Daniel4

I've been riding my fat bike so that shouldn't be a big problem. My worry is bridges with metal grating. I wonder if they are able to wear or tear the knobs off the fat tires? They aren't too comfortable with slick tires too.

02Giant 

I feel your pain, I did the same thing earlier this year. I was +20 mph when I went down, in the drops and clipped in while sliding along the planks. Some of my bruising was still there a couple of weeks later.

Hope you have a speedy recovery!

ThermionicScott 

I was going to say, if he'd switched to the studded tires by now, it might not have happened.

ColaJacket

I think it was the wet leaves on the bridge. At least it didn't look like this:



GH

tnburban

The greenway paths around here use wood bridges and then put asphalt roofing shingles on top. Actually works quite good.

a1penguin

Bingo. Planks with gaps and a tight 180º turn and down I went. Broken shoulder and 9 months before I could bike again. Needless to say, I found a different commuting route.

The Quiet One

I have two wooden bridges on the MUP I ride on. The path is used by snowmobiles in the winter so the decks are pretty torn up and the traction is good, but if anyone did fall they would be picking splinters out of their hinders for weeks.

bikecrate

Interesting...just from my own experience there is one short MUP that has three wood bridges that I go on from time to time. This past summer was really wet and the planking looked almost moldy. I expected it to be pretty slippery, but it wasn't. I'm not sure why. Maybe it gets scuffed up somehow. I also ride high pressure 25 or 28c tires.

Hypno Toad

The type of wood material used does make a big difference. There are other bridges in my area with rough finished wood decking, they are still more slippery when wet than dry, but not like the icy-like surface of this smooth finished wood. With the rough surface, I'm always wondering if I might get a flat from a splinter; hasn't happened yet - KNOCK ON WOOD!

see what I did there

GovernorSilver

I finally learned what the local cyclists were referring to as 'The Trollheim". It's a bridge on Mt. Vernon Trail notorious for thousands of crashes

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...Y.krVEYs4JReRk

"This section of the trail is composed of wooden planks and becomes treacherously slippery when wet or icy. Virtually all regular cyclists have gone down here at least once and innumerable injuries have been the result."

I guess nobody's found a pressure hose long enough to pull over there and wash it off or whatever.

rekmeyata

Wood decking is nothing, try plastic decking...I fell doing 5 mph on damp plastic decking and went down like it was ice. I've been on wood decking, I handled that fine but plastic caught me by surprise. In our town the city used plastic decking on the sections of the bike path that routinely get flooded over by the river so the wood doesn't rot.

OmegaWolf

I took a spill on a wood bridge last year. The deck was raised where a vehicle's wheels would be on it, it was wet and I was going too fast. My front wheel got on the raised part, my back wheel didn't. The bike slammed down and I went over the handlebars and into the guardrail and post. Cut my left hand, bad bruise on the front of my right arm/shoulder and fractured right shoulder blade.

devianb

I don't think those wet leaves are helping matters either.

fietsbob

Stop & walk The bike across the span..

Leebo

So now everyone is aware of the issues. We use rough cut PT wood on most of of trail work stuff.

Wilfred Laurier

Last fall I was riding my mtb on the local xc ski trails, which include several wooden bridges over a creek. I think I even had a studded tire on the front, but as soon as I hit the bridge after the big downhill I realized I was in trouble - my front tire started sliding and I hung on as long as I could because I didn't want to fall intot he cold swollen creek. I slid off the bridge close enough to the far side that I landed in the mud on the bank, my weight evenly distributed between my left foot and the top of my head.

nondes 

We have lightly textured steel plate decking on some of our MUP bridges. The dew builds up on the surface overnight and lingers into the morning - I always hold my breath and my line when going over them. What's wrong with putting a more grippy surface over top?

Wilfred Laurier

That money is better spent on a security detail following the mayor into a crack house.

Darth Lefty 

Been there and done that with a motorcycle loaded for touring... owwww

GovernorSilver

A local cyclist just posted that he wiped out on the wood bridge on which I ride on my morning commutes (my evening route is different, and skips this bridge). Because he'd wiped out on it twice before, he said he slowed down to what he thought was a safe speed, and still ended up falling with a laceration to his face.

There's only been one surface I've ridden on that caused me to fall off my bike no matter how slow I went - that was fairly deep sand. Hopefully the bridge won't be quite that bad. I don't ride as fast as this guy so what's slow to him might be medium to me.

nondes 

That mayor is long gone. Time to move on.

Hypno Toad

I also hate the nagging injury that didn't seem bad at the time and now (a week later) is keeping me off my road bikes. I fell on my right shoulder, which is the same shoulder I fell on during a CX race (4 weeks ago). It appears the second slam created some damage to the healing tissues in my shoulder.

Worst, my desk ergonomics, I typically use my mouse with the right hand, but I can hold my arm out to my mouse for more than a minute or two. So I'm trying to use the mouse with my left hand... Less than efficient. LOL!

I'm riding my Pugsley and city bike, but no road bikes for a while... Likely not until April since snow is in the forecast.

/whining

GovernorSilver

The fellow local cyclist who wiped out last week on a wood-decked bridge just posted this:
Technical FAQ: Tire grip in wet conditions - VeloNews.com

In summary, the consensus among Specialized, Challenge, Continental, and Vittoria seems to be to lower the tire pressure if you're going to be riding on wet surfaces.

Wilfred Laurier

I have 'high' hopes for your new mayor, too.

kuroba

I fell from my old dutch bike this way. One second I was sitting in the saddle, next I was upside down in my front basket. Nothing hurt, just my ego.