Originally Posted by bubbagrannygear

1)Road Bike - Riding down a long hill where the speed limit is 35 and I can hit 40. I get into the lane so some car doesn't try and pass me and force me into all the junk on the side of the road. The road flattens out and goes around a curve and the speed reduces to 25. On this particular day there was traffic in the 25MPH portion and it was going very slowly due people parking and looking at a yard sale so I stayed in the lane. I looked over to see what the guy was selling and rear ended the car in front of me which had come to a complete stop. Not sure exactly what gymnastics occured after collision but I ended up on my but sitting upright on the pavement unhurt. Pay attention! duh.

2)Road Bike- using clipless and standing while climbing, my foot came disengaged from pedal and I came crasing down bruising my ribs on and bending the brifter. Upon inspection the metal clip on the cleat had broken allowing me to disengage. You've got to inspect and lubricate cleats! duh.

3) Commuter singlespeed. 5:30 AM dark had to detour from normal route due to down power lines. Slipped on ice making turn. Be careful on a new route and be cognizant of road conditions! duh.

4) Commuter singlespeed. 5:30 AM dark - there was a big storm and several people had taken branches to curb. I was riding along and suddenly went flying over the handlebars - stick in spoke. I had what I thought was a reasonable light but have since upgraded. You can't have too much light. duh.

5) Commuter singlespeed 5AM dark and raining. Was going faster then normal to shorten commute. Took a turn that I have taken hundreds of times wider than normal due to speed and slippery conditions. Went down on a steel plate in the road that I had somehow never noticed before when taking the turn on my normal radius. Slow down in rain don't speed up! duh.

6) Commuter 5:45 AM dark right after heavy rain. There is a small portion of my commute where I get on the sidewalk. I was tired, and not paying attention, so I ended up riding off the sidewalk (the non-road side) into some mud. I attempted to get back on the sidewalk and I didn't take the turn at somthing approaching a right angle, so instead of going up on the sidewalk I fell and ended up rolling accross the sidewalk into the water filled curb. Very funny.

mostly common sense so far but this one not as straight forward for me-

Road Bike - was comming down a hill about 30-35MPH and at the bottom of the hill there is a fork facing the opposite direction such that I am on the main road which is the right leg of the fork and cars going left at the fork are making a left turn accross traffic. I have the right of way on such a car. So a car turns left in front of me and I crash trying to avoid it. I was initially irate with me having the right of way and all, but the more I thought about it I realized that to many motorist bicycles are toys that kids ride, so they don't expect them to be going 30-35MPH (or more). The guy kept going, and again, the more I thought about it I'm not sure he ever saw me. My take away after further thought is that while having the law on your side is nice, the only law that really means anything, is the law of physics that says that if car hits bike - bike looses big. I now use extreme caution at intersections or breaks in the road and I wear one of those safety vests while commuting and a yellow-green jersey on the road bike. Not initially obvious to me because I was riding in accord with traffic law - but upon some reflection -duh.

Road Bike - Have also fallen maybe three or four times after stopping and being unable to unclip - mostly when I was exhausted - pretty funny but no knowlege to impart - practice ?