long term damage from this one. I put my hands on his hood to stop from flying over the top of it. Being young and dumb, I didn't finish my physio and now get pain at the base of my thumbs when there is any pressure. I did put one hell of a dent in the side of his truck though.

These were 10 years ago, haven't ridden since.

haha think this thread has now jinxed me, funniest crash in the world ever yesterday, well ye probably had to be there, but me and my m8 we're flying down this road, big hill that takes you over to the carron valley trails, but anyhow, this land rover passes us, but then has to slow down to cross a ford and let another car by, but at this point there's a gravel path at the side of the road for 100 yards, so we fly down that and i see a jump where there's a big pipe to let the ford water thru to the road and i start getting faster so i can jump it, which i do, but quickly run out of path(i nearly made it) cause it turns away to the righthand side back on to the road, but there a small ditch with a burn at the side, my wheel dips in i go over the bars land on my shoulder and face(got the scratches to prove it:D ) and end up lieing upside down bike on top of me and head stuck in the burn, i gets up to look behind me to see my m8, lieing in the exact same positions, i started pissing myself laughing cause he canny get up his head is actually stuck in this wee burn and he can't move!! after i stop laughing i help him up and out! then fair play to them, the 2 people in the LR did get out of their car, after they realised we were laughing about it, proceeded to laugh at us as well telling us that was brilliant, wish we had our camera, so did i, would loved to see a video of that, aw well atleast somebody witnessed it and has a story to tell for the next wee while!:D

moral of the story, i'm thinking of getting a full face helmet! this landing on yer face malarky is not on, it's only small superficial scratchs i've got but i could have been alot worse, should see the dent in the side of my helmet! apart from that, my right shoulder is really sore the now, and my m8 has about 45 scratches on his knee, really was in some state!! but i told him not to be a Pus*y and to get on with it, we still had the trails to go round!(which we managed without incident):D

Last fall, burning through the flats at ~26 mph on a local bike path (enjoying the endurance and strength I spend all year building up). A rollerblader sitting by the edge of the path got up after taking a rest and made an abrupt U-turn right in front of me. Head on collision. The next few seconds are a bit fuzzy, but I remember coming to on my back with my bike on top of me (front rim taco'd). A doctor happened to be jogging by and stopped to help (hearing him mutter "uh oh" when I mentioned my leg was going numb didn't help much though). Few broken vertebrae, light road rash and probably the most painful two months of my life later, I was back on the road. Damn blader was twice my age and 1/3 my size and he walked away from the scene with a few minor cuts.

Remember when I got off the trail onto the soft stuff gravel on a skinny tire road bike over there on the Card??

Time singletrack riding sure does sharpen the skills when you get in the nasty on a road bike!:D :D

Yea I remember. That was a close one for sure and I was impressed that you were able to stay upright! :D

I was riding my new (to me at the time) Centurion though my neighborhood.

About 200 feet in front of me, some kids cross the street in front of me to the sidewalk to my right.

Since they are out of the way, I speed up. Just as I am about to get to them, one of them suddenly runs back out in front of me, and SMACK, I run right into him.

I fly over the bars about 15 feet head over heels.

He takes the front tire in his lower body and somehow bends forward and the brake caliper goes into the back of his head (there was hair lodged in the caliper).

We both ended up with some superficial wounds.

I ended up with a helmet that was cracked and really scratched.

Could have been worse I guess?

His dad's reply, "Good think you weren't a car!".

My worst crash was yesterday. Here's an edited account from my blog:

The Schuylkill Trail between Norristown and Conshohocken has an odd dip and circle that requires the rider to travel for about a hundred feet on a limited access road. The road has an enormous sewer grate in the middle of the 'outbound' bike lane. I saw the grate, and rather than try to pass it on the right hand side, as I should have, I crossed into the opposite lane to go around it. I thought I was clear; I didn't see the road bike with kid trailer coming at me. When I did, I stopped, and failed to unclip in time. Down went bike and rider on my left knee, simultaneously giving me my first clipless fall and my first road rash. Once I realized that nothing was broken, I got up and picked up my bike. Meanwhile the roadie with the trailer had disappeared.

