pallen

Agreed, the vast majority of falls result in a few scrapes and bruises. Not a big deal - its gives you fun stories to tell. Just look at how much fun everyone's having here telling their stories.

o0adam0o

Yeah its a fun story and ill have a battle scar to talk about. I learned a lesson in not being overconfident. And lets just say i got a helmet on the way now.

Plutonix

Ignoring incidents where your pedals wont seem to let go of your feet and to put a foot down at a stop - until you remember you just bought bike shoes and pedals, I only manage 1 crash every other year. I had some crashes when I first started riding but those were due to not knowing what I or the bike could do and we dont talk about them.

Most recent one was 09 (which means I am due this yr ), while in a curve the handlebars suddenly jerked out of my hands and went hard left. I, of course went over the bars. I must have bruised a rib or intercostal because I felt fine for a day or so then it hurt to breathe deep, stretch, lift, laugh or cough and took 6 weeks or so to subside. It also seemed to move from here to there a little. Quite painful.

Best I can figure, the front tire rolled over a rock or hard nut (it was fall) and 'slipped off' it turning hard left as it did. I could sort of feel the rear wheel sliding off nuts left or right, so I lowered my tire pressure which seemed to help.

ItsJustMe

I've dropped my bike three times. Once was cornering and hitting a sandy patch; I was down before I knew what was going on. Another was when we got snow for the first time of the year, hours before we were supposed to, and I hadn't put on my studded tires yet.

Another was when I had studs on, but there was a stretch of road at the bottom of a hill, in the middle of nowhere with no cars for miles, and even though I could see it was icy, I said "what the heck, it's straight and there are no cars anyway" so I just let the speed build up on the hill, and when I hit the ice, it was really quite hard, smooth ice and the studs didn't grip it. Down.

Neither of the times on the ice were a problem, I just slid on my butt to a stop, got up and continued. Could be unfortunate in traffic though.

Bryan0520

I too have crashed 3 times, 2 times on my cross bike and once on my road.

First time I was on a crushed limestone trail and my wife and I were racing each other...just having fun. I stood up on my pedals at the exact time I came across some really loose gravel. My backend started fish tailing and I went right down, right over the handle bars. Elbow was first to hit and ended up separating my AC joint in my shoulder. Then my helmet hit, cracked it right in half. That has since become my "Always wear a helmet" speech.

Second time, I was just being dumb and complacent and was looking over my shoulder at a car approaching way back, didn't realize how close I was to my wife’s back wheel, and went down, scraped up the elbow pretty bad!

Third time was just last week commuting in. I KNEW this stretch of path was ice covered from the night before....but NNNNOOOO I wanted to go that extra 20 feet on my bike!! Thought I could keep it up and went down....slid about 5 ft, jumped up....did the quick "did anyone just see that check" walked the rest of the way over the ice!

All good lessons learned....didn't read the whole thread, so I'm sure someone already said it, but with biking, it's not IF you're going to crash...it's just a matter of WHEN you're going to crash!

lbj

Aside from polo, which I don't count because crashing is pretty much part of the game, I've wiped out on ice once, caught my front wheel in a giant pothole/storm drain once, and been hit by a car (the car was making an illegal left turn) - no permanent harm done. Considering that I've ridden my bike almost every day for the past 5 years though, I'm not discouraged.

Terry66

I crash my mountain bike just about everytime I go out. Not that I am a bad rider (which I am), but more because the idea is to see how fast as you can go without crashing...unfortunately to find that point, you have to exceed it.

Road bike....I hit some gravel last year and washed the front wheel out. Also I stopped and forgot to unclip a couple of times...not sure that counts as crashing though.

grolby

I had a rash of crashes while in college, but it stopped during my senior year. Oddly enough, when I stopped riding like a jackass, I stopped falling off. I had a couple crashes in road races in 2008, which obviously don't count in commuting, and the last time I took a tumble during a regular road ride was when I hit the slushy semi-packed snow between the tire tracks during a moment of inattentiveness in Feb. 2009. None of these crashes caused me any injury worth mentioning - not even road rash. The earlier crashes, on the other hand, hurt a bit.

It helps that I'm a much more skillful rider now than I was during my first few years of college. If you really want to get good at avoiding crashes, take up mountain biking or something similar. You never stop crashing in mountain biking, but it's generally of little consequence. And you learn to avoid crashing by crashing. Best way to do that is on dirt.

But if you're just riding along to work, you don't even need that. Don't do anything foolish and you're very unlikely to crash. I've never just fallen off for no reason; most of the time, it's my fault.

mgurtzweiler

I crash a lot on my MTB (if i don't crash then I'm not pushing it hard enough is my motto!).

