"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - How many of you have crashed?

This is inspired by the "don't race carbon if you can't afford to replace it" debates.

Racers only, click all that apply for which circumstances you have crashed in. This should show if you're really risking your precious carbon frame in a race, or if you're risking it elsewhere too!

Just to weigh in myself, I have crashed 4 times solo only. One of those times I was with 2 other riders, but that doesn't count as a group ride and neither of them were involved in the crash.

Twice solo. One super f'n nasty 31mph pavement to shoulder encounter, and one even nastier ACL tearing pavement to foot to knee to hip encounter. Both resulted from dropping chains while standing/sprinting.

Once in a race - broke the frame, had to warranty out the wheelset and my helmet. Got a face full of stitches and a 4000 dollar ER bill paid by the Army (thank you Uncle Sugar!). It was a crit in the rain, and on the second to last corner the two guys I was drafting slid out, and I went over the top of them, did a full flip and landed on my back on the sidewalk.

I don't want to comment, fearing I may ruin my streak of (relatively) good luck.

I don't want to comment, fearing I may ruin my streak of (relatively) good luck.
That's fine. Just vote for the accuracy of the poll :)

Riding side by side with a teammate on a training ride. Now keep in mind we live on the same street.
We are about a mile from the house returning home coming down a fairly steep hill in our neighborhood that T's into a cross road. Right is a dead end and left is our homes. He turns right :eek:

This poll won't prove anything.
If you start counting crashes per km/mile ridden, races would clearly be riskier.

Did you ever ask him what possessed him to turn the other way?

This poll won't prove anything.
If you start counting crashes per km/mile ridden, races would clearly be riskier.
That actually proves my theory perfectly. You are more likely to crash during training BECAUSE you ride more miles training. So anyone who trains on a fancy bike and races on a cheap bike is still giving their fancy bike a greater risk.

I'm sure the crash per mile is higher in racing, but nobody in their right mind races as many miles as they train... although I wonder how pro tour riders ever train with the number of long tours they ride.

Did you ever ask him what possessed him to turn the other way?


He just shrugged and laughed.....No permanent damage.

I have never gone down... but I have had a couple close calls. That is unless you count this one time some fred ran me into the f'ing curb in a parking lot because he couldn't talk and ride straight at the same time. I unclipped and caught myself... but the bike hit the ground. This all being said, I have only been riding since October.

i crashed in a race last year when the guy in front of me touched wheels which forced me to launch over him. I broke my wrist pretty bad but the bike was fine

That actually proves my theory perfectly. You are more likely to crash during training BECAUSE you ride more miles training. So anyone who trains on a fancy bike and races on a cheap bike is still giving their fancy bike a greater risk.

This makes little sense.
An hour spent training is less likely to include a crash than an hour of racing. I think this is true for most people - obviously excluding those who train in downtown NY during rush hour.

But I would definitely agree if you said that in the long run, everyone is likely to crash in training, potentially damaging the more expensive frame. My point is, that the training "long run" is much, much longer than the racing "long run".

You understand me just perfectly. People ride their fancy frame in "the long run" which is why I'm just trying to say that if you train all the time on your expensive rig, you're still likely to crash it eventually. I suppose that's still a lower risk than training and racing combined, but I wanted to see just how much more risk is added by racing.

solo crash - on my way home from 'cross practice I wasnt paying attention and mistimed a jump up onto a curb, I literally kissed the curb and bashed my front teeth in, I had braces for a few months but otherwise things worked out OK. That one was embarrassing.

races - 3x.
1st, just caught up in a big bunch crash that resulted in a minor fall

2nd, after initiating and riding in a 3 man breakaway on a very rainy day in a technical crit, I skidded through the last turn of the race on my arse while setting up to sprint around the other 2 in my break. Was going at least 30 mph when I went down, went airborne when I hit the curb, thank goodness for bails of hay. good news was that since my breakaway lapped the field, I got back on and finished for 3rd with a mangled drivetrain, bloody backside hanging out. Best and worst race I've ever ridden to date.