After cleaning the scraped area with my water bottle, we walked my bike a few feet to make sure it was working, and then resumed riding. A few hundred feet showed that my front brakes had been knocked out of alignment. We adjusted the brakes to stop them from rubbing against the wheel, but this rendered them next to useless for braking. So I cautiously limped onward through Norristown to Valley Forge with my companions as escort. The constant motion helped prevent the knee from swelling and stiffening.

I must have about a hundred tales of meeting the ground. Some of the more memorable ones:

1. I was about 5 when a neighbor got a new 10 speed. I had a trusty Schwinn Stingray with the ape hanger handlebars, bannana seat, purple metalflake paint, and chrome fenders. One look at this new 10 speed, and I was mesmerized. Somehow I conned him into letting me ride the bike. I promised that I would never ask him to ride it again as long as I lived, and I would only ride it around the block. That bike didn't have 30 feet on the odometer and I found myself heading down his driveway and out into the street. It was like riding on a cloud. I was soaking it in thinking about how I wanted one. As I approached the corner of our street, I was planning on making a right and going around the block. Fate however had a different plan as an old man was coming down the street I was getting ready to make a right onto. I was on a collision course, and realized it. I started pedalling backwards to no avail. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the bike wasn't stopping. My friend had given me all of the details on his new bike except for one, the brakes were on the handlebars. I had never experienced a freewheel in my few years riding. It was an inevitable crash, and the old man and I just watched it unfold. I ended up hitting the back of his car and basically tumbling across his trunk. He slammed on the brakes, and I somehow hit the ground running. He immediately jumped out of his car and tried to catch me to see if I was ok. I ran straight home crying the whole way. He eventually got to the house, and things were a blur from there. I was ok, he damn near had a coronary, and my friend was forbidden from ever letting anyone touch anything he owned from then on, especially me.

2. I decided at some point around age 6 or 7 that I would try out riding with my eyes closed. I wanted to see how far I could go. I made passes down the street about a dozen times, and on the fateful pass, I was cruising along and hit a bump. For a couple seconds I thought about it and realized there were no bumps on my street, so I decided to open my eyes and see what that was. I remember seeing things in a blur, then feeling the crack of my head on the pavement. I had run into the back of a parked car, and the bump was me actually stopping and falling over. I hit the pavement with my head, hands still on the handlebars. Again, I ended up making the run to the house screaming in pain. Broke my eardrum and had a concussion with that one. My mom still laughs at me for that and it's been over 30 years.

3. As a mid 30's adult, I needed to gather up the kids for dinner and grabbed my wife's bike and headed down to the end of the street. My son was playing around at a friends. I told him it was time for dinner, and then proceeded to race him home. About 3/4's of the way there, the old man was pulling ahead when on a downstroke the chain broke, and I remember going down. A van parked on the street actually brought me to a stop. I was wearing shorts, a tshirt and tennis shoes. My son was traumatized as he watched the crash happen right next to him. I went into work the next day with the left side of me road rashed, including most of my face.

Too many to tell and some very bad :o

Funniest though, riding downhill near the end of a 100km training ride on a near new Norco, stretching, riding no hands, eating a banana...bolt that holds the seat clamp snapped, I went over backwards, landed on the rear wheel, then in a sitting position on the road, then slide on my right hip to a stop. In hospital the next day with a fractued tailbone and skinless hip, I didn't appreciate the doctors giggling about the tyre burn next to my crack or my kids singing "Breaka breaka TAILFEATHER". Couldn't sit for weeks, walking round like I soiled my dacks...NOT FUNNY afterall.:(

Too many to tell and some very bad :o

Funniest though, riding downhill near the end of a 100km training ride on a near new Norco, stretching, riding no hands, eating a banana...bolt that holds the seat clamp snapped, I went over backwards, landed on the rear wheel, then in a sitting position on the road, then slide on my right hip to a stop. In hospital the next day with a fractued tailbone and skinless hip, I didn't appreciate the doctors giggling about the tyre burn next to my crack or my kids singing "Breaka breaka TAILFEATHER". Couldn't sit for weeks, walking round like I soiled my dacks...NOT FUNNY afterall.:(
Thids one is only funny to OTHER people!;) :D :roflmao:

Just glad you weren't hurt worse, tailfeather!;) (I promise not to call you that ever again, by the way, just couldn't resist at least once!:p )

I had a cross town triple rush, it was raining.

