General Cycling Discussion - A terrible crash today.

The title sums it up. I never would have dreamed in a million years that it could happen like it did. I was riding with a new aquaintance today. We had met, and talked, and rode on together after taking a break at a common resting place, the tunnel on the Silver Comet. We were cruising along, about 18 or 20 mph, when for some reason, my front wheel went off the concrete path. I was on the left side, I immediately came back up on the path, and veered right in front of my friend, Buster, and he t-boned me so fast that I could not blink. It was surreal, we went down, and rolled a couple of times, and came to rest. I was laying on his side of the path, looking up at the sky, and he was laying face down, on the left side of the path. Our bikes were both about six feet behind us. One of my shoes came off.

After a few minutes, he said are you allright? Yeah, I'm alive, you? Thank the Lord we had no broken bones, though I am still not sure about my left ribs. I landed on them when he hit me. I took some meat off my elbow, and my left calf has some road rash. He didn't really have any scratches, he more or less hit, landed on, and rolled over me. I don't know why, but I bust out laughing when I think about it. I am 40, and he is 42. I know we will both be very sore tomorrow.

His seat was destroyed, my wheels were both taco'd, but not too bad to ride. We were about a mile from his home, which is located along the path. He insisted on taking me to his garage, where he had an amazing mini-bike shop set up. Truing stand, bike rack, a complete set of Park tools, the works. He trued my wheels, and refused to let me buy him a new seat. My new friends name is Buster, and here is a link to his web site, http://www.trailexpress.com/sct_maniac_forum.shtml He and his very lovely wife own the site now. What a way to meet such a nice guy. Oh, yeah, we both had on helmets, and thankfully so. It was his first crash, and mine also. His wife has had a crash also.

I am amazed, you just never know what a day will bring. I was worried about the weather when I left, I had a very nice, slow sprinkle the whole time. I was bothered because I have not been able to ride in 4 days, this being the 4th day, due to the rain. I am not glad I crashed, but I am glad that I met a nice guy, and his nice wife. Sometimes a good thing comes out of a bad mishap. Best -

what caused you to lose control? and this will save you lot's of money in the end!

I lost control because I tried to get back up onto the path instead of just coasting to a stop. It turns out that Buster is a very experienced rider, compared to my only second year, and this is what he said. His wife immediately said the same thing when she heard how things happened. They agreed that it is not wise to try to get a road bike back up on the path if you accidentally run off it. If I run off the path again like this, I will certainly unclip and try to coast to a stop. Best -

I've managed to bunny hop my roadbike back over the edge before but generally speaking it is indeed safer to just roll it out and then place the bike back onto the road/path by lifting it back on there instead of attempting to ride it back on. I'm glad you came out of the crash okay.

This reminds me of a crash that happened to me a couple of years ago when the owner of my favourite bike shop and I were riding along at about 20MPH and he was checking out houses that were for sale (he was also big into real-estate). The next thing I know, he drifts right into me, slams up against me and as I'm fighting to retain control, he slides back along the side of me and goes down as his front wheel touches and wipes out my rear. This also caused me to go down and we went skidding across the road and ended up on the opposite side in a ditch. I ended up about 15 feet in front of him with my bike a couple of feet behind me. I took stock of my condition, decided I was okay and then looked behind me. I didn't see anyone or anything so I yelled out, "Phil, you okay?" Suddenly his head poked up out from the brush and he responded with, "Yeah, I'm fine... you?"

His bike received a little more damage than mine. I only lost a bar plug and ripped a little bit of tape at the end of the drops. His saddle was fairly torn up and his shifters were all scraped up. All of our wheels remained true though. We both had some nasty road rash however.

I lost control because I tried to get back up onto the path instead of just coasting to a stop. It turns out that Buster is a very experienced rider, compared to my only second year, and this is what he said. His wife immediately said the same thing when she heard how things happened. They agreed that it is not wise to try to get a road bike back up on the path if you accidentally run off it. If I run off the path again like this, I will certainly unclip and try to coast to a stop. Best -

This is 100% RIGHT. The year was 1989 - I was riding behind a friend of mine on the way back home from a long ride. The road was empty and smooth. A moment of tired "fog" or inattention and my front tire (and I imagine the back) wondered off the shoulder and into the gravel. I was only going 15 miles an hour or so. I had all the time in the world to simply slow down, stop and pop back onto the road to finish my ride. But I didn't. I tried to get back on the road without slowing down. The next 10 seconds are a total blur. I flew all the way across the road and came down HARD on my left elbow (and head, I guess - my helmet was finished). Nearly broke my arm clean-off. Blood pooled in the pockets of my jacket.

Two weeks in traction and two suregeries later I've still got three screws a small plate in my left arm. I am 100% convinced that had I simply slowed down or stopped before I tried to get back on the blacktop I would have avoided this whole mess. I've learned my lesson - believe me.

Judd

Dude, that totally sucks. I mean, shît happens, but it certainly blows when it actually does. Here's to a quick recovery!

Anyone else want to start a PayPal fund to buy this guy some new wheels?

I am stiff this morning. I kept a heating pad on my ribs for most of the night. It only hurts when I move my left arm, or try to bend over. Also, my wheels are fine, thanks. Best -

owie. i had a wipeout yesterday too. must've been one of those days. turning to go into the left lane, looked back, arm out, made sure the cars behind have stopped; and when i looked front again, the car in front came to an abrupt stop so i swerved one-armed and obviously had no control and wiped out smacking into his bumper. was fine, except for ego, scrapes, and had to re-set my stem/front wheel. ya, shoulder/arm's sore today.

sd

The last bad solo crash I saw happened exactly the same way. Zeb left the road, into the gravel and tried to get back on over a two inch edge. He went over the handlebars at 25 mph plus w/o a helmet. I made the 911 call, while some others took care of him. Luckily, all he had was a concussion and a bad cut on his head that required 23 stitches to close. Next time I saw him, he was wearing a helmet...

Yo, don't forget! Did either or both of your helmets hit the pavement? If so, buy yourself and Buster new helmets.

Glad to hear you're both in one piece. Good thing "Buster" isn't meant literally :) .