General Cycling Discussion - Crashes

I am just wondering how many crashes you have all had this year. As of yesterday's effort, I am now up to three. The only thing broken so far was a pair of sunglasses (but they sucked anyway, and I got a spanky replacement for half price, so all is good now :D ).

Two.

The first was when I clipped a car trying to squeeze through a too narrow gap (or the driver squeezed into me - I'm not entirely certain) and I went down. The front wheel went under a truck's back tire - new fork and front wheel, I was relatively unscathed but I had a nice lump on my elbow for a few days. Walked the remaining km or two to work.

The second was a rear-ender. I hear a screech and all of a sudden I'm over the bars and on the ground. Bike got off lightly, just concertinaed the rear rack, but you should have seen the dent in the front of the car :). I scored a few more scrapes, a stiff neck and a failed helmet. Pulled the rack away from the tyre and rode the rest of the way to work. The motorist payed for a new rack and helmet without complaint.

They both happened within a few weeks of each other around May.

Now, where's some wood for me to touch. ...curse these modern wood free offices. Does touching melamine count?

One. It was a slow motion affair at a stop, and it was all my fault because I didn't notice the guy in front of me was turning right and we kissed wheels. Fell over. Put his real Campy Proton out of true and so thoroughly screwed my front wheel that I had to have a new one built [old hub and spokes, new rim]. I rode 35 km home with a front wheel so wobbly that I had to open the brake [not just from the QR, either] almost as far as it would go.

No one was seriously hurt, but it cost.

One.

But for training 7 days a week (double sessions some days) that's not too bad! And, the crash wasn't even my fault. Someone clipped a wheel infront of me and I did an endo over him (my first too!).

velo :D

Twice.
The first time I was following the rider in front of me to closely, and I wasn't really able to see the trail,so I was following his lead. Well, he took a switchback way to fast(this was his first time on this trail, and also his first time in sand,which our trail has PLENTY of) and since I was paying more attention to how close my front tire was to his back tire, I didn't notice that he was slamming on his brakes until the last second, in which case I slammed on my brand new V-brakes and went up on my front tire for about 4 seconds, and then finished the endo. Fortunetly nobody was hurt and I had a few cool scrathces and lots of sand and dirt on my legs.
The second time we were on a road trip to a really cool trail called Lynches Woods. I took a turn to slowly and my tire hit a big root and stopped, but I didn't. Crashing, when unexpected, can be lots of fun!!:D

I fell down, went "boom."

But I got back up, thanks to Mr. Louis Garneau Helmet.

Beware of pedestrians bearing arms (horizontally.)

So far I appear to have the most crashes and the least damage done! :eek:

Fell down in ice on an Audax ride in Spring this year. No damage to bile, bruised knee think, but most annoyed at being wet and cold at the very start of a long ride.

Yesterday, another Audax ride, the instructions were to "walk" along a footbridge over a weir. I rode across, and at halfway the cement bridge changed to slippy metal grid. Felkl down at low speed, again no bike damage, but I had nice grid imprssion on knee.

Stew

Two , both within a couple of weeks ,january think it was .
Firstly a car drove out onto a roundabout whilst i was negotiating it , caught me a glancing blow that flipped me off sideways .
The driver that got out was a little old lady. about 90 i reckon swore blind (excuse pun) she never saw me coming .

Fortunetly i was relitively unscathed, and how can you get mad at a person that age?

Second crash I can put down to bad road engineering , whilst turning off a main highway onto a side street the block set kerbs were much to high set for anything but motorised transport.
Negotaiting this my front wheel was spun round and dumpted me over the handlebars.
Like Pete I inflicted nose and cheek injuries , a sprained wrist and hand abrassions.

I complained to the County council who apoligised, any road fault on their behalf would be attended to post-haste ,

It is still as it was!

Will`c

Gee, I must be lucky. Aside from being slighly grazed in a vehicular assault late last winter, I haven't even had a minor incident, even though I rode more than 6000 miles this summer.
As far as Willic's run-in with a novagenerian, yes, it would be hard to get mad at such a motorist, but reporting her to the police may save her from actually killing somebody (and possibly even herself) in her next mishap. I know that elderly people cherish their mobility, but at some point everybody has to stop driving. I finally convinced my 71 year old mother to stop driving, due to the macular degeneration she suffers from. It wasn't easy, but after she managed to run her car into a restaurant, she finally agreed. My father, who is 75, seems to still be fine with driving though.

Just one, fooling around with a friend. We were on a soft dirt road in the woods and he came up on my side and said he was going to teach me how to bump your way past an aggressive rider. When I "bumped" back he wasn't there. I'm glad the ground was soft.

D`alex!

I agree NOT reporting a serious road violation was perhaps rather
casual of me.
But as I stated no harm befell me or my bike.

It is quite alarming that aged drivers continue to use their vehicles without restrictions
Personaly if there is one type of driver that makes me nervous on a bike it is the elderly above all.