3rd, got bumped by a big dude into a ditch, cartwheeled into a wooden fence, concussion.

bike was fine in all of them, and aside from bumps, bruises and road rash, so was I.

Race your good stuff, that's why you have it.

I wonder if it would be a better idea to run a poll seeing how many people have crashed and how many of those crashes have resulted in a broken frame. One of my four crashes resulted in a bent (non replaceable) derailleur hanger, which I bent back but it was weakened so I eventually tossed the frame. Another destroyed the rear wheel (the front wheel destroyed itself, causing the crash). The other two only had scratched pedals.

I've seen a few broken frames, with exception of 1 scott carbon, all were aluminum. Wheels and forks, that's another matter entirely, seen lots of snapped forks and tacoed wheels.

So the argument should be to race your crappy wheels and only train on expensive carbon ones, right? :D

Two crashes on training rides- one in 1986, one in 2006. Both times I sustained far more damage than the bike. The first crash broke my tailbone but nothing happened to the bike. The tailbone still hurts if I sit wrong. On the second crash the bike was my expensive carbon race bike. It only had small scratches on the shifter caps, derailleur and pedal. I had much worse damage as I landed on my face at speed. The braces might come off next week. Then I can get the final dental work done. It'd have been much less expensive to completely demolish every single bit of the bike and leave me unscathed.

In about 70 cat 4 races from 1986-1990, and 8 cat V races in the last year or so, zero crashes.

OTOH, a teamate bought a new used spiffy carbon race frame, built it up, and on his second ride on it was in a small low speed group ride crash. No one hurt but a large sprinter dude fell on his frame and demolished it to the point that he can't even send it to Calfee for repair.

It's all luck.

I don't think I've ever crashed on a non-race group ride.

I crash about once per season racing.

A doctor in my former club did a survey on bicycle crashes and injuries that was pretty interesting-- most such surveys cover ER visits (the only place it's easy to get stats), so he surveyed a fairly large club for *all* their crashes and consequences. Surprisingly, I could actually write down probably every time I've hit the deck. I had a fairly large number of solo crashes related to bike commuting in rain, snow, and ice, none of which involved any injury.

I've damaged or broken two steel frames in racing crashes (one road, one track). I've seen steel, aluminum, and carbon frames destroyed in racing crashes.

I think there's a lot more than luck in crashes-- there's a lot of skill involved in being places where the crash probability is lower or where there's a better chance at an escape route. In most of my racing crashes I realized what I had done wrong before I hit the ground. Sometimes bad luck gets you anyway, but you can do a lot to reduce its effects.

^ Very true. When I did the juniors velodrome class, one of the first things they taught us was that it's usually better to go over a crash as the crash generally slides down the banking. In crits, it's the opposite, with the inside being less likely to get you washed out by falling riders. Learning more about that and who to look for has kept me out of any race crashes to date.

edit to *knock on wood*

I crashed once when a kid pushed a skateboard in front of me when I was moving at about 20. In my first race ever a person crashed in front of me and I had to jump of my bike. I've seen numerous crashes in the races i've done but been lucky or intuitive and avoided all those.

If you have raced longer than 10 years, all the boxes with 5 or more should be checked. Otherwise you aren't riding enough or racing hard enough.

I became intimate with a hedgerow on a group training ride yesterday.

It was a choice between someone else's bike, asphalt, oncoming van, and the hedge. Hedge won.

A proper English hedgerow though.

Crashes usually come on the cross bike, while riding in the woods. Skinny tires at higher pressures don't always work well when railing sandy corners.
My only group ride crash came a few years ago. We rounded a descending radius, off camber corner and there was a Ford Exploder riding the yellow line, right at us. Former 7Up and HealthNet team director, Jeff Corbett, just laid it down and slid right under the rear bumper of the truck. I saved my slide but had to make the decision to hit Jeff, hit the truck or hit his bike. I tried to bunnyhop his bike and landed right on the top tube of it. I got squirrely and went over the bars, landing flat on my back in the middle of the road.
The outcome?

