DrkAngel

Anything from a pothole in a trees shadow to the neighbors dog jumping in front of you.

Eventually everyone will be forced to decide whether to hit an unexpected obstacle straight on or try some degree of radical swerve.


1. Immediately apply brakes?
In a best case, you can stop or lessen severity of impact.
(Many experts insist that a 1/2 speed impact is 1/4 as damaging)
At least, it will give you a bit more time to decide or prepare for impact.

2. Swerve in the hope of totally avoiding collision, risking a total loss of control and unpredictable crash?

3. Take the impact straight on with the probability of reasonable damage or partially controlled crash?
Combined with emergency braking and (or) pulling up the front wheel might save everything except your rear wheel. (Danger of seat ejecting you over the bars)

I, in the past, have had good survivability popping the front wheel over potholes while lifting off the seat. (Bent some wheels and broke a few spokes)

Just recently, due to heavy traffic and zero pedestrians, I was riding along the fresh new sidewalks. Checking traffic, sun behind me, sunglasses on, I didn't notice till more than halfway across the 20' street that the ramped transition off the sidewalk faced a dual ramp opposing sidewalk. Straight, sidewalk to sidewalk, presented me with a 6" new concrete curb. Quick diagnosis prompted me to attempt heavy braking with swerve ...
Wound up with the handle bar straight speared in the gut, fresh road rash on my left knee and an impacted wrist-elbow-shoulder. Broke my front brake lever ... not sure if I broke it or it broke bruising my junk (tender purple parts).

Hindsight evaluates attempting to hop the curb as much preferable!
Not without cost!
Rear motor and battery (~30lb) would result in a substantial rear impact with the potential for a very cinematic "ejection" into the air and over the bars. (Rear wheel crush-collapse might have left me in great condition?)

The purpose in my posting this thread is to collect views on negotiating obstacles and to help every cyclist be more aware and prepare for such occurrences.

DX-MAN

Can't say it doesn't happen, but the pothole thing is exceedingly rare; the new curb thing would make me say a few NSFW words, for sure, but yeah -- I'd hop it. Kona likes to fly!

I totally understand that skinnier tires and lighter bikes are "more efficient"; but with the urban landscape being what it is in many places, the utility factor of fat tires and suspension make a lot of problems go away. . .for me, at least. And, being a Clyde, I have BIG trust issues with the lighter bikes. I've had MTB's that couldn't handle my output, so skinny tires and a lightweight frame make me a little nervous.

RaleighSport

I ride in the road or bike lane... I also evaluate my surroundings constantly for bail out plans.. this hypothetical situation has never happened to me I believe due to my actions..

ItsJustMe

Totally depends on the situation. If it's a problem with the road, assuming it's a small one that I can avoid by moving a foot or so to one side, I'll veer. You can snap steer around a small obstacle without countersteering first. If you need to actually change road position permanently because it's more than a couple feet long, you'll need more time to countersteer first.

Both are subject to current conditions - whether there are cars nearby and is the road wet, etc.

If it's a moving thing like a dog, speed changes are probably called for.

If it's really small, like a foot or less, you can bunny hop it.

The only time I've really been caught out on obstacles was before I got decent lighting.

Wilbur Bud

If it's truly a surprise, then you have to hit it as swerving without looking has bad potential. If any time to adjust is available then braking is good. If you have time to confirm safely an alternate path then it wasn't really a surprise.

B. Carfree

My obstacles mostly have fur and move quickly. Swerving is a losing move in most cases since an oblique impact would be far worse than a high speed straight-on strike, particularly with the small ones like raccoons and nutria. Good brakes help, but paying attention is far more important to avoiding impacts.

Leebo

Bunny hop anything less than 6". Learn to counter steer. Be vigilant.

I-Like-To-Bike

Maybe not riding at full speed at all times, regardless of traffic/road/visibility conditions, while depending on braking/swerving "skill" to get out of road surprises might help.