I was passing in between double parked cars and a moving asian town fish truck with not much room to spare. When this little business woman walks out between the cars without even looking. This girl probably weighed 90lbs soaking wet. So, a 230lb messenger going about 35 mph with a full bag probably would have killed her.

I tried the best I could to get passed her without hitting her, and ended up dropping the bike with me face first into the street. My rear wheel got caught underneath the truck. I couldn't clip out because of the weird angle i was stuck in and he probably dragged me for a half a block before he realized I was STUCK.

My bike had practically no damage to it. The streets were wet and slimey so my road rash was down to a minimum. I did however break a tooth and my face got beaten up pretty bad. I tore the **** outta my company jersey and split (not ****) my cargo shorts.

It wasn't that bad at all. I assured the driver and everyone else that I was fine. I finished up the rest of my day.


The next day I woke up and I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sore. I could hardly even get out of bed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/danceparty/dfd9578d74ee.jpg

My face is very swollen.

I had just bought a Slingshot mountain bike and payed a pretty penny for it, at that. Got together for a group ride and we we're cutting through downtown to get too some river trails. We decided to take a short cut down a concrete slope (kinda like you see under interstate bridges)too save time. Well I decided to launch down it first and low and behold there was fine sand down the entire slope.
My ass end came out from under me and I held on for life not wanting to scratch my custom paint job while at the same time the front sprocket had dug itself into my ankle and was not letting go. When all the dust had settled my seat was had road rash, my paint had road rash and my ankle was gushing blood. Cleaned my ankle out with grape Gatorade, evaluated the fact that I could see bone and then went and road the trails.

Thids one is only funny to OTHER people!;) :D :roflmao:

Just glad you weren't hurt worse, tailfeather!;) (I promise not to call you that ever again, by the way, just couldn't resist at least once!:p )


Hee Hee, very funny, no, I don't mind being called "tailfeather", just don't called me "BUM BURN":D ....silly thing was, I raced about 3 weeks after...could hardly sit on the saddle :eek:

Worst accident I ever had was last summer. I ended up with a split chin, a 1.5" scar inside my mouth (my jaw was pushed up against the gound and I cut the inside of my lip on my own teeth) and I could barely use my arns for a week (from trying to hold up the ground while hitting it). Funny bits include a guyin the hospital who was there because he jumped in the air (in place) and fell, and an ER doctor stitching up the inside of my mouth while saying to the Nurse, "This is tough. I could never have been a dentist." Okay, here's the accident story:

A friend decides to uy a bike and asks me to come along to the store. He's looking at a model with front shocks and, after trying it out, he asks what I think. I'd never ridden a bike with shocks before, and I told him "I'll let you know after I ride it".

Intending to drive it down the sidewalk and back (around 10 feet), I pedal a ways along, then brake to slow down. Alas, I hadn't ridden in a year, and for some reason my left hand jumped the gun and sueezed first. Yep, I went over the handlebars, and I remember thinking before I hit the ground, "this is gonna hurt."

My favorite bit part is me standing in the store bleeding, and the clerk saying "You scratched up those shifters, You gonna buy that bike?"

Three stories

I was riding a trail in Timmins Ontario with a local guy I had just met during my contract work. Turns out he was a lot slower than me so I was getting a bit frustrated, riding ahead and then waiting for him. At one spot the trail crossed a road and a little way in the far side, someone had dumped a neat load of crushed stone or gravel across the trail, either waiting to be spread, or perhaps as a deterrent to motor vehicles. I saw some bike tracks going up this steep, 3 foot high, Toblerone-shaped pile, so in my impatient state I impulsively decided to do a little jump over it - probably only at about 10 mph.

I got a little bit of air with my front wheel, but perhaps not enough, as it came down first and landed in a wheel sized rut on the far side of the pile and stopped dead. I sort of endo-ed/dived forward and to the side, landing all along the left side of my body: head, shoulder and hip. Cracked my helmet, and scraped and bruised my body. The front wheel was only slightly taco-ed, and I could ride, so we left the woods and limped home along the shoulder with the brake intermittently rubbing. Maybe I should have gone to the ER, but I went back to my hotel and ate Tylenol all night, limped through the next day of work, and went home with a body starting to turn purple all down one side. A week later I flatted on a paved corner in the city and the rim skidded out and I fell on the same bruised hip. Ouch!

