General Cycling Discussion - Crashes???

I was just wondering, how many crashes did you have in 2001? I managed four (after a barren 2000 in which I went crashless). And to think, I didn't even get started until July and that Spicer's Gap ride.

zero crashes. But I did get right-hooked by a woman in a nice family van while riding in Houston earlier in the year. I was lucky and didn't fall, mainly because I was able to shoulder the side of the van which kept me upright.

Just two that I can recall. One very nice endo last spring, and I crashed once in New Mexico coming down the Windsor Trail. It wasn't too spectacular though. :D

None, the first crash-less year for me in the last two decades! (then again, I only road a few hundred miles, all road miles, and a easy pace... dang surgery!)

Gus, id like to hear more about that right-hook! Was it intentional? I think I'll keep out of Houston ;)

Originally posted by Joe Gardner

Gus, id like to hear more about that right-hook! Was it intentional? I think I'll keep out of Houston ;)

It wasn't intentional. The old story, she passes me then turns in front of me. I was all over the brakes and managed to get turned in the same direction she was going, but it wasn't enough, I was going over. Fortunately she was right beside me and I left shouldered the side of her van. It was a soft spot that I made contact with and left a very large dent. I didn't even come unclipped and managed to stay upright.

She stopped, and her language was very nasty. She was angry that I got in her way.... YADA YADA YADA. I didn't show my anger, I just smiled at her and rode on my merry way. I was thinking of the dent in the side of her van that she hadn't seen yet. I always wondered what her husband thought of it. It was a nice looking van, one of those custom jobs.

Houston seemed to be full of primates driving as fast as possible. I didn't even like driving my car down there. Didn't feel safe.

Ah, Houston. If you see a person walking, they're probably trying to find their car.

Kunstler (author of Home from Nowhere, The Geography of Nowhere, and the City in Mind) describes how, prior to cheap oil and air conditioning, things used to slow down considerably in the summer heat in the southern states. In the summer, whether one was a field worker or an office worker, the heat slowed you down considerably. Which makes the speed of Texas drivers ironic.

Texas will get a really rude awakening when oil is no longer cheap nor plentiful. (In 2000, people whined when gas exceeded $2 a gallon, but what will they do when the eventual scarcity of oil makes gas worth $20 a gallon, or $200 a gallon? And what will replace plastics?)

Only one crash for me this year. We were in a pace line of about 15 riders at about 21 mph. I was holding up the rear and my wife touched wheels with the rider in front and took me down with her. She had road rash all down her right side and I did not get a scratch. I told her how lucky I was that she broke my fall.:D

I've had a few, though they hardly qualify as a true crash though.

My rear tire fell out of place after landing from a little air, in turn jamming itself which sent me from cruising to skidding, effectively tossing me from my bike. Fortunately, I was able to find it somewhat humouros rather than quite painful. Still trying to figure that one out...

Moab, Utah SlickRock Trail
I'm use to riding dirt and this was entirely new territory in every way. The fact that it's also very difficult to predict the terrain didn't help. My bike simply did not want to remain horizontal and kept screaming vertical! I took advice, tips, etc. before riding but after a bit of Redrock Rash I ended up concluding that I was out of my league with that one. I'll be back, next time I think i'll use a hardtail though.

Two. Both were slow-speed paceline crashes. Both cost me a wheel.

High-speed crashes injure the rider, slow-speed crashes injure the bike. That's why you should accelerate when you are about to crash.:D

Well, thankfully I didn't have any on the road bike because that really hurts. Now the MTB was a different story and I have lost count.
As they say up here in MTB circles. If you don't fall 10 times a day you aren't riding hard enough.:D

Fortunately only one crash and one very close call. The close call was with a tamdem recumbent in a parking lot just a few minutes before the start of a metric century.
The crash was at about the 58 mile mark of the metric century. :eek: :eek:
Two in one day???? :confused: :confused:

Crashes...At least twenty..If you count the close calls that would be around 50 or so. The coolest one was at a trail called lynches woods, and I was doing a switchback that descended at the same time..I took it a little to slow, and I went up the bank on the outside to try to make a sharp turn go down the center of the descent. But I was going to slow and stalled at the top, and I did a backwards endo kind of thing..It was fun!!

My most painful crash was when I was riding over a teeter-totter and rode off the side.:D

Just one. Which is pretty good for riding or racing almost everyday. It wasn't even my fault either. A guy in front of me bumped into another person after a turn that turned into an uphill and lost control and fell. I did my first endo right over him & his bike. I just got a tear in my shorts and a couple cuts, so that's good.

velo :)

Originally posted by fubar5
My most painful crash was when I was riding over a teeter-totter and rode off the side.:D

What's a teeter-totter?