San Rensho 

Swerve if you can. If you can't swerve, and this is really a split second decision, then jump up in the air as high as you can right before you hit the obstacle, tuck and roll and hopefully clear it. DO NOT, "lay down" the bike if you are going to hit something big and hard like a car, you risk going under it and getting run over. Applies to deer and big dogs also.

For the small stuff, like a cyclist that just went down in front of you and you can't avoid, bail out by throwing your whole body back, cover your head with your arms. Hopefully you will land on your back/butt and avoid belly flopping, which can easily lead to broken arms, wrists or a collar bone.

rumrunn6

you want some surprises? ride at night

Looigi

Immediately start braking as hard as possible (front brake, of course) then decide on swerve, hop, collision, etc.. By slowing, you can swerve more quickly and sharply, more easily time the hop, or collide more softly. You're basically friction limited, and maximal braking utilizes friction to the limit.

ro-monster

Either swerve and then brake, or brake and then swerve. But never do both at the same time. That's a sure recipe for ending up on the ground. If you've been lucky enough to take motorcycle safety classes, they spend quite a bit of time teaching you this.

Keith99

I'll go with serve.

But then I'm thinking of the very first obstacle I had to deal with, a rattle snake. Braking would have just left me stopped on top of it, not a good thing. Luckily I know the front end from the back end.

Otherwise I'm going straight. Never even come close to going down due to a straight on impact, can't say the same from an impact at an angle.

FBinNY 

There's no one answer because there are two many variables. Where traffic permits, a medium sized pothole can be hopped over, or the quick swerve and recovery, where the bike goes around, and back under you before you fall, will work (takes a bit of bike handling skill).

Other obstacles need to be assessed (quickly) and a reflex like correction. Getting left crossed is fairly common where I do Sunday and evening rides, and I long ago decided to always move left and scrub off speed, and either pass behind the vehicle, or hit it. Three times now I've hit it broadside, once rolling over the hood, yet so far no injury, and lots for fear and apologies from drivers. One insisted on calling the police, and the officer asked both of us for our stories, which amazingly agreed, and promptly wrote the driver a ticket for unsafe left.

The biggest obstacle I ever encountered was 2 winters ago when riding home in the dark and rain and broadsided a slate gray van. At about 20 feet I suddenly realized that it wasn't a shadow (headlight glare on wet glasses) and not having time to avoid it turned parallel at the last moment and tried to body check it out of my way with my shoulder. Didn't work, but got off with no damage to bike and no injury, though I did dent the van. Driver was very good about it, taking some blame, and happy there wasn't injury. Rode home, and was fine except for waking up stiff on one side the next morning. Only lasting effect is that I no longer wear my glasses on rainy nights.

RobertHurst

Watch
Where
You're
Going

turbo1889

For me a whole lot depends on what I'm riding. For one bike (the one and only skinny tire road bike I own, an old 10-speed) I will avoid and go around just about anything larger then a small crack in the pavement. For another bike I will knowingly ride through just about anything including potholes that are three feet in diameter and a foot deep in the middle rather then go around.

I actually got an interesting comment from another cyclist one day about this. On that day my usual "bus bike" was in the shop being worked on so I took my "All Terrain" bike which is part mountain bike, part down-hill bike, and part urban fat-tire bike instead and while riding around town after taking the bus between towns with the bike in the rack on the bus I was making my way through traffic in town just doing my thing and handling the road chuck-holes and such as I saw best considering the bike I was riding and another cyclist who was in the lane behind me and eventually passed me hollered at me that I was riding my bike "Dodge Ram" style and by the tone of his voice he obviously thought I was crazy. I caught back up with him at a red light and asked him what he meant by this and he explained that drivers that drive Dodge Ram pickup trucks do not go around obstructions but rather go through them and do not slow down before going through them but actually accelerate slightly before going through the obstruction. I apparently though I was doing the same sort of thing with all the potholes and such and not ever changing my line and just going straight through everything and even accelerating before I hit them. I responded that I was actually trying to take the weight off me front tire up as I hit each pot-hole which meant jamming into the pedals and pulling up on the bars not enough to make the front tire loose road contact but enough to take almost all the weight off of it as I hit the potholes and keep me rear off of the seat when the rear wheel went through the pot-hole. He responded that he still though I had a "Dodge Ram" driving attitude and then the light changed.

