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07-10-03, 12:28 PM
Well last night (6/10/03) I had my first REAL crash. The falls I had while getting used to clipless pedals don’t count.
It was raining, I never went across a metal open grate bridge (singing bridge) when it was wet. I thought that since I’m riding on the edges of the metal and not the flat part, that it wouldn’t be slippery. I started across the bridge at about 20mph. The wheels started squirming and trying to slide out from under me. I’m proud to say that I held it all the way across the bridge. Maintaining my balance meant I couldn’t steer or brake, so by the time I was coming off the bridge I was on the far left side of the road. Unfortunately, the road has a hard right bend just after the bridge.
I knew that I couldn’t make the bend. Ahead of me was what looked like flat field with low weeds. In reality it was a 4 foot drop with 4 foot weeds down below. The bike went down over the bank and when it hit, I went down over the bike and kept on going, sliding through the weeds.
When I regained my senses and tried to adjust my glasses I saw the blood. I thought that I must have banged my head of face with all that much blood. Turns out it was just a scratch on my nose, mixed with the rain – it looked like a lot. My leg and chest are bruised and very sore (doctor says no broken bones). Since I’m over 50 I don’t heal as fast as I used to so I was a bit concerned.
There was a 25 foot path of mowed down weeds that the bike and I had made. All in all, it could have been worse. There were no rocks in the field, and the weeds were thick, wet and slippery (but not thorny) which made a better landing site than asphalt.
The bike is in worse shape than I - mangled front derailer, bent/broken left brake hood and ripped saddle. Sure hope the shop gets it fixed before the weekend.
It was raining, I never went across a metal open grate bridge (singing bridge) when it was wet. I thought that since I’m riding on the edges of the metal and not the flat part, that it wouldn’t be slippery. I started across the bridge at about 20mph. The wheels started squirming and trying to slide out from under me. I’m proud to say that I held it all the way across the bridge. Maintaining my balance meant I couldn’t steer or brake, so by the time I was coming off the bridge I was on the far left side of the road. Unfortunately, the road has a hard right bend just after the bridge.
I knew that I couldn’t make the bend. Ahead of me was what looked like flat field with low weeds. In reality it was a 4 foot drop with 4 foot weeds down below. The bike went down over the bank and when it hit, I went down over the bike and kept on going, sliding through the weeds.
When I regained my senses and tried to adjust my glasses I saw the blood. I thought that I must have banged my head of face with all that much blood. Turns out it was just a scratch on my nose, mixed with the rain – it looked like a lot. My leg and chest are bruised and very sore (doctor says no broken bones). Since I’m over 50 I don’t heal as fast as I used to so I was a bit concerned.
There was a 25 foot path of mowed down weeds that the bike and I had made. All in all, it could have been worse. There were no rocks in the field, and the weeds were thick, wet and slippery (but not thorny) which made a better landing site than asphalt.
The bike is in worse shape than I - mangled front derailer, bent/broken left brake hood and ripped saddle. Sure hope the shop gets it fixed before the weekend.