Only time I have crashed when commuting is last summer when it was about 110deg out and I was climbing the next to last hill home and I fell over. Fully clipped in, hands on handle bars just tipped over. I didn't have the energy to do anything about it.

Some lady in a car pulling out of a parking lot got a chuckle out of it.

ClemY

I crashed a number of years ago when I was rear ended by a car. I got laid out on the car and thrown off. Fortunately I landed on grass and was only bruised

Two years ago I crashed when a pack of dogs took out my front wheel. I went over the bars and landed flat on my butt, getting a split pelvic fracture and internal bleeding. I spend a month in the hospital, two months cruising around at home in a wheelchair and a few more months walking with crutches and then a cane. Would anyone care to guess my feelings about unsecured dogs?

john423

Clem, thanks for putting the fear of God into me about dogs. Last time I was out on my road bike, I had one literally nipping at my heels, but I was surrounded by traffic, also, and in no mood to worry about some dog. I didn't even look at it, just kept pedaling. I should've been more concerned about the dog than the traffic - if he/she had launched into my back wheel, it'd been all over.

I crashed my current commuter bike the second time I had it out. I was on a section of roadway where everyone goes 30 miles over the speed limit and drives like ignorant rednecks, so I was up on the sidewalk for my "safety." Well, unfortunately, it was trash day on this street. I swerved right to avoid a trash can and my back wheel's spokes got caught up in some homeowner's shrubbery.

The back wheel stopped, but the rest of the bike didn't get the message and I went flying over the front handlebars. I landed on the side of my head (still have a scuff on my helmet to show for it), broke my glasses, had a minor cut on my face (no stitches) and a concussion despite the helmet - guy stopped to see if I was OK, asked what happened, and I couldn't remember for the life of me what a shrub was called. Had to point at it and say "that thing over there."

Walked the bike for a while, then said "screw this" and rode home.

I've had the inevitable couple of embarrassing falls while trying to learn how to get clipped into road pedals, and I pretty softly crashed my commuter about a month ago when I braked too hard coming out of a right turn and went very slowly over the handlebars again. This was like a slow-motion crash - I felt oddly in control the whole time. "OK, I'm crashing, try to land the right way." That one hardly counts.

ClemY

I feel your pain. A pump is my weapon of choice for dogs, but when you have your head in the clouds like I did that day, when you are surrounded by 6 or 8 dogs, it is too late for the pump.

When I crashed, a guy came out and asked me the date. He anticipated I had a minor head injury. He was right. I couldn't remember the date. Turns out I had a concussion from being knocked out briefly on my way over the bars.

tpelle

I was going out for a quick errand, and decided to take my Trek 820 mountain bike. I was pedaling up a hill right after leaving my house, and when as I was down-shifting the chain came off of the front chainwheel on the inside. I stopped in the middle of the hill, and got all greasy putting the chain back on. I was kind of pi$$ed by that time, and instead of doing the smart thing and walking the bike up the hill, or coasting down to take another run at it, I decided to try to start out in the middle right at the steepest part.

I got off to a slow, wobbly start and realized that I wasn't going to make it. As I was getting ready to put my left foot down and stop the bike took a wobble to the left, which put my left foot on the downhill side as I came to a stop. I overbalanced, and did a sort of slow-motion roll off of the bike in the middle of the road (country road with no traffic). As I went down, my left kneecap popped on the pavement. It kind of hurt, but I figured I would shake it off. I walked the bike to the top of the hill, got on, and finished my errand - a couple of miles total.

That night my knee swelled up to about the size of my head, and was VERY PAINFULL. Went to the ER, got an X-Ray, and was diagnosed with a broken kneecap.

Ipedaltahoe

Crashed once due to frozen brakes, another time ice.
No damage, either time. The more you worry about it the more likely you'll be to crash

108

I just learned how to ride a bike about 2 months ago. So far... no "epic" crashes. However, there were probably about 20 or so times that I had minor crashes as I learned how to actually ride (you know make turns and avoid things and not remember to use a brake or panic. I'm too much of a wuss at first so I learned on a baseball field with lots of grass to pad my fall.

Ira B

Haven't crashed a bike since I was a kid in spite of riding like a lunatic at times.

Dumb assed luck?

Grace of God ???


[edit]
I remember I did fall over next to my front door about 25 years ago (age 25).
Just stopped and fell over. No harm ,no foul.

Grim

If anybody tells you they ride more the 50 miles a year and hasn't had to pick themselves up off the ground at some point they are probably lying but there may be a few that have beat the odds. LOL

Now I have been fortunate not to have any high speed crashes in recent times. Had a couple good ones in the 80's getting tires crossed in pace lies etc. My recent crashes have all been low speed.