So, I would have to say it depends on what I'm riding and if I know I can get away with going through obstacle because my bike can take the punishment then I will do so and I only go around stuff that I don't think my bike can take.

vol

I sometimes face the same question, often when there is a pothole or metal plate. Since I'm very careful in avoiding damage and reducing wear to my tires, I try to avoid hitting those things as much as I can. But if it's a busy street with vehicles passing nearby, I slow down and keep riding straight over the "obstacles"---thanks to the fact that I never ride too fast, this is not too bad (better to damage my tires than having personal injury). There were a few times it may have saved me from potential accident, when just as I was riding over the object, a car was passing me from where I would have swerved to.

There are a lot of construction metal plates on the streets here. Here is a fatal accident where a metal plate might have played a role.

turbo1889

If the 18-wheeler was only "going like 5 MPH" then why didn't the cyclist in question take the lane instead of being squeezed on the right into that metal construction plate trying to share a lane side-by-side with a heavy truck? From the picture in that article I would have taken the lane through that area regardless of the speed level of traffic and if traffic was really moving that slow then if anything I would have been impeded by the other traffic rather then the other way around. Maybe that is why the cyclist tried to share such a narrow dangerous lane with such a big heavy truck, maybe he didn't want to go as slow as the rest of traffic and was trying to pass on the right?

I'm not down-playing the potential danger of the metal plate (metal plates and rail tracks can get really, really slippery when wet) but I have a hard time visualizing why the heck I would have been that far over to the right for the metal plate to even be in my line of travel as it is shown in the picture in that article.

vol

I am not sure about the exact circumstance of that accident. I was just trying to find examples of accidents involving those metal plates. This ghostbike account says he was riding over the metal plate in rain. Anyway, I'd like to see a separate discussion about the improperly maintained construction metal plates and other obstacles on city streets which unnecessarily increase the chances of accidents.

turbo1889

I would have to agree that metal plates and rail tracks are one of the obstacles that I'm very careful around and prefer to go around rather then through, especially when wet. Grates usually aren't bad unless the slots are the wrong direction and even then sometimes I'm still good because I rarely use tires narrower then 1.75" and often run 2.2" to 2.5" width tires so even some grates with the slots the wrong direction if the slots aren't too wide I'm still good.

I'd much rather have to deal with a chuck-hole even a monster size one then wet metal plates any day time or place.

jon c. 

For the small stuff, like a cyclist that just went down in front of you...


The only time that happened to me, it was my wife who was the fallen obstacle. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as I contemplating trying to bunny hop her (a trick I had not attempted in 30 years). I was relatively certain there was no way I could swerve in time. I made no conscious decision as my body took over and successfully steered around her. I just shook my head in amazement as I realized I what had happened. She was unhurt from the fall and only a few minor scratches on the bike resulted.

B. Carfree

Yes, this is definitely a part of paying attention to one's surroundings. I assume a suicidal fawn is lurking behind anything big enough to hide her, and have often been correct. And don't even get me started on the turkeys...



A typical day for me starts with a forty mile ride at 4:00 A.M. The descents are definitely slower at this time of day than they are after the sun rises. I had my orthopedic surgery issues with soccer years ago. I don't need to experience them again; I'm just now comfortable with how all the parts are working.

DrkAngel

Upstate New York .... every Spring, there is a plaque of potholes.
Something about blacktop on top of old brick streets ... ?
In bright sun with sunglasses on, that shadow might nicely camouflage a 6" deep crater.
After or during a light rain that puddle or wet spot might be capable of chewing up your front wheel and you.

