Mountain Biking - Worst Crashes!!!

So i'm just wondering what everyones worst crash is? I've only ever had 1 big crash, where I mangled a pair of forks, broke the handlebar, and ripped a few nipples from a rim, but all the parts were bottom ended. I'm not sure if that means I was so good, I pushed myself to my limits (unlikely), or I am soo crap, I just can't land jumps. I'm sure you guys have had much worse though. Please share...

I thought that this thread would take off...guess not. I would say that my worst crash would have to be back in my Teenage BMX days on my Mid Eighties Schwinn Predator, There was this sump in the fire trails that was simply HUGE. The Dirtbike guys built a ramp that they used to jump into the sump after a long steep downhill leading to it. Well, after considerable eggin' on by my buddies, I decided to do it on my BMX... I came cruising down the hill much faster than I could possibly pedal and flew off the end of the ramp. The hang time felt like forever, Then came the landing which I stuck... a little TOO much as there was about a foot deep of the softest sand which stopped my bike in it's tracks! All I remember is a blinding flash and coming to on my back, some fifteen feet from my bike gasping for air. I was fine after a few minutes but my front rim had seen better days! If I weighed what I do now this would be a total different and scary story!

My worst crash since getting back into bikes was not nearly as spectacular as it was my second day in the trails and I was going down a Black Diamond downhill skidding my rear brake and getting out of control and kissing a tree with my front brake lever sending me over the bars as my front end siezed up. I went flipping down the hill coming to a stop with my bike landing on top of me while in a strippers position with my body curled over my head that was practically kissing my crotch. I had some roadrash on the back of my neck but, that is about it.

On the BMX, I've taken it a bunch.

As far as MTB goes...I got caught in a rut while braking at the bottom of a hill and my front wheel turned sideways and just sent me OTB. Didn't get hurt, nor did I break anything...it was actually kind of fun.

Havent really crashed too much, but my worst one would probably be when i was doing a trail that me and a few friends found, it was gnarly as! A trail about 1 - 2ft wide for about 3 miles with bumps and drops and roots and on the other side of the trail was an 80ft bank right to the bottom that was lined with trees and all sorts of other nasties, anyway, as i came down the trail my front wheel slipped on a wet root, my bars slid into a tree, it threw me over the bike when i hit my head on the tree (helmet on obviously) then slid down this bank about 50 foot and stopped suddenly after having a big bramble wrap across my chest and stop me dead in my tyracks, got up and have a lines of holes going right across my chest, and bloody was pissing out everywhere, nice :)

:D I had just gotten a new bike so I felt like Superman.I'm riding a trail with a lot of big woops and I get to the last jump and really air it out. My back tire cases a rock, I get shoved up on the bars and go flipping into a creek.Good thing it was summer.

i broke my leg in two places doing this head high urban drop.

then 2 months after i got my cast off i broke it again.

ouch, compound fracutred my arm and the bone pierced the skin, but that was on a skateboard, i faceplanted a gravel track near my house not too long ago....still get stuck in my pedals sometimes...

I went over my handle bars in an XC race. I had never ridin the course before and there were many rocks. It was nothing big got back up and finished the race. still have a little skin scare.

Shortly after I got my F700, I was riding a popular trail with a buddy in Germany. It was an awesome DH switchbacking down a cliff by a river. I had hit the last section and was trying to catch up to my friend(a more experienced rider at the time). The trail had washouts every few meters where logs had been laid to prevent erosion and we were bunnyhopping them. There was a little rock garden in the trail before a covered walkway to a ferry station. Wasn't lookin' far enough ahead, I guess, and didn't spot the rocks til I was in the air bunnyhopping a log. Panicked and hit the brakes--in the air still. Hit the trail, my bike stopped-I didn't. Went face first into the rocks. Woke up seeing stars. I had broken/chipped 3 teeth and peeled quite a bit of skin off my right shoulder, face and hands(through my gloves). What could I do? I was on a weekend and I felt okay after my head stopped spinning. We got back to the barracks and had some beer....