Dented TT on my cross bike
Haggard lump on my leg
One very destroyed CAAD8 pro dog team bike...he gets 'em free...

...and a very long 90 minute slog home.

If you have raced longer than 10 years, all the boxes with 5 or more should be checked. Otherwise you aren't riding enough or racing hard enough.

Nah. No reason on group rides not to back off for safety. I checked the other two 5+ boxes though...

If you have raced longer than 10 years, all the boxes with 5 or more should be checked. Otherwise you aren't riding enough or racing hard enough.
Or you're riding smarter. I know quite a few veterans who keep out of crashes quite well and still end up on the podium frequently. You can't win if you don't make it to the finish. I know crashes are bound to happen, but saying if you don't crash at least once per year (5 or more in each would be 15 in 10+ years) than you're not racing hard enough just isn't a good indicator in my opinion. Of course, I could be wrong, and that's why I'm still just a Cat 3/4 with 5 years of racing under my belt.

Nah. No reason on group rides not to back off for safety. I checked the other two 5+ boxes though...

+1 to that, and crashing that much when riding solo is yutzish

If you have raced longer than 10 years, all the boxes with 5 or more should be checked. Otherwise you aren't riding enough or racing hard enough.

Agreed. No matter how skilled you are, eventually, your luck runs out. The best bike handler/"position in the pack" guy I know went down twice last year.

I don't do group rides that often, and around here, it's pancake flat until you get out to river valleys. And until you get out there, it's all right angle turns. So, unless I'm doing sprints (which I rarely do on the flats...usually uphill) I never break 30mph, unless theres a bit of a tailwind during an interval.

I crashed in my very first race when some dude chopped my front wheel with two corners to go. I ate it three times the following collegiate season, and one time during the USCF season that followed. This past season, didn't crash at all. Mainly because I stopped racing like a nancy boy.

Or you're riding smarter. I know quite a few veterans who keep out of crashes quite well and still end up on the podium frequently. You can't win if you don't make it to the finish. I know crashes are bound to happen, but saying if you don't crash at least once per year (5 or more in each would be 15 in 10+ years) than you're not racing hard enough just isn't a good indicator in my opinion. Of course, I could be wrong, and that's why I'm still just a Cat 3/4 with 5 years of racing under my belt.

The best two masters I know went down once and twice, respectively, last year. They were at or off the front a lot of the time, too.

YMCA just means that if you really want to have a shot at a win, you need to be coming out of corners a hair's width from the barriers, shooting gaps you might not normally try, and taking corners REALLY hot. And, sometimes, it just doesn't pan out for you, and you eat it.

oh if we want to throw in cross ive got to be close to 10. I went down 3 or 4 times in one race alone!

I crashed mainly on training rides until I got comfy in the pack. This took a few years. Then I started crashing in races. After a few more years (several?) I stopped crashing in races (well, frequently anyway) since I either backed out of situations or simply didn't race as much. Also it's takes more to crash with just a little jolt or something if you've practiced the various contact drills - usually my crashes involve either an odd mechanical or a huge stackup which is simply unavoidable.

cdr

Twice solo, both from ice this winter.

Once was slow, on iced over cobble stones that I didn't realize were iced over.

The other was a 30-35 mph descent around a corner which turned out to be covered in ice around the bend. I went down hard on my left side, smacked my head on the pavement but no signs of a concussion so I just rode the 10 very hilly miles home with a little extra pain.

There should be an option for how many crashes in the same Crit! :)

i crashed today, hence me searching for this thread to post about it. i just brushed a curb going about 15mph. managed to put my foot down and kinda do a goofy jump-off onto the curb. the back rail of the frame got scratched up a little and my hand and ankle are a little scratched.

i was a little embarrased because it was on a busy road and it was pretty much rider error, nothing got in my way i just wasnt looking.

hopefully the bike isnt damaged beyond what i can see, a tuneup next month should give me more info


EDIT:


ive only had my bike for a little over a month and am completly new to riding. hopefully this isnt a sign of things to come :)

5 times riding solo, 2 times riding with a group. I was hit by a car, drivers fault, he drove away and left me unconcious in the middle of the road.