Willi`c

Make that two.

I was out riding with my GF today; she didn't see my stop signal [sun was probably in my eyes] and I didn't call it, even though I knew I should have. No one was hurt, but my rear wheel is at least 1.5 cm off true. I hope it can be repaired.

BTW, these Ambrosio rims are INCREDIBLY fragile. It was a simple fall-over and the wheel was trashed. That shouldn't have happened.

Aside from hitting the side of a van that "right hooked me" (I didn't fall off) I haven't had any crashes. I only logged a little over 3,00 miles this year, but still when I read the crashes here I feel rather lucky. :blush:

Finger crossed no real crash. I just felt three or four times being not used to these new road pedals. Sometimes you just realize that that you can't quite get the right anckle movement and it is too late.

Originally posted by PapeteeBooh
Finger crossed no real crash. I just felt three or four times being not used to these new road pedals. Sometimes you just realize that that you can't quite get the right anckle movement and it is too late.

That's the extent of my crashes for the year. Fallovers :D Two to be exact.

Now if ya want to get into some history... let's just say I've broken at least 17 bones that I know of... Still have a pin in the right elbow. I liked it so much I kept it :) (actually didn't want em' cuttin' me open again to remove it, arm works just fine thank you very much)

Not really a crash, but I was riding a little too close to a big van stopped at a light. I mis-estimated how far out his rear view mirror stuck out and gave it a big whack with my shoulder. I didn't fall of the bike, nor did I damage the mirror. Only damage- a big ol' bruise on my shoulder.

Now, if you had asked me about last year....

Okay Hillary. I'll bite... what about last year?

About 2,500 miles this year, no crashes so far (touch wood) or for the last few years in fact.

So far, no accidents.

Me either...still in one piece and no crash damage this year...still, now that I've said that..I'll probably go out and crash on the pavement trying to get onto my bike :(

Rich

No crashes as such but I did leave the road this morning....

Canterbury's city walls has one of those horrible 1950's ring-roads - two lanes linked by several roundabouts. The right-turn on the first was okay (well a little hairy :D). I left the roundabout and joined the left-hand lane (I wasn't confident of making it in one piece to the right-hand one...). Needing to turn right at the next one I tried moving to the right-hand lane (okay I should probably have stayed in the left :() As I looked to see whether the right-hand lane was clear I was faced with a van in the right -hand lane trying to cut across into the left where I was and little more than two car lengths to the roundabout - not being convinced he'd seen me I decided disgression was the better part of valour and made myself aquainted with the lovely patch of grass between the road and the city wall...

Richard

Hi Rich,

Me and the girlfriend were in Canterbury last weekend..nice place, but I can imagin how bad it is to cycle on the ring road...looks pretty scarey!!! :(

Take it easy matey

Rich :thumbup:

I had one crash in June, and I did more damage to my self by not dumping the bike. I rode off the asphalt (I was distracted) and onto the wet grass. Still going too fast, I steered back onto the asphalt, then lost all control. I stopped, but twisted my knee in the effort. That was over 4 momths ago, and it still hurts at time.

I can't even remember what distracted me. I hope it was good.

Hi All,
I was really going fast after a group and leaned into what looked like a nice clean corner was half way through the corner and remenber seeing my front tire skip a few times and it was like in slow motion as the bike went one way and I another. Very hard hit on my side. Just laid there a moment and checked for broken bones but just a bit or road rash and a couple of fairly deep cuts.
The really cool part of this crash was the cutest cop (female) came over with a first aid kit and patched me up. My bike was having its first aid done by the owner of my bike store as he was just a couple of hundred yards behind me.
Tried to ride back home but leaving a bit too much of a blood trail on the road and was afraid I would run dry before I got home. Had to call a friend to come and get me. God I hate to wimp out !

Dont ride like me ride safe.....Dudley

Originally posted by Bikinguy
The really cool part of this crash was the cutest cop (female) came over with a first aid kit and patched me up

Shades of Jennifer Lopez in Angel Eyes. Now you have to find the cop and stalk her.

Stew

Hmmm... I don't seem to have had my crash for this year. (Fingers crossed, gripping wood tightly!!)

Last year's was entirely my own stupid fault. I was riding to a football practice (sorry, soccer) and had my boot bag hooked on the handle bars. Naturally they got dragged into the front wheel and through the forks, which stopped the wheel and I went flying! No damage to the bike, a hole in the bootbag, gravel rash and a very bruised right palm, and a bruise from the frame on the outside of my thigh. Don't ask me how, but I must have tried to get off as I was flying over the handlebars, and the bike landed on me! Oh, and acute embarassment, because I was in the middle of a tourist area in Cambridge.

Made it to the football practice, but the hand was too bruised to play hockey for a week or two.

It must have caused quite a spectical Ellie!!!

Ouch!

Rich

Well... I'm up to two.

