Man, there is a small pedestrian bridge set at an awkward angle at the end/beginning of my commute.

Coming to work, I get off the bike and walk it across the bridge, because the angle is so ****-eatingly intense I know I can't make it. Leaving work, it's a) daylight and b) much more do-able, so I've been slowing down and going for it. Three months of commuting 4-5x/week, and no incidents.

But 10 days ago AND AGAIN today, I did the topple thing and scraped up my left knee and elbow pretty good. From not braking hard enough before the turn, freaking out, and crashing the bike.

Both times, I was lucky and no one saw me wipe out. And from the first scrape, I realized that carrying a bandana in my backpack would be handy, for tying over a knee to prevent my ancient band-aids from my first aid kit from falling off.

And today, a nice cyclist stopped and asked me if I was ok. I had also knocked my chain off, but I figured out how to get it back on. I told him I appreciated him asking if I was ok and offering to help SO MUCH.

Glad to hear that it's all OK.

IMO the takeaway isn't to carry more first aid supplies. It's to accept that discretion trumps valor here, and you need to stop and walk or do the shuffle around that corner.

There's a pedestrian bridge over the tracks on one of my commute routes. The walk is about 4' wide with a full 180 switchback. I can normally do a U-turn within 8', but between the walls on either side, and pole at apex, the actual path is very narrowly defined. I normally can ride it at about 2mph, but I do it the reverse of normal riding, I commit to the inside, ride with the inside foot down. . This way, if I need to dab, my foot is already oriented for it, and the outside foot ready to push me through the rest of the turn. In reality, I probably dab about 25% of the time, not a big deal, since it's in the plan.

Live and learn. Glad it wasn't more serious.

Just curious, but how are the falls happening?

1. Are you sideswiping the bridge guardrails or safety fence?
2. Hitting a bollard (those "safety" posts in the middle of the entrance/exit ostensibly to thwart motor vehicles but actually designed to make bicycles crash)?
3. Is the front tire, or are both tires, being knocked sideways after contacting a small ledge or uneven transition between the path to the bridge and bridge walkway?
4. Something else?

Asking because when I resumed cycling last year after a 30 year break I found it easy to resume riding in traffic, but trickier to negotiate the narrow paved path on the local multi-use path, and, especially, the bridges. Took awhile, and a few minor falls, to solve those problems.

Part of the challenge is astigmatism, which makes some geometric shapes and objects appear slightly distorted. Usually I don't notice but approaching narrow paths with walls, fences, guardrails or bollards can be tricky. I also occasionally experience migraines and cluster headaches, which can mess with visual acuity and depth perception -- but I avoid riding on those days.

Another part of the challenge was that while I'd been accustomed to riding in traffic years ago -- and found it easy to resume that -- I'd never liked MUPs back then and avoided them. But I wanted to explore the extensive MUP in our area so I had to get accustomed to the narrow paths shared by oncoming cyclists, pedestrians/joggers, families with kids and dogs, etc.

My first fall occurred last year on a narrow bridge on the MUP. I over-corrected to make room for a faster oncoming cyclist, and my right handlebar grip snagged a chain link fence safety guard. This was one of the few bridges without bollards partially blocking the center.

There were a couple of close calls with narrow bridges that did have bollards, which I smacked with the mirror or my elbow. Eventually I solved that problem by removing the mirror's extension arm.

I was accustomed to narrower drop bars and while I prefer the more upright bars now I'd still rather have narrower bars. I've swapped for narrower flat bars on one bike, and may shorten the other bars by 1/2" or so off each end.

It was mostly a mental game. Getting accustomed to holding a tight line on a narrow path just took practice and getting used to looking where I wanted to go, rather than *at* oncoming cyclists. Some couples and smalls groups of cyclists tend to ride two abreast on our narrow MUP and it doesn't help if I stare directly at them and give 'em the stink eye. They won't move or change their habits, and it's easier to hold my own line by looking down the clear lane on my side rather than worrying about what they're doing.

