EKO

Happened Wed on the way home, and went about as graceful as it could have. It was raining, and I was coasting after a <1mi sprint I have on an arterial to keep up with traffic (or at least try to, it's a 45 mph zone). There was a guy in an Explorer behind me waiting for me to make a right, so I decided to get moving and return the favor by getting out of his way. I know this corner has lots of sand and was under water at the time. Well I took it too fast, and the bike started to go out from under me. I got my right foot down and sorta kicked myself back upright, but went to far and got the wobbles. After a couple oscillations, it was game over so somehow I managed to hop off as the bike was going over and keep my momentum as I ran it off into someone's front yard. The guy in the Explorer just drove around my bike in the middle of the street and waved as he drove on.

All in all, no harm, no foul. I never touched the ground except with the bottom of my feet and no apparent damage to the bike. This all happened within about 2 seconds, and all I managed to utter was "Fu!". Ask me to repeat my little gymnastics feat, and I'd probably laugh at you. Needsless to say, I was a little shook up (literally, I was shaking) and I coasted pretty much the whole way home after that. A facefull of asphalt and getting steam rolled by an Explorer is enough to put a little fear in you.

Be safe out there.

legit

Sounds like quite the adventure. Good to hear you recovered well!

I always have the shakes after a crash, all the adrenaline I think. I guess I just figure I should use the adrenaline while I've got it so I get up right quick and start trekking home. Its always annoyed me when spectators see that I am probably ok and just go along there merry little way, but alas thats life.

Thanks for sharing, good to hear you are ok!

ItsJustMe

Good job keeping on your feet. I've had only one serious wipeout, and my front wheel went out instantly on a sand patch on a corner. My face was in the pavement before I knew I was falling.

nikirtehsuxlol

That's one thing I dont want to do. I dont want to swerve and fall mysteriously into the middle of a lane of moving cars. I dont know if helmets are too helpful if a car runs over you.

/notes to self: fall to the right. fall to the right.

Mr. Underbridge

I'll give you credit, that's pretty impressive.

Don't compromise your safety for someone else's convenience. And always check the terrain ahead when cornering hard. Of course, I bet you know that now.

EKO

There are two cardinal rules I tend to follow when operating any vehicle:

1. Don't look where you don't want to go.
2. Don't let your decision making be influenced by other people on the road (ie, don't speed up because someone is tailgating, etc).

I knew this intersection is bad. Usually when I make the turn, I'm going very slow, and turn into the opposing lane (there's no "lane", it's residential). As I was jogging off onto the front lawn, I was thinking to myself, "Dammit, that was totally avoidable."

I guess it was just a reminder by Physics not to push my luck.

RiverScout

Way to use your dope Ninja skills! I have been commuting daily for 2 months and my big fear is just wiping out. A friend was mountain biking and broke his wrist in a fall.

I hope when the time comes I can Ninja leap like you!

thorsteno

Were you using cycling shoes and cleats? I don't think I could even manage a jog with mine. Awesome that you pulled it off.

EKO

Yea those ninja skills I didn't even know I had. I seriously think my cerebellum was like, "OK, Eric, you're doing a piss poor job of handling this situation, I'm taking over now." I felt kind of like Will Ferrel's character in Old School when he gave the rebuttal in the debate. "What happened? I blacked out for a second there." I wish I had video of it, it probably looked pretty funny.

At least I'm now quite familiar with the coefficient of friction on road tires in inclement weather...

I was wearing running shoes with straps. I have to walk a lot of times after I bike. I'm car free at the moment, so cruising around the grocery store in cleats is probably just as dangerous as my little incident. If I had cleats on, I probably would have had a mouth full of asphalt.

PS: Polite Club, that's hilarious!

Leiniesred

I don't think that counts as a crash. That was a trick dismount with associated ghost rider bike stunt. Glad you are fine.

No blood=no sympathy (house rule)

Quickbeam

+1. Glad you're okay and nice job styling out of a potnetial crash. But as Leiniesred said, this "incedent" does not count as your first crash. Keep trying!

PunkMartyr

You're lucky the guy in the explorer wasn't on the phone sucking down a starbuckees

EKO

For all you naysayers...Is this better?
https://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=625951