I have had 3 in the last three years. 1st was in my driveway on a test ride. My drive is asphalt and fairly steep. There use to be a 75ft pine next to it that I had cut down a few years ago. The roots raised part of the drive just where the back bumpers of our cars are when parked. I hopped on a Miyata 610 I was refurbishing and started to slowly ride between our cars and hit that lump while hard on the front brake. Well first off the bike was way small for me (52cm and I ride 63's) so my CG was in a screw spot for me and a good bit forward of where it would have been on a bike my size. I managed to do an endo as a result. I stayed on my feet but the top of the bike went right I jumped left bruising the hell out of the inside of my right leg on the stem or seat and stepped on the front rim in the process and scuffed it up.

I just got back into riding a little over three years. Back when I rode in the 80's was before SPDs, I rode clips but very out of practice. So I bought some SPD peddles and shoes and was gingerly leaning how they worked. Took off on a 10 mile loop and about midway through I managed to do the slo mo Unclip the right and fall over left at an intersection when I panicked and couldn't get unclipped.
Got up took a bow for all the laughing drivers and dragged my humiliated self and bike to the curb.

Just before Thanks giving I managed to repeat the fall over scene as I was trying to anticipate a traffic light and track stand.

rolliepollie

Ahh memorable crashes up till my college years....

One of my first rides before learning the rules of the road, I turned left without looking and got clipped by a passing car. Fortunately she was nice and didn't treat it like it's my fault.

Riding downhill back home to garage door in a hurry, breaking hard in the front at its limit. A slight dip in the sidewalk (where the driveways are more level) caused the front to wash out and I crashed against the garage door. Went back to my friends-be waiting with bleeding forearm and shin like "wtf happened to you"?

Going fast on campus hurrying to class, and took a right turn in the middle of the Davis campus (bike city), while still pedaling. A pedal clipped the ground and I "bounced" left and I instantly thought "f it" and threw myself to the right. Rolled along the middle of the road full of bikers and pedestrians (more like bounced, with a heavy backpack), and someone brought back some stuff I dropped. Went for the nearest restroom to wash my bloodied legs and torn nylon pants.

Off campus, crossed a street and leisurely turned left on a slick sidewalk bikepath and the front just washed out. Everyone and myself probably wondered how I managed that.

Road my road bike at night without a headlight out in the farms outside campus. Going about 15 mph when I forgot there was a sharp turn and a quickly approaching fence became visible. I braked and endo'ed with my chest landing and pinky smack on the top fence bar. I think the compression shocked my heart for a good 10 seconds as I was unable to breath and focus. And I think I fractured my ulna as moving my pinky became painful. Luckily it healed up in a few days.

Same area at a remote gas station when I got lost at night. Was heading towards the cashier to ask for directions but didn't see a curb in front of me and endoed in front of a SUV filling up. The kids inside gave a good stare.

You're gonna ride your bike a little harder and one day you're going to think you'll just go a little faster here, or try riding through this patch.

skye

I go down on black ice every couple of years. Doesn't matter so much -- I'm usually wearing so many layers that it's like jumping on a mattress, and let's face it, I'm not stupid enough to go ripping around corners at speed when the fog is freezing. The fun part about falling on black ice is that it happens so fast that you're sunny side up before you even know you fell.

mtnwalker

OP, I just crashed again on the first commuting day of the year. My front wheel slid out underneath me as I was making a really tight corner, going really slow(3-4mph), going downhill, on wet pavement, on a pedestrian overpass the morning after it rained.
I sprained my left wrist because I instinctively reached out to "catch" myself. Stupid, lesson learned, but will most likely happen again because it cannot be helped unless I have enough time think "DO NOT LET GO OF THE HANDLEBAR".

Cheers.

Pridedog

I use to keep track of the number of times I crashed until I got up around 20 and thought that this is an exercise in futility. I have been riding for 32+ years and firmly believe it is not if you are going to crash, but when. People always ask if I was going to fast or doing something wrong. At the time I didn't think so, but obviously something was wrong if I went down.

dwilbur3

I had never crashed until about 6 months ago. I had a head-on with another cyclist. Both of us took the shortest route around a blind corner (technically I was in the right, but I take that corner wide now!) Fortunately, neither of us were hurt. (We were both almost stopped by the time we made contact.) I had to make some adjustments on my bike later, but other than that, it was unhurt too.

bkrownd

I used to crash a lot when I commuted on my mountain bike, but not since I switched to a better-fitting commuting road bike - ride more conservatively now I guess.

o0adam0o

Got my stitches out on Monday! The wound is healing nicely. I think i might start ridding again next week!!