.................................................................................................... ..

I was riding south and downhill on a wet urban street, following a car through an intersection, probably in his "blind spot", when without signalling, he suddenly slowed causing me to come alongside, then turned into the gas station on the far corner and right hooked me. I tried to turn with him but my wheel wouldn't turn up the driveway lip at that angle and I had to dive off the bike onto the sidewalk.

I got up, looked at my hands, and my left pinky was signalling a left turn at the second joint. It didn't hurt. I thought it was broken,and the driver or gas attendant asked if I wanted an ambulance. I flexed my finger and it suddenly popped back into alignment - it had been dislocated. I've been fine since but it's a little hard to add the A at the fifth fret of the high E string when playing a standard D chord variant now.

.................................................................................................... ...........................

I was standing in an all-glass bus shelter, but with an ad poster covering one end wall. I stepped out onto the sidewalk and a thirteen year old girl riding full tilt along the sidewalk hit me and knocked me over. She couldn't swerve because there was a concrete light post on the other side of the sidewalk, but she had assumed it was safe to barrel through this 4 foot wide blind bottleneck without slowing. I'd been hidden by the poster. Had I been a frail elderly person I might have been killed. At over 200 lbs, I absorbed the shock.

Movement exercise in a rolling motion may help with that problem chording. Another thing that may help is, of all things, embroidery! It'll serve as rehab for mobility and finger strength!
Three stories

I was riding a trail in Timmins Ontario with a local guy I had just met during my contract work. Turns out he was a lot slower than me so I was getting a bit frustrated, riding ahead and then waiting for him. At one spot the trail crossed a road and a little way in the far side, someone had dumped a neat load of crushed stone or gravel across the trail, either waiting to be spread, or perhaps as a deterrent to motor vehicles. I saw some bike tracks going up this steep, 3 foot high, Toblerone-shaped pile, so in my impatient state I impulsively decided to do a little jump over it - probably only at about 10 mph.

I got a little bit of air with my front wheel, but perhaps not enough, as it came down first and landed in a wheel sized rut on the far side of the pile and stopped dead. I sort of endo-ed/dived forward and to the side, landing all along the left side of my body: head, shoulder and hip. Cracked my helmet, and scraped and bruised my body. The front wheel was only slightly taco-ed, and I could ride, so we left the woods and limped home along the shoulder with the brake intermittently rubbing. Maybe I should have gone to the ER, but I went back to my hotel and ate Tylenol all night, limped through the next day of work, and went home with a body starting to turn purple all down one side. A week later I flatted on a paved corner in the city and the rim skidded out and I fell on the same bruised hip. Ouch!

.................................................................................................... ..

I was riding south and downhill on a wet urban street, following a car through an intersection, probably in his "blind spot", when without signalling, he suddenly slowed causing me to come alongside, then turned into the gas station on the far corner and right hooked me. I tried to turn with him but my wheel wouldn't turn up the driveway lip at that angle and I had to dive off the bike onto the sidewalk.

I got up, looked at my hands, and my left pinky was signalling a left turn at the second joint. It didn't hurt. I thought it was broken,and the driver or gas attendant asked if I wanted an ambulance. I flexed my finger and it suddenly popped back into alignment - it had been dislocated. I've been fine since but it's a little hard to add the A at the fifth fret of the high E string when playing a standard D chord variant now.

.................................................................................................... ...........................

I was standing in an all-glass bus shelter, but with an ad poster covering one end wall. I stepped out onto the sidewalk and a thirteen year old girl riding full tilt along the sidewalk hit me and knocked me over. She couldn't swerve because there was a concrete light post on the other side of the sidewalk, but she had assumed it was safe to barrel through this 4 foot wide blind bottleneck without slowing. I'd been hidden by the poster. Had I been a frail elderly person I might have been killed. At over 200 lbs, I absorbed the shock.

haha think this thread has now jinxed me

think I've jinxed myself as well :D

done 500 miles on the new bike, and it finally popped it's cherry at the weekend, bless it. Don't worry though, the bike's fine it landed on me. I remember lying on the ground looking up at the bike seemingly suspended above me, thinking 'this ain't gonna be good'

not sure quite what part of the bike gave me the massive bruise on my inner thigh - my money's on the Brooks B17. About 4 inches from being a soprano.