I had a minor solo crash while warming-up for a race a few weeks ago:o Little bit o' road rash. Finished 4th an hour later, though, so no biggy.

On saturday, I was involved in one of those metal grinding, carbon snapping, road rashing, 15 rider pile-ups somewhere between 25-30mph. Went over the bars and landed on my back on top of what I thought was a giant pillow. Turns out it was another rider. I never touched the ground and my bike was completely unscathed:D

First race crash in two years.

Over the years I've crashed on my own too many times to count. Certainly more than five.

This year is my first year racing, and I've have one bad crash during a race; none worth mentioning in training. The race crash, from what people have told me (I hit my head and don't remember the race, much less the crash), a nervous nelly on a corner started drifting outside, bumped the guy to his outside, then panicked and veered sharply to the inside right into me. I broke a helmet and got a melon sized hemotoma on my hip.

Bike was fine except for a shifter which had to be replaced.

EDIT: I just remembered. This is actually my second race crash. I tried racing a couple races in Seattle a few years ago. The second and last race I entered there I crashed when I was trying to pass a guy next to a curb and he closed the door. I was not real proficient in pack riding then, so instead of just touching his hip or pushing him slightly, I hit and skated along the curb until I fell. But that was a few years ago.

I crashed in one race, in 1995. I was off the front on the last lap. A guy bridged up to me, I got on his wheel, and looked back at the pack. When I looked forward again, my wheel had crossed his. Down at 33mph. No bike damage other than bar tape. I ground a 6" flat spot on my right ass cheek though.

It seems I crash once every two years or so in training. Usually new debris in a familiar corner.

This season, I've had a couple wheel crossings, locked bars, some shoulder battles, a guy slammed me off the wheel I was following, people crashed in front of and beside me, inside me on corners... but I haven't gone down. I've done my share of relocating people too, but never to the ground.

I think a lot of it has to to with the fact that I race and train at 105psi up front and 95psi in the rear. Bigger contact patch, better suspension. I can also just tell when someone is going down, I can dodge them, and avoid their mistake.

Twice solo, both from ice this winter.

Does the time I mountain-biked down a frozen 'mountain stream' count for this? If so I may have to change my vote.

1 race crash 3 weeks ago. 31 mph, someone slows slightly and moves right slight. Hits my wheel, I go down hard. S-works frame, OK, handlebars trashed, both wheels out of true, and shifters skuffed horribly but works

2 Solo falls. One going down a crazy twisty mountain road, came to an s-curve, and I wasn't the best bike handler. I chicken out and grab brakes. I go down and slide across the road.

Second one was actually last race (this weekend) I was running late so when I went to the registration booth, I figured I would just ride my bike to it. It was in the middle of the park with no paved paths to it. I sign in, and jump on my bike to get back to my car. The ground was really muddy, and I wasn't expecting it to be. I clip in, and I stand up to put a little force into the cranks to get moving. Well, it was a bit too much for the contact surface. The wheel just spins like I'm on ice, and the bike goes right out from under me. I look around and hope no one saw it. Mud was all over the side of my jersey and leg. Opps. Besides a small cut, I was OK. Raced, finished 8th of 41

This poll really needs a hit-by-car option. In that case it would be twice for me.


...man I hate L.A.

Well, thanks for reviving this thread. Since posting it, I have crashed once in a race and once by myself. I jumped off the bike and landed on my feet in the race, and the solo crash was when I took my hands off the bar at about 8 mph while climbing and my elbow swelled up enough to make a doctor think I broke it. :o

I'm still getting fixed up from a crash back at the end of April. I think I hit a pothole or was trying to avoid some sand and grabbed the front brake too hard (I think, I don't remember), I flew over the bars and that's the last of what I remember. It was during a group ride. Others there said I was lying face down in the dirt not moving I think I flew off my bike, hit the ground a few times and landed in the side of the road.

