Frankfast

I was almost back to my apartment after a 23 mile ride. Cruising along on a four lane divided highway at about 17mph when a minivan coming from the other direction crossed in front of me and stopped in my lane at the entrance to beach parking lot. I seemed to have enough time to swing left and avoid it but the dynamic of braking and hitting a severe pothole at the same time made me lose control and down I went over the bars. My first instinct was to pick up my bike in the passing lane which I did and head to the guard rail. I sat down to recover my senses and inspect my wounds. My elbow took the worst of it but luckily I just lost some skin there and on my knee. I've met the pavement before racing motorcycles so I can't say I'm inexperienced at falling. I haven't gained enough confidence in wearing clipless shoes all the time and today I didn't have them on. I don't know if they would have caused a worse injury. The woman in the minivan was nice enough to come to my aid with wet wipes and I thanked her and told her I was okay. I took a quick look at my carbon bike and deemed it rideable and was able to make it home.
What worries me is that this accident seemed unavoidable. I'm not an experienced rider and maybe there was something I could have done but thinking back it happened so quickly. They say that the best thing to do is to get back on the bike as soon as possible which I intend to do.

dbg

I've gotten to the point where I feel much safer clipped in. I feel like I can jump and swerve and control the bike better than if I just have my feet loosely placed on the pedal platforms.

David Bierbaum

These things are unavoidable just because they happen in an instant, and little things like, well, potholes or debris getting caught in your spokes, will happen at the worst possible moment.

At that point, all you can do is go with the flow of physics, and sing under your breath "Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do..." and hope Ground Control brings you to a soft landing.

teachme

Slowing down to 13 or 14mph would have given you more time and distance to react to what was occuring in front of you. Expect the unexpected...

qcpmsame 

Glad that you were only skinned up. At least the driver stopped and came to check on you, that is a rarity in this day and time. Hard to say of the clip or not would make much difference. Your situational awareness (Chipcom and my USMC drill instructor nailed this one) will be your best defense. No special thing to offer, just glad you are okay.

Bill