Movement exercise in a rolling motion may help with that problem chording. Another thing that may help is, of all things, embroidery! It'll serve as rehab for mobility and finger strength!

Thanks. I was sort of half kidding about the guitar chord, like this guy:

Patient: Doctor, will I be able to play the piano after this operation?
Doctor: Of course.
Patient: Whoohoo! I've always wanted to be able to play the piano!

Oh boy- well here I sit, with my knee in gauze. Basically I was at a dirt path and the path had an L shaped turn. i was making a right and I had done this turn so many times before, and i decided I didn't want to use brakes and i wanted to steady my self with my leg like a MX rider doing a powerslide. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I was pulling an all nighter and I had 0 sleep, and I was pass the 24 hour mark.

So back to the crash, I remember my tires just losing traction and the whole bike falling over on my leg mid turn- and I went sliding in gravelly dirt. I was racing my uncle (racing is not a good idea when wearing shorts) and I jumped up immediately from caffeine and adrenaline and hopped back on and started to pedal, but apparantly my chain got knocked loose so I went nowhere fast. So when he caught up to me we looked at my wounds, and quite frankly I wasn't that concerned. My knee was bleeding badly and my hand was cut up. The first part about it was that I couldn't really see a cut because I basically had a dirt tattoo brurned into my flesh. I am a germaphobe btw. So on the way back we stopped at 2 pharmacies and 1 gas station. None of them had Peroxide... So I just got some water and pured it on my knee. Come to think of it I probably should have purchased some liquor and used the alcohol, but I waited outside so I didn't have a lot of choice. There was a super market nearby and we could have gone there but some kind of food caught up to me. I literally could not walk without letting loose. I had vicious diareaha. So I just had to use my bike seat as a stopper and ride back as fast as possible with the sensation of vomiting and stomach cramps.

Long story short- waiting until home to clean it wasn't good enough as I now have a nasty infection. I am hoping to recover ASAP and powerslide that curve. Lol, no I will ride that path again, but I won't be that stupid.

Worst (best?),

Out road training one morning before sunrise...lights on...in the bike lane...SPLATT...hit from behind by a car doing 80 kmhs. Fractured t12 vert, crushed right calf with DVT, nasty head lacerations and top of left ear nearly sliced off. Lost my job, not allowed to lift anything heavy, had to learn to walk again, great head scars, big dent in right calf...and the driver was not charged.
All worked out though after 2 years..new job, better pay and I can still ride.

Most recent crash,

Out training with the "pretty boys" (pb) on my new Specialized Allez expert, one of the pb's C.F. frame got hit by a stone, instead of moving out of the bunch and down the back to check his $4,500 frame, the fool stayed in the middle of the bunch, hit a wheel and brought some of us down and wrecked my new frame and gave me a huge bruise on my right hip.:mad: :mad:
Again, it all worked out...my insurance got me a better frame.

Ok, here's my entry for stupid crash honors; I used to live a few blocks off the beach in VA Beach. I loved to ride my bike on the boardwalk as there was always pleasent things to see. I was coming up behind two menbers of the opposute sex wearing these little dental floss bikinis. Well, being somewhat distracted by the view I didn't see the garbage can right in front of me! I hit the can and fell sprawling on the concrete right in front of the two girls.:( Everyone around laughed, so I quickly picked up my bike and took off. Fortunately I wasn't hurt, but I sure was embarressed.

Ok, here's my entry for stupid crash honors; I used to live a few blocks off the beach in VA Beach. I loved to ride my bike on the boardwalk as there was always pleasent things to see. I was coming up behind two menbers of the opposute sex wearing these little dental floss bikinis. Well, being somewhat distracted by the view I didn't see the garbage can right in front of me! I hit the can and fell sprawling on the concrete right in front of the two girls.:( Everyone around laughed, so I quickly picked up my bike and took off. Fortunately I wasn't hurt, but I sure was embarressed.

Ah, one of the joys of biking, the view:D . I love that beach, by the way, stayed there a couple of times, once at the old Idlewhyle (sp?) and once at the Golden Sands. It's getting too commercial now though...:(