The drainage grates, on the sides of the streets, are often pounded down deep enough to hide baseballs or softballs ... so I do try to maintain a roving awareness of all street conditions.
I did drop into a 4" deep sunken manhole cover ... it was right on the edge of a trees shadow and I barely had time to pull some weight off my front wheel.
Hit hard, stopped checked my wheel, spokes and fillings, everything seemed OK. Continued on to the post office, torqued the pedals going up the access ramp and heard a prolonged "sproing" ... broke 8 spokes ! ... ???

With all these hazards ... I was finally taken out by a newbie cyclist on a pink 24"er with matching helmet and elbow pads (tassels on the hand grips).
She was doing circles and 8's in the corner groceries parking lot ... almost ran into her popping out from behind a car.
Well I exited the parking, lot accelerated to cruising speed, noticed the girl nearing a 2nd parking lot exit ...
hesitated ...
felt relieved as she looked directly at me, making eye contact ...
she was angled to merge on the street, so I moved towards street center to give her plenty of leeway ...
she pulled in parallel and nicely ahead of me, but then made a sharp left for the opposing driveway!
OOOHSHI...
Hit my brakes hard ...
brakes not good enough ...
Slo Mo ... within about 1' of T-boning I jack-knifed my front wheel and dove over her.
Missed her ... went arms and face into the blacktop ... helmet and sunglasses took most of the damage (small scar on cheek).
Messed up my arms and right shoulder.
But learned some lessons!

After I mended a bit I began training for emergency stopping.
Just as important, I became almost religious about maintaining and testing my brakes.

Even rim brakes can supply substantial stopping power!
1st - True-up your wheels
2nd - replace pads if uneven or worn near "tread depth"
3rd - adjust pads almost tight and evenly to wheel

I also developed a degree of paranoia ... but was able to accept it as a type of challenge, somewhat akin to a video game ... where I must traverse a maze while avoiding traps and monsters.
I like video games!

turbo1889

You missed one very important point about rim-brakes. Namely that the quality of the pads used (I'm not talking old worn pad compared to new I'm talking about comparing two different pads made by different companies or different models by the same company) can make an incredible difference in stopping power that the brakes are capable of. With high enough quality pads you can get stopping power from rim-brakes that is nearly equivalent to that of disk brakes or with low enough quality pads you can barely do better then a junky coaster brake. Shop wisely for rim brake pads, one of the best steps you can make towards that is to walk into your LBS and ask the guys behind the counter what they carry for rim brake pads that will reliable provide the highest stopping power without breaking the bank. Bike mechanics are well aware that not all rim brake pads are created equal and a high quality set of pads that costs two to three times as much as a low quality set can literally provide double or more the stopping power and do so more reliably even on wet rims.

With rim brakes the quality of the pads make a HUGE difference, do not shop for rim brake pads just by price point !!!

Yes, you should most certainly take price into consideration and super high end pads that cost $60+ a set aren't going to be a whole lot better then high quality ones that cost $20-$30 a set, but the cheap junk pads that cost $15 or less a set usually have less then half the stopping power and may have almost no stopping power at all on wet rims. In other words you don't have to go sky high on the price but you don't want to be scraping the bottom of the barrel either when it comes to brake pads for rim brakes because the quality of the pads can make a huge difference in the braking ability with rim-brakes.

cvskates

I was arriving at work 2 weeks ago and watching the ship come in, and failed to see a big a pot-hole right in front of me until the last second. Hopped the front tire over but the rear took the full brunt. Anyway, had to spend $100 on a new rear wheel.

Now I try to look further ahead and in general pay more attention to the road. Being dozy gets expensive fast.

More to your question, I find it's instinctive and situational based. Sometimes it;s swerve, sometimes break, sometimes bail out.