Originally posted by Chris L


What's a teeter-totter?


see-saw.....

NO real major crashes this year. Once, we were off-road and I sideswiped a tree, got a nasty scratch down my arm. A couple of months later, in september, I was out with a buddy. The sun was in my eyes and I didn't see him signal in front of me that he was slowing down and stopping. I thought, "what's he doing? Why is he going so slowly??" WHUMPPP! I ended up smashing into him. No real damage to us, but his wheel got sort of f***ed. I felt like such a total moron but he still insists it was his fault because he should have realized I couldn't see. I still felt like a yutz.

Those kinds of accidents are VERY common. The exact same thing happened to me this summer, but I was the guy in front. I didn't call the signal and the person behind plowed into me. Not fun.

An addition to my original post. Although I had four crashes and picked up some new scars, my bike never suffered a scratch. I do have a sense of priorities! :D

One. But it was BIG. Like Gus I left a dent in the car and my handlebar got a red surface from the car painting. I was on crutches for 2 weeks and off the bike for another 2 months. But now I’m recovered and fitter than ever! :D

NO crashes, must be gettin' old.

Ride "dirty side down"
Pat

I had two nastyish ones this year, and I managed to have them both around May.

The first was here:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/allistermclaren/images/story.jpg
I misjudged a gap between cars as I was passing the leftmost lane, clipped a car and went down and into an instinctive fetal tuck. I was mostly unhurt, but my front wheel and fork were flattened by a truck.

The second, only a couple of weeks later, was a little bit down the road from here:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/allistermclaren/images/fastbit1.jpg
The speed limit is 80km/h but the lanes are wide and the traffic light. According to the guy who hit me, a truck in the right lane swerved across the lane pushing him onto the shoulder, and since he was concentrating on what the truck was doing he didn't see me until too late, slammed on the anchors but rear ended me anyway. My bike was surprisingly unharmed apart from a toasted rear rack, and I was unhurt apart from a stiff neck and a cracked helmet. It could have been worse, but you should have seen the car. First time I ever saw a car come out second best from a car bike collision.

Here's looking forward to a somewhat less interesting 2002.

:eek: Somehow, Allister, Atlanta traffic doesn't look so bad after reading your post and seeing your traffic. (I still can't believe you snapped that picture.)

Kevin S.

I had two this year. One was a cracked rib after doing a slow-motion endo on my mountain bike in the early Spring. Man that hurt and I still sleep on my other side since I got used to doing that while the rib healed.

The other was a group ride of 8 guys and a nasty little dog chased us down. Very persistant little thing. I was near the back and as he peeled off from the rider in front of me, he darted right in front of my wheel. I was near the shoulder of the road, swerved right, caught the tire in the gravel and did a complete flip onto soft (thankfully) grass. Just missed a mail box at the side of the road. Really tore up my right knee and was off the bike for 3 weeks. I'm not a big fan of dogs as you can imagine.:mad:

Only one; I vow to do better and crash more in 2002!

Originally posted by Kevin S
:eek: Somehow, Allister, Atlanta traffic doesn't look so bad after reading your post and seeing your traffic. (I still can't believe you snapped that picture.)


I think Allister said elsewhere that the traffic on the Story Bridge moves pretty slowly through the week. That isn't so bad.

Originally posted by Chris L


I think Allister said elsewhere that the traffic on the Story Bridge moves pretty slowly through the week. That isn't so bad.

In peak hour, when that photo was taken, yes. I'm actually passing the traffic in the left lane, and almost matching speed with the traffic in the lane I'm in. Still, most other cyclists seem to use the footpath. The 10' lanes, probably don't help.

One other thing I've noticed. Drivers in normal commuting times seem to be a lot more tolerant and patient of cyclists than at other times. Yesterday I came across the bridge at midday, and got no less than three horm blasts, despite the nearly empty road (there's three lanes F*ckwit. Use one of the other ones) whereas normally I go unmolested.

As they say up here in MTB circles. If you don't fall 10 times a day you aren't riding hard enough

I agree 100%...although I seem to fall more than that:p

I usually go by the "if I don't draw blood, I am not trying hard enough" rule.

I haven't crashed at all on the road this year, but in the woods is a different story. Never any major damage to me or the bike, just scrapes and scratches, and a few colorful bruises.

see my quote below to see how I live:D