This one time, at band camp...

My worst crash wasnt actually a crash but it hurt alot. I was doing some street riding when I saw a 8 set of stairs. They were long and the landing area was only about 4 feet before going down a steep hill. It started by me not getting enough speed, i flew off and landed on the 7th and 8th stair back. The bike then went into a endo and I glided over the 4 foot landing zone, then went down the 20 foot hill in an endo and came to a sudden stop at the bottom. I did a donkey kick and the spikes on my pedals dug right into my leg because i wasnt wearing my shin pads.

Going down a simple trail one day, looked good, going at a high speed. Then i noticed all the deep ruts that had formed from heavy rain a couple days ago. While trying to dodge the deepest ruts i had forgotten about the drop off over a gutter and onto the road. Landed that (very badly) looked up and saw a higher bit of land in my path which was raised about to my hip. Kind of looked like this ( / ) angle, smacked it forks first, got shot up onto the raised ground, hit my head on a rock and broke my helmet, bruised my hip, forever scarred my back. The first thing i thought to my self was, is my bike ok? I got over the pain only to see twisted handlebars and the forks lieing half a meter away. Yes it sucked, but it tought me to do a once over on a trail after something like heavy rain.

My worst freeriding crash was at school. After dropping off a dock and not having a problem I went to go down 8 steep steps. Well in the excitement I ended up flying off the steps and landing on the bottom one sending me over the bike into the grass and having the bike land on top of me. Nothing bad happened other than a bruised ego. About 10 people saw it and laughed.

This was back when I was like uh...13? or so? Something like that...I worked a paper route to get my new 21 spd Magna MTB from wally world. Anyways I was comin 'back from a friends and I saw this nice snow mound...so I went to ramp it and it turned out to be niced over my wheel slid right off it, I ate pavement bent my rim all to hell..knocked the wind out of me, then SOMEHOW managed to get the bars turned around and catch on the seat basically locking me in between the top tube and the handlebars...yeah o0 that hurt

a few years back i was riding doen a fairly steep trail, bike started to fishtail, was goin for a tree, i bailed and hit another tree, broke my shoulder, ive never stopped that fast in my life
oh and i never went to a doctor or anything

*weird fact of the day*
basketball is ranked number one with the most injuries :eek: :rolleyes: :lol: , and mountain biking is second
i think bikin is second cause for most things we dont go to the hospital for, we just keep riding, unless its broken, or are unabe to get back on our bike

Bruised Spleen, bruised Clavical, few broken bones.....im still here :D

MY worst crash was while riding to a lake to watch a water ski comp. I was riding through a construction area and looking sideways at a car that was passing and the ground just stopped. I fell into a 15 foot ditch while looking sideways i bent just about everything that i could on my bike. Seat rails, rims, deruailer trashed, but i didnt realy sustain any injuries.

I was riding xc on a super technical trail and went off a tree root that was supposed to be a jump over a creek. my front wheel came down and caught the edge of the creek. My body came down on the toptube and I smashed my balls. I was sitting for like 20 min. When trail work day came aronud I fixed that spot.

I once fell 20 feet while riding at 15mph, rotated in mid-air, landed on my head and my right hand (I put my hand out to catch myself). I crushed the end of the Radius, chipped the Ulna, and cracked the Navicular. I had 4 steel screws in my arm and hand for 6 weeks, with an external fixation device holding it in place. After screw removal, I had a cast for another 5 weeks, to heal the cracked Navicular. After the cast was removed, I wasn't allowed to ride for another two weeks. I crashed in June, it killed my whole summer of riding. I was lucky that my boss didn't let me go, since I was a bike mechanic at the time, and a right-handed mechanic with a broken right wrist is kinda worthless. When I fell, I knocked a fist-sized chunk out of my brand-new Z-Leader helmet. The only damage to the bike was a scuff on the seat, and a minor tear of the rubber coating on the SunTour XPress shift levers.