Several months ago I fell twice in one week while going around families or large groups of people on the MUP just meandering around slowly, with kids or dogs. Rather than barking "On your right!" or expecting them to move I'd found it easier to just veer off the paved path onto the grass, then back onto the path after clearing around them. I'd done it many times before without incident. So I was puzzled about why I fell twice doing the same thing.

Turned out I'd been experimenting with higher air pressure on my tires and forgot to reduce the pressure back to the familiar range. The higher pressure (85 psi), while within the manufacturer's specs, made the tires rebound like superballs off the little ledge of the pavement while veering back from the grass. I'd gotten lazy from using lower pressure, which climbed the ledge safely even at a steep angle. Turns out I didn't like the feel of those tires at higher pressure anyway. Since then I run 'em at 40-60 psi, depending on terrain. More comfortable ride, no loss of speed or increase in effort, and no more superball drama over minor variations in pavement and terrain.

Even after a year of riding and getting comfortable again I still practice a few things before riding, especially if it's been a few days since my last ride. Before leaving my parking lot I'll check my balance, visual perceptions of distance by riding alongside a fence on one side, a curb on the other, ride along rutted pavement running the direction I'm riding, and do a couple of panic braking maneuvers at 5-10 mph. It's about 100 yards to the street, so it's an easy habit to develop and run through a few warmups before getting into traffic.

Try and conquer the freaking out part - probably the hardest thing to do but if you can go into it calmly you will fair better
On super sharp turns I slow down and usually put the inside foot down as a bit of a pivot point
Eating it is sometimes just part of the deal. It happens to the best of us
If you had to figure out how to put a dropped chain back on, it's time to start looking up other mechanicals that can happen on your ride and how to remedy them. No shame in it - most of us may not think about how to fix a problem until we encounter it

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words and encouragement. With the chain, I thought I had both shifters to the smallest cog, but found out that I didn't when I tried to replace the chain--I hadn't brought the right shifter all the way down yet, in my rattled state. And you are right--getting prepared for mechanical issues I might encounter is a great idea.

I hadn't thought about keeping the inside foot off the pedal in a tight turn, that's a great suggestion. I think it'll also encourage me to think about speed, too. Also, come to think of it, my rear tire is probably a little overinflated (I air them up before each ride), so that's food for thought, too.

I'm a prepared kind of person, so not having something to bandage my bleeding knee with the first time was distressing (especially because once I get to my car, I head to my child's daycare to pick her up, so I didn't want to be walking into a daycare center with a bleeding, open wound). And the bandanna has many uses, so to me at least, it has earned a spot in my pack.

And yes, getting off the bike and walking it is definitely what I will do in the future. I'm not about to give that damn bridge & gravel more of my blood!

I'm curious for the pics of the tricky bridge.

This might sound crazy, but I think you should consider doing some cyclocross races in your spare time. It's a lot of fun and you'll pick up some very useful bike handling skills, learning what you can and can't do in an environment where if you crash it will usually be on grass rather than pavement. I'm a monumentally slow rider and getting slower as I age, but I love CX races and have learned a lot by doing it. For instance, there have been times on my commute when I've hit a patch of ice and started to slide but was able to pull out of it and keep the bike upright -- a skill I learned by trying to make fast turns in slick mud. Things like hanging a foot out in tricky corners will become second nature. You can learn things like that from experience just by commuting, but off-road riding gives you a lot more practice in a short time. Plus, in my experience the CX community is wonderfully welcoming and supportive of newbies. (At my first race, one of the course officials pushed me up a hill I was struggling with!)

If you're at all interested, it looks like there's a clinic this weekend (though I'm not familiar with CO, so I have no idea if it's near you): https://www.coloradocycling.org/site...0Clinic-v3.pdf

I'll have to take one and post it, then!

That sounds . . . awesome. I should definitely think about doing that sometime soon! Longmont is like an hour's drive from Denver, it's not bad. Definitely something to plan and do!

You have won bf today.

Thank you, I am quite proud of my foul-mouthed turns of phrase!

