On a lighter note, during the only Ironman distance I'll ever tri, the rear Zipp hub disintegrated at 70 miles.

I have been very lucky compared to some of you guys. In over 40 years of cycling, I have never been hit by a car or had a serious accident. My worst "crash" was sliding out on a corner, resulting in a bad case of road rash but no broken bones or other injuries.

That said, probably my worst day cycling was also one of the best. On Bike Virginia a couple of years ago, my brother and I played hooky one day and rode 25 miles out and back on the New River Trail in far western VA. The trail is absolutely beautiful and we had a fantastic recovery ride following two tough days of riding metric centuries on very steep roads. Then tragedy struck. About the 40 mile point, a stick got jammed in the rear derailleur of my Salsa Casseroll and it quickly skidded to a stop. The stick totally destroyed the derailleur, bent the hanger, and twisted the wheel all out of shape. I had to walk back to nearest road, carrying my bike, while my brother rode back to the starting point to get our vehicle. After he picked me up, I put the Salsa in my pickup truck and drove all the way back to Raleigh, NC, a 3-hour drive, to get another bike. Then I had to drive another 3 hours back to Virginia for the ride. So I got to spend about 3 hours riding that day, 30 minutes carrying my bike, and 6 hours driving.

The worst day of cycling for me was the day my 5 year old son's BMX was stolen.

We were living in a small town and he, my 8 y/o daughter, and I had ridden to the local video store to rent a movie. We left our bikes on the sidewalk out front. We were in there for about 5 minutes. When we came outside to ride home, his bike was gone.

We walked two blocks to the police station and filled out a report, then walked another couple blocks home. After I told my wife what happened I rode around for a couple of hours looking for his bike. No luck.

I bought him a new bike the next day.

The concussion I experienced (with a helmet on) prevents me from remembering my worst biking memory! Yay!

It has been well over 40 years since I got the now faint scar that runs just above and across the top of my left wrist... when I was six I probably could have bled out from the cut I got from the broken fender when I crashed as it circled my entire wrist and I was also fortunate to have missed cutting the tendons to my hand. That and I was so close to home that my mom was able to slow the bleeding until they got me to the hospital and got things closed up.

As it was, I was back riding in a short period of time, albeit bandaged up and to the objections of my mom.

Some years ago I ruptured the bursa in my left knee, and opened it up for a good 3 inches in a mountain biking crash and I think that the same year I opened my right leg up from below my knee to the top of my foot when I came down on a chain ring. The knee kept me from riding for most of that season... and walking... but once I could start riding the knee rehabilitated itself really well.

I fragged that knee again the next winter playing hockey and it is a wonder it still works.

Last Oct. just taking off and the rear basket hit the bike rack, stopping me cold.
Foot slips off pedal & through main triangle.
Bike goes over on left side.
Leg goes snap snap.
Still have large dark spot where tibia tried to exit skin.
Got back on the bike last month and did 62 miles.
Saw the surgeon today and he estimated 60% fused.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=308738

Two bad memories.

My mother bought me a cannondale 400 for my 15th birthday. Got hit by a car on the second ride out, right in front of the house while she was watching. She thought I was dead and was really worked up. I got tossed onto the lawn and against a tree. No helmet, was lucky, that was the era of cycling caps instead of helmets. The bike was trashed. Eventually sold the bike to a friend's little brother who rebuilt it (cannondale frame still good, go figure). He still has it. Those crashes when you were clipped in were much worse, as I remember things...

Another time, I cut my head with my glasses really bad on a mountain bike ride about 40 min from the car. The memory of flying through the air, hoping not to hit a tree, thinking this was really going to hurt is something I still have weird dreams about occasionally. Pre lasik...

Oh yeah, and I still have a small piece of gravel in my elbow from a bmx crash when I was 12. Make that three...

The 4 bomb that killed my Nishiki International... I'll quit counting now...

And ... Ex Pres takes it.

Hit & Run from behind

http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/u...d_by_gaviD.jpg

But it doesn't count because I have no memory.

I dont have one,,every second on a bike for me,,was and is bliss

My worst memory should be when I was hit from behind by a drunk, was unconscious for several minutes, broke my scapula, sprained my ankle, was all bruised and road-rashed and had to stay off my bycicles for 30 days. But actually my worst memory is when after leading a race (in my age group) for the last hour, I did an ******* move and was outsprinted to 2nd place by half a wheel.

ah I did that a few weeks ago both legs. I'm lucky I only had to go 20 miles.

The first week of the summer of 1978. I just bought fish & chips. As was the custom of the day, I was wearing sandals and balancing my lunch in one hand while riding my Royce-Union. I launched off the curb, my foot slipped off the pedal into the front spokes. When I landed everything went to hell. The R-U ended up with a bent fork & a more warped wheel than usual. Halfway home, I passed out from the pain of a broken arm while carrying the Onion. Six weeks in a cast. Happy 17th B-day. No fish-n-chips either.

I was riding with friends on a 2 day tour, Seattle to Vancouver,BC called RSVP. We're riding along day 1, just starting the last climb of the day up Chuckanut Drive before we get to Bellingham and I am riding fixed. As we get to the hill, I follow a friend around a group of riders who are shifting down, passing them on their left so I can keep my momentum up. We pass by several riders one of which was another friend from our group. He decided to pull around just after I passed by but he hooked my rear wheel. We tangled, he went down and I didn't. I knew we were in trouble and as I powered through to stay up I could feel him go up and over my rear wheel and land hard. He broke his hip. It took him two years to recover from that injury. I still feel bad about that today when I ride with him.