I actually ride much more aggressively now than I did before I crashed.

I just had my worst crash last wednesday on the way to a work meeting. Travelling down the pavement on a downhill stretch at a good pace when a car on the main road beside me zooms past and fangs it round the corner into a side street in front me. I hit the brakes but squeezed the front ones a bit too hard and according to the guy at the tyre shop (who was grinning ear to ear) I - not the bike tho - got quite a bit of air. Managed to land on the back (?) of my left shoulder and break it in addition to spraining my right hand/wrist/fore-arm. Bashed my head too but luckily I was wearing ze helmut. Went all dizzy for a bit and felt like having a spew. The guys at the tyre shop called an ambulance and I got all strapped up at the hospital. With both hands outta action its still a bit depressing not being able to wipe one's own butt :(

Bike damage: busted rear derailuer.

I just had my worst crash last wednesday on the way to a work meeting. Travelling down the pavement on a downhill stretch at a good pace when a car on the main road beside me zooms past and fangs it round the corner into a side street in front me. I hit the brakes but squeezed the front ones a bit too hard and according to the guy at the tyre shop (who was grinning ear to ear) I - not the bike tho - got quite a bit of air. Managed to land on the back (?) of my left shoulder and break it in addition to spraining my right hand/wrist/fore-arm. Bashed my head too but luckily I was wearing ze helmut. Went all dizzy for a bit and felt like having a spew. The guys at the tyre shop called an ambulance and I got all strapped up at the hospital. With both hands outta action its still a bit depressing not being able to wipe one's own butt :(

Bike damage: busted rear derailuer.

Just a question...how are you typing this?

With a single digit.

So first you press the caplock key, then type the capitol letter and then press it again and type the lower case ones? :p

My worst crash was probably back when I was 12 or so. I was riding a bike that was rather a bit too small for me and it had the back pedal brakes. Going down a very steep hill and as I tried to go around a curve I hit the brakes very hard and really flew like superman before landing on my front and skidding for a while. I'm suprised I didn't break anything as this was on an asphalt road :-/

More recently I had a harmless crash where I went down a small grass hill bordering a sidewalk and as I got to the sidewalk my front wheel wedged into the ground I went over the bar onto the sidewalk and then the bike fell ontop of me. It wasn't too funny I tell you but it would have been hilarious to anyone that saw me :p

my worst was when i was a kid on my bmx bike. my friends and i were tearing through a parking lot and bunny hopping those little concrete parking blocks. my rear wheel caught one on the way up and and landed in an uncontrolled front manual going top speed. front manuals are only fun when you know how to do them, which i didn't at the time. anyway, i decided that a smart thing to do would be to grab some front brake, and when i did, i went over the handlbars and ended-up jammed under the back end of a parked car with my legs tangled in my bike. no injuries, because i was wearing a full-faced helmet, but dang does that still give me chills to this day.

a couple of years ago on my mountain bike, i was with some friends on a trail -- too far behind the fastes guys and too far ahead of the slowest guys to be seen. i saw the shrub...tried to hop it...didn't makie it...bike got stuck in the shrub while i continued on without. ended-up on my hands and knees on the other side of the bush in a "take me from behind" position, and although i don't remember my head hitting the ground, there was dirt pouring from the vents nmy helmet. cool stuff. i got a free beer for the best crash nobody saw.

My best was on my road bike but was because of my mountain bike. I had been riding my mtb for years when I got a used road bike. One of the first days out on it I took a turn that would have been easy on the mtb but on the road bike I was headed for the trunk of a parked car. Simple just brake...oops, hands in the wrong place to reach brakes. i soon found myself laid out on the trunk of the car. No injuries to anything I jumped up quickly and look around to see if there are any witnesses. I count my blessings, no one saw it.