Check out this cool video:
in particular the slow turn drill at 1:30, and more detail at 4:19. If you work on your slow-turning skills, hopefully you can negotiate this particular turn better!

I can't wait to watch the video, RubeRad! As promised, the bridge:

OK, this kind of turn is extremely easy to execute if you know a few basics.

The basic objective is to make the turn at the maximum radius the road allows. You do this by thinking outside, inside, outside, starting to the far side, swinging just past the inside corner, then back to the outside to finish.

Coming of the bridge, you want to establish momentum to the left because the traction is better on the bridge than the gravel, so slow to turning speed, at about 3mph walking speed until you prove you can do it faster. Start to the right side and start the turn to just clear the railing as you come off the span, then complete the turn on the dirt steering so make it as wide as possible, leaving about a foot margin for error. As you do this, keep in mind that you'll be leaning left so your head and shoulders will be closer to the rail than the wheels.

Also, until you have it completely dialed in, execute the turn coasting with the inside pedal down and that foot ready to dab if needed. That will give you the right pedal in power position to push through the turn and have you ready to continue.

One exception to this is if it's been raining. Wet wood is extremely slippery, so you'll need to slow way down much earlier, and not try to execute too much of the turn while on the bridge.

One nice thing is that the path also continues straight. So on a rainy day, if you find the wood deck to be treacherous, you can release brakes, and roll off the bridge straight, saving you from getting too personal with the steel side rails.


Coming the opposite way it's all the same, but you want to complete as much of the turn before hitting the bridge so you'll be vertical and ready to power up the slope.

Yup, one more tip: look at where you want to go, not where the boxes by the road are. Look through the turn, your body and the bike will follow.

If the ground is slippery, lean the bike, keeping the body straight and the inner foot down, to support yourself if the tyres loose traction.


As you get more and more proficient, your speed will increase - until you spill again, when the confidence drops.
With some practice, you'll be locking your rear wheel to make a tighter turn, without putting a foot down. lol.

That cyclocross clinic looks really cool. I would pay $30 bucks for that, but it looks like it's only for ladies. Also I'm like 1200 miles away.

I'd encourage you to take it easy before you hurt yourself.

Unfortunately, we've got a few turns that are obviously designed for aesthetics and not for functionality.

Fortunately, I can usually barely hold them in, although I've flipped my cargo trailer a couple of times, usually hitting curbs.

Here is the "O-Turn" (perhaps due to Oregon). And it wasn't always that way. I think it was an addition put in about 10 years ago or so.

O-Turn.jpg

Planing does help a bit. Inevitably I'm coming from the North and heading West. Naturally I come off the bridge and take the line straight (red) to give me a counterclockwise path around the circle (staying to the right on the path). So, at the bottom of the circle, I have a hard right. It does help somewhat to cut from outside to outside as FBinNY suggests. The double path at the bottom is very helpful. It certainly slows a person down, but isn't particularly safe both for cutting around other path users and a tricky maneuver.

The alternative (blue) is a clockwise path around the circle. It seems a bit unnatural at the start. It is a pretty sharp turn coming off of the bridge. It does, however, make it easier to get off of the circle. Still it isn't optimal as one has a curb cut to cross, then maneuver around either the right or left of the island.

Anyway, a few suggestions for the OP.

1. Point the difficulty out to your public planners. Perhaps they don't know. I'm not the greatest at complaining, but it might help everyone. The approach to that corner could be helped significantly by straightening the path and making the intersection wider.
   .
2. Look for an "Escape".
   Going too fast? How about just go straight past the corner, stop, and turn around.
   Learn to control your bike on the grass. It usually isn't the end of the world. A little bank to go over, but you should be able to control the bike, then either hop back onto the trail, or simply stop and walk back to where you want to be.
   .
3. SLOW DOWN. One foot down can help at times.

One foot down



Four feet down

Thanks, RubeRad, the video is really helpful!

I will definitely see if I can bring up the issue to my city planners. And good call on looking for a way out, slowing down, and foot down.