On Monday, I was riding with my GF. She was drafting me, but I thought she was further behind -- we'd just crested a hill and she's not QUITE as good a climber as me. Sun gets in my eyes and I signal a stop... but I didn't call it. Big mistake. Some part of my brain failed to register that, if the sun was in my eyes, the sun would be in her eyes, too...

She did a magnificent job of braking, but we still hit. We had a slow motion fallover. I was absolutely horrified that my idiocy had hurt her (I didn't) or her bike (I didn't). I did, however, manage to taco another wheel. Those slo-mo applications of lateral force are a killer!

Yep. Something to be said for a spare set of wheels.

Originally posted by Bikinguy
The really cool part of this crash was the cutest cop (female) came over with a first aid kit and patched me up.

Now why does this never happen on my crashes?


Well... I'm up to two.

I hope this thread isn't acting as a jinx! :eek:

Last year...ah, the year I spent enough money on repairs to have just bought a whole new bike. Last year was the year I rode my bike right into the back of a parked car. The year some old lady learning to ride a bike rode right into the back of my parked bike (I wasn't on it at the time). The year my DH drove the car into a low clearance parking garage with the bike on the roof rack. Not to mention that my tire slipped and I fell off the bike in the rain a couple of times.

Originally posted by HillaryRose
Last year...ah, the year I spent enough money on repairs to have just bought a whole new bike.

I managed that a few months ago without any crashes in the process :eek: . I think I documented that in an achy-breaky bike thread here somewhere.

The worst crash I had was last year, on a long weekend in May. I was on a bikepath, cycling with my BF and turned off onto a gravelly little road (it's paved now). I wasn't going fast, but all of a sudden it was like I was on ice, and the next thing OOF! I was on my side with the bike on top of me. The funny thing is I was on my mountain bike. Landing on that gravel was not fun- bloody knee and elbow, and I tore my gloves! I had to get new ones anyways.

After that, however, we made sure that we always take one of those road-rash kits with us.

only ever crashed 'badly' once. it was during a race. we were racing along at a fair pace, the bunch strung out in a long line. up ahead a nice easy 's' bend that could be taken virtually in a straight line. but no, someone couldn't manage it and there were wheels touching, then the sound of scraping metal and skin on the road. my turn to go down, not good. got up, half my arse was missing, but no broken bones. i was more pissed that it was the end of the race for me than anything else. bike was unrideable, and it was all over. but i couldn't help laughing at the time as there was one of the riders in the field next to the road, nothing unusual in this excpet that there was a 6 foot hedge between the road and the field, with no 'crashing cyclist hole' in it. he must have flown like a good'un. he was caked in mud and his front wheel was 's' shaped. after that incident i couldn't walk properly for 2 weeks and lots of sticking to the bedsheets occured during that period too! ahhhhh the fun of bike racing, character building stuff - as people older than yourself always say in those situations!

cabledonut.

I did break my jaw in a crash I had on my first bike. Then I knocked out my tooth a few years ago when I looked back and rode right into a car.

Has anybody else noticed that as the slow motion effect takes over as you first recognise the fact that you are about to fall off you always seem to notice exactly what speed is displayed on your speedo? The highest figure I've seen was 38mph.

My only crash this year was during the winter. I was rushing to work on my bike (only about 1mile away) I went speeding off down my street - in a state of comatose due to having only left my bed 5 minutes earlier - when suddenly I noticed a car coming towards me with right of way past some parked cars. I slammed on the brakes but as I did I looked at the ground and realised I was actually on top of a sheet of ice.....no guessing what happened :( No damage and only minor bruising.

This past year only one crash. My front wheel went out from under me on an icy rutted street, and I broke my collar bone for the third time. I'd have been OK if I'd been going a little faster.

Ride better than me
Pa

This past year, only one. The year before another stupid one!

This years: Out for a road ride with a buddy and we were trying to outride the rain, didn't happen. Caught in a downpour with only 8 miles left in the ride. Had to cross a busy street, made it to the median, saw a break in traffic, stood up to accelerate and turn into traffic flow as well. That was the last time I'll do that again. The front tire washed out immediately and BAM! I was on the ground, kicking my bike to try to release out of my clipless as a huge brown UPS truck was skidding to a stop. No major injury, a bit of road rash and some bruises. The worst was having to walk home and explain to the wife the brown spot in my shorts.

The year before: I was selling a bike to a neighbor and just replaced the front derailleur cable. He took a test ride and said he couldn't shift it. I hopped on took off down my cul-de-sac non-busy neighborhood road and was adjusting the barrel adjuster while riding. I was looking down at the cranks while making the adjustments. I don't even remember hitting the parked van! DOOH! I was dazed and confused and tasting blood immediately! I had to sit down until I got my bearings. Broken nose, bruised cheek, sore neck, cuts on my eyebrow and nose. Not to mention my bruised ego. The best part was the neighbor bought the bike anyways!
L8R G8R:D