Scooper - Same fiasco happened to me as a new resident of San Francisco. Flying down Market street, heading for the Sausalito Ferry and work. Crossed the Muni tracks at a low angle and immediately lost all contact with the bars and pedals. Somehow stayed upright with just my rear end on the seat for the next 30 feet until I could get my hands back on the bars and feet on the pedals and slow for the stoplight. 4 seconds of abject terror! Guys in the car who pulled up next to me at the light just stared and shook their heads. What?? I meant to do that!

There are three. About 6 years ago I was riding to work on my fixed gear bike. As I rounded a corner on the only downhill, I hit a pot hole that had just appeared, apparently over night (I rode the same route 4-5 times a week for some 3-4 years). The jarring knocked my left hand off the handle bar and right foot from the peddle; I went down and broke 5 ribs. 2009 I was riding my mountain bike, I veered off the trial and hit a tree; I broke 5 ribs and punctured a lung. But the last one, while not as damaging still lingers in my head as the worst. Last month I was riding an easy 45 mile ride through the farmland of Pajaro (CA). As I rode I just didn't feel right and I began to fixate that my wife had just gotten over a 36 hour virus. At the halfway mark I thought maybe I was just hungry and ate a power bar. By the time I was riding through Watsonville (about 15 miles from home) I knew I wasn't going to make it. I stopped at a Strabucks and called my wife and threw up. It's called the norovirus (not the seasonable flu) and it packs a wallop! It comes on strong with intense vomiting and stomach cramps. I was more sick than I can ever remember; 3-4 hours later I was in the Urgent Care begging for an anti-nausea shot (which helped thank god). So far it is my worst biking memory.

Worst, and most embarrassing:

About 4-5 years ago, I'm a rather over-confident 15 year old cycling home alongside my friend through a long alleyway. He mentions how another friend managed to crash by attempting to put his left hand on the right handlebar grip, and vice versa. "Surely that couldn't cause a crash! That's SO easy" I said. 10 seconds later I'm flat on my face on the concrete path, both hands now lacking skin and my elbow badly torn up. I had my arm out of use for a few weeks (thankfully no break) and I've still got a good scar on my elbow. The memory of sitting on that path in pain only to look up to the mocking laughter of my friend still makes me cringe.

Stopping to wait every 5 miles for the "ya, I ride all the time guy" on a 50 mile ride that ended up taking all day!

We lived out in the country on a farm so the roads were a mixture of gravel and rock. When I was 14, I was heading back home on a Schwinn stingray and picking up speed down a hill so I wouldn't have to pedal as much up the next hill. I hit a patch of loose gravel and went down. I slid far enough to wear several holes in my jeans, shirt, leg, side, and arm.

I had to get back on and pedal up the big hill from a complete stop with half my body stinging. When I got home, I had to spend an hour picking gravel out of skin and scrubbing dirt out of wounds. It was hard moving around for the next couple of weeks.

Not the worst thing to happen to me as a kid, but the rest didn't involve bikes.

As an adult, I set up my daughter's 16 inch bike and was testing it. When I got to the end of the driveway and tried the brake, the front wheel locked and I went over the handlebars. I didn't have a helmet on, but was going slow enough to tuck mid air. I avoided landing on my head but came down hard on my left elbow. The road rash stunk but was limited to a small area. I had to scrub out the road salt/sand and some tar. However, as the night went on the arm got stiffer; until the next morning when I couldn't move it. I went in for x-rays to make sure it wasn't broken. Luckily it wasn't, but the x-ray tech had to straighten it out to take the x-rays and it felt like she was trying to rip my arm off.

I built a nice mixte for my now ex gf, and outfitted it to be a nice townie bike. We broke up and I saw it on craigslist later for a steal.

I got the call at 11PM.

"Mark, have you heard what happened to Steve?"

It has been 11 years. I think about him every day.

I have loads of crash stories. Enough that none could be counted "worst" cycling memory. I have hurt myself with every toy I have ever owned -which is why I can never own a gun or motorcycle :thumb:

My worst was easy: While in college, for close to a year I lusted over a beautiful blue and white 1988 Masi Nuovo Strada with Campy Croce D'Aune in the window of the LBS. I rode / walked past it every day on the way to/from class.

I was like Wayne "Oh yes. It will be mine"

I saved and saved and then got a job at the LBS -largely for the shop discount. I purchased it the day after Christmas 1989. I stayed in town for the intercession break and used the time to work extra hours at the shop. Every day I would come home from work to put in some time on the rollers and then meticulously clean the bike so it shined like new.
http://bhovey.com/Masi/MasiCatalogs/1988TenSpeed/4.jpg
Dec 30 1989, I came home from work for lunch (I lived less than a block form the shop) and noticed our front door looked like it was left open. I *knew* we didn't leave the door open so I started sprinting towards the door fearing the worst. I kept thinking "No No No No No No! Please! NOT MY BIKE!!!". The door had been broken down and we had been robbed -in the morning!

I had that bike for 5 days and never got it on the road. I remember feeling sick to my stomach and just sad. To add insult to injury, the thieves only took my bike, my camera, and my roommates electric razor (which he never used). It is nearly a quarter century later and I *still* get upset about losing that bike. :(

Worse Cycling memory.....Training ride. 1988 Going down Shoe Factory road on my Cannondale SR900. Doing about 35mph next to three other riders. It was 100 degrees, My shirt was tucked in between my seatpack and my saddle. The shirt came loose and got between my rear tire and the brake which caused my back wheel to lock up. Whipped out hard and landed in gravel. My rear tire was blown out and I didn't have a spare tire. Road home on the rim and ruined a Ambrosio Elite Durex Aero rim and a lot of skin on my legs, side and shoulder. Being that it was 100 degrees I sweat into my wounds and it was very very painful. I wanted my Mommy...LOL

I said the same thing. Only difference is that I was twelve and it was on asphalt.