Originally Posted by
neil
Before this year, the last time I remember falling on a bike was when I was 15 years old (12 years ago.) This year's been different...I've fallen about 4 times as I adapted to clipless pedals on tour, but they were always very low speed falls because I was a little overweight to the left, and have never gotten the hang of releasing my left foot. But then there was today, which really startled me.
I don't wear clipless on my commute (don't want to carry the extra shoes). So getting my foot down should not be an issue. Somehow, though, I managed to completely wipe out on a corner I've taken every ice-free day for 3 years, and more than a few icy days, too. Just suddenly my bike came out from under me.
No big injuries or anything, just a little road rash on my elbow. The corner is into a back alley, and the path of my fall just threw the bike across the sidewalk and into a retaining wall...no other traffic to cause damage to me or my machine. But still, it's left me a little shaken...if anything, I'd say I was going slower than usual.
So do you guys fall from time to time? How often? Or is it just me being unusually inept?
I'm kinda curious - was this recently, or was this during some time when there might have been ice?
I don't "regularly" fall down except for mountain biking, but that's a whole different beast (and the falls are much slower and at lower speeds).
If you lose traction on that front tire, you'll go down without a chance to react. 2 years ago I went down in the rain - one second I was up, then there was a flash of "wha..." and I was on the ground. But up my elbow a bit. It's funny - I had just gotten a new rain jacket and was wearing it, but somehow my elbow hit the ground and was bloody, but the rain jacket didn't have a scratch. At the time I was relieved the rain jacket didn't get messed up (it cost $230). After 2 years my elbow still has a scar, though, so now I would have rather had the jacket take the hit...
My uncle fell down on his bike, somewhat randomly, in a situation where he really shouldn't have fallen down - low speeds, summer, familiar corner, etc. Poor guy broke his hip (he's in his 50's), had to have hip replacement surgery...erg. I don't think falling down "regularly" is normal outside of mountain biking (where at least the fall is usually onto something softer).