vol

Sounds horrific. Was the driver caught? It reminds me of a schoolmate who lost several 4 front teeth after applying the front brake suddenly while riding fast. The bike had a somersault and she was thrown with it. This makes me always careful about applying the front brake.

phillybill

Let me guess, he was 300lbs and had a beer in his hands

FalconRider54

At a previous job my commute was 26 miles each way. I only biked it a few times that summer. But one day a storm hit as I was going home. The rain stopped but the road was wet. My front tire hit a seam in the road and down I went. My right ankle got sliced open by the front derailleur. I continued to ride for a few miles until I caught the bus for the balance of the ride. When I got home, my wife looked at the ankle and off we went to the emergency room for 5 stitches.

bugly64

I ran over a snake. It some how got up into the rear spokes and tore one out and warped my wheel so bad I had to be rescued. I now have a better light on the front.

rhm

I had a spate of flat tires. There was something fundamentally wrong with the tube, and the rim strip; every time I patched it it tore a new hole somewhere else. I hadn't got more than three miles from home, far enough that i didn't want to walk home, so I kept patching and pumping... and eventually walked home.

no motor?

A couple of years ago I was riding home in the 20% chance of precipitation that was predicted and got a flat about 1 1/2 miles from home. In the dark. I could have just walked home or fixed it there, but called for a ride instead.

H.S.Clydesdale

wow, this has been an informative thread. I am concerned about my safety.

On time, I rode onto the college campus for a meeting, came out, and some thunkhead had managed to thread his lock through his bike, the bike rack, and my bike. I had no way to get my bike off the rack. I walked through the building looking for said thunkhead, asking everyone in the building if they rode the type of bike. No one fessed up to it, likely because I was fuming while asking. I went to lunch, having nothing better to do, and when I returned the bike was fortunately gone. That was a frustrating day.

Another time, in highschool, I was riding an true POS department store mountain bike that was three sizes too small, it was old, and while I rode it every day, I had never done a lick of maintenance. I stood up on the pedals and wham! hit the asphalt with my face. The chain broke and I went over the handlebars. I lost my two front teeth. I didn't even look at bikes as a method of transportation for another 15 years.

I am glad to be riding again because it is very enjoyable and much preferable way to get to work. I do worry though. I wish there were some way to make cycling safer.

Worknomore

My old commute was 9 miles of hard pack dirt road. Had the pleasure of the county chloriding the roads while at work. Bike and me were covered with nasty corrosive sodium chloride. Took a complete tear down to clean the bike. The ride itself was slogging thru goo.

asmac

That's a lot of centipedes. Hope you didn't swallow one of those too.

david58

You describe my biggest fear after getting smacked. I quit running in the morning because about a mile out it would hit, and there ain't no place to hide on that route. My departure on my bike is entirely dependent on my "constitutional", no place to stop on the way to work that wouldn't be very wrong.

Just in case, I have quit wearing bibs on my morning commute...

Artkansas 

I've had the usual batch of accidents, assaults upon me, mechanical failures and inclement weather. But the worst commuting experience is:

Driving a car to work.

DGalt

Mine was an accident with another biker. Heading home along the lakeshore bike path (live in Chicago). Was on the path for not even a few hundred yards, heading north, and some woman decides she wants to turn out of the south-bound lane and cross over the north-bound lane. Ran right into the side of her (I honestly never saw her until I was already heading over my bars). Bend up my handlebars (which thankfully bent back into place), flat on front tire, couple nasty bruises. Could have been much worse, no lasting damage thankfully (luckily it was a windy day, so I wasn't traveling very fast )

Have had a number of class calls on the path though. People just not paying attention....

Leebo

Nothing horrible. One small wipeout, too fast, wet pavement, landed on my back. The helmet worked well in that instance. Busted the seat tube clean in half by the BB. 2 zip ties and 10' of duct tape was good for the last 12 miles. Once pedaled through DEEP puddle. It went over my high tops on the down stroke. I then stopped to drain out my sneakers, wring out the socks and continue riding. A few crazy Boston drivers, a normal occurrence. One 7 F day, my gatorade froze solid, but that was a good ride. HTFU.

rex_kramer

Stacked flats.

About a year ago I was riding home, heard the clang of something metallic rattling in the street and suddenly my rim on concrete. I was close to one of my school sites, so I limped it in to the staff room to change the tube. 20 minutes later and I was back on the road. A mile later and I was back off the road...with another flat...and this time, no more spares.

rumrunn6

one winter cleaned my bike with a little water when I got home because it was warm enough. you know the winter road sludge and spray ... yuk. next morning I get a few blocks from my house and I have to stop because the rear derailleur is not working. apparently some water got into the rear cable housing and it seized. in pitch black and 17 degree temps I have to disassemble clean and reassemble the rear cable. I think I had a small headlamp, latex gloves and locking needle nose pliers so that helped. added about 15 minutes which doesn't sound like much but I wasn't dressed for sitting in the snow I was dressed for strenuous physical activity and I had not yet warmed up cuz the 1st few blocks are downhill ... yeah that sucked.