Remember being pissed at the EMT's for cutting off my jersey. I broke/damaged 4 teeth. Have a few bone fractures in my jaw, broke my nose, orbit, needed stitches to put my lips back together, messed up my knee pretty bad, road rash on legs arm and some other parts of my body. Still having dental work and plastic surgery being done...
Bike needed tape, new hoods, and tape to the saddle. I wish I was as lucky.

Other than that, I've falled twice on the road in the last year. Once was at like 2 am when I was riding my bike home exhausted and I fell while trying to catch my hat that was blown off by the wind. Bone bruise to the hip. Bike broke RD.

The other time was when I was showing a kid how to sprint in the drops and rock the bike (hah) and my tire hit a rectangular patch of road that was raised on the side. I fell down and got a little road rash, but was fine other than that. Frame got a ding in the seat stay and needed new tape on one side, but was fine.

Well, thanks for reviving this thread. Since posting it, I have crashed once in a race and once by myself. I jumped off the bike and landed on my feet in the race, and the solo crash was when I took my hands off the bar at about 8 mph while climbing and my elbow swelled up enough to make a doctor think I broke it. :o

Hehe, and your bike ran into me... :p

Hehe, and your bike ran into me... :p
Yep. Some day I'll learn that you get caught up in fewer crashes if you stay near the front.

Now if only I could find a good excuse for crashing while riding solo at 8 mph.

edit: Oh yeah and I'm glad your wheel didn't break in the process. I've always run aluminum rims and have it stuck in my head that carbon ones will snap like a twig ala Tour de France vs. Dog.

In my first 9 races I crashed 3 times, two of which were minor falls where I stacked into a previous crash, didn't get hurt and finished the race. The other was in my first crit where I think I took the next-to-last corner too hot and ended up chipping a tooth. Those were all cat 5 races, and since then I have never crashed in a race (now a cat 2) though I've had a few close calls. So far I've never crashed on a group ride, but I have had a few solo spills; the only serious one was exactly a year ago yesterday, where I plowed into a truck that had backed out across a narrow road at 40 mph, somehow escaping with just a broken arm, an extremely deep laceration in my leg, and some small scars on my face. Ow. I haven't ever sustained serious bike damage in a crash, knock on wood.

I crashed in one race, in 1995. I was off the front on the last lap. A guy bridged up to me, I got on his wheel, and looked back at the pack. When I looked forward again, my wheel had crossed his. Down at 33mph. No bike damage other than bar tape. I ground a 6" flat spot on my right ass cheek though.

It seems I crash once every two years or so in training. Usually new debris in a familiar corner.

This season, I've had a couple wheel crossings, locked bars, some shoulder battles, a guy slammed me off the wheel I was following, people crashed in front of and beside me, inside me on corners... but I haven't gone down. I've done my share of relocating people too, but never to the ground.

I think a lot of it has to to with the fact that I race and train at 105psi up front and 95psi in the rear. Bigger contact patch, better suspension. I can also just tell when someone is going down, I can dodge them, and avoid their mistake.

I do just the opposite, 90 front, 110 rear. The softer the tire, the more traction. I lose the rear all the time and never go down, but I always go down when I lose the front. Doesn't it make more sense to have the most traction in the front?

I do just the opposite, 90 front, 110 rear. The softer the tire, the more traction. I lose the rear all the time and never go down, but I always go down when I lose the front. Doesn't it make more sense to have the most traction in the front?

Yep, typo :o

I broke a nice steel Bianchi frame in a race once but didn't crash. Got bumped wide on a corner and hit a curb full speed, up into some lady's lawn and back into the race. About a mile later the front wheel disintegrates - literally all the spokes came loose and at 25mph it's going all wobbly on me. Stop, get a wheel change, finish 2nd in the race. Race again the next day, place in the sprint. Get home next week, cleaning the bike, the right rear dropout is cracked clean thru. I take the wheel off and it falls off. Ooops.