5+ years and 14,000 miles and my first accident
 

I've been riding this particular route for about four years now. This happened to me on January 4th. I was riding home from work over a metal-grate drawbridge I have crossed hundreds of times. Just past the bridge I need to make a left, so I wait for clear traffic and make the lane change to the left (as I've done hundreds of times). As I'm crossing the bridge, I feel my front tire start to catch. When I wake up, I'm on the ground and there are people around me holding a cloth to my face (which took the brunt of the fall and was bleeding pretty well). Best I can figure is that the front tire caught the gap between the two halves of the bridge and flipped me over the handlebars. I spent the night in the hospital where I get stitched up and was told that nothing was broken (thanks goodness). Now I'm convalescing at home. I don't really have anyone to blame for this but myself. Accidents happen, but I could have picked a better spot to change lanes I suppose.

One good thing to come out of this is a reinforcement in my faith in humanity. Several strangers, the police, the EMTs, and the hospital folks were all really great. They all said that the helmet saved me, and after seeing it, I believe them. Have to go get a new on now...

As for the bike, I haven't seen it yet, but my wife tells me it's on pretty good shape, only needing a new bell and perhaps a new front fender. Still, I'm going to have the LBS check it out and make sure everything is okay.

Now I just have to heal and get back out there.

Glad to hear you are basically okay in terms of long term injuries.

Based on your description it sounds like the gap was parallel to the flow of traffic. If that is the case that is a hazard for pretty much any cyclist out there who uses that bridge. Maybe you can write your district about this hazard and see if it can be fixed.

I am glad that there were no cars trailing right behind you at the time of the accident. I keep reading on these forums how much their helmets saved their lives in these situations. Nice to hear you're already feeling better. Wish you a steady and fast recovery.

When you're healthy and well out there with your new fender and bell, can you take a snappy of that spot and post it here? This is a puzzlement.

I'm retired from the fire department, but one day a couple of years ago I stopped in at one of the stations on my bike to BS with a couple of the guys. This happened to be a very hot and dry summer, and a lot of the blacktop roads had developed some cracks from expansion of the pavement. Anyway one of our medics told me about a run he had made a couple of days previously where a guy on bike had his front wheel drop into one of the cracks in the pavement and did a face plant.

I also crashed once at an intersection when, looking over my shoulder to clear traffic as I made the turn, my front wheel encountered a pavement joint - more a case of the two sections of concrete not being at the same elevation - and tripped me up. All I got was a badly road-rashed knee and shin, though.

Gotta keep a close eye on the pavement with these skinny-tired road bikes!

I went from 700x25c Schwalbe Marathon Plus to 35 Marathon Supreme on my commuter, and the ride is clearly more sure-footed with almost no speed penalty. It's worth it for the piece of mind.

Oh, and... I'm way ahead of you. I got my first accident out of the way on my second attempt to ride the bike to work. Did an endo like you did, never lost consciousness, walked home and drove to work, making it there on time.

Notify the Streets Dept
 

Sorry to hear you got hurt; it happens at some point. Glad you are going to be OK.

You should let the Streets Dept or DOT know about the accident. As in everything in America now, the legal dept would put a fix for this at the top of the list, because they want to limit liability. The fact that the road caused a spill WILL get their attention. Maybe not a fix soon, but it will top their list when they do have to do other work on the bridge.

As a relatively new commuter (6 months), I've only heard horror stories of accidents ending with things being broken (bikes an bodies alike). So OP, while this accident was clearly a painful experience for you, I'm glad to hear it had a semi-happy ending and you will make a fine recovery.

Thanks for posting.

They always say the helmet saved us. It's part of the treatment I think. Your ok and that's the bottom line.

Damn, hope you get better soon. Bike or car, it happens to us all eventually. At least you're smart enough to wear a helmet.

We should start a faceplant thread! I tried hopping up a 6" curb (some of them are even taller in galway, we don't know how to build roads) and flipped over my handlebars w/ no helmet. Learnt my lesson!

To clear the curb next time?

OP, that wreck sounded scary as hell; front wheel crashes are the worst, they just happen so fast. Sorry that you had to break your no-wreck record, you had a good run going.

I think my first commuting wreck occurred within the first week, so I guess that I got it out of the way pretty quick. T-boned a Suby wagon that pulled out in front of me as I rode too fast down the sidewalk, counterflow to traffic (I know, I know). I sailed over the top of the car, apparently performed a half-somersault mid-air, land on my shoulder and back and rolled up onto my feet to come up running. I was so scared and angry that when the motorist asked if I was OK (he was very sheepish), I told him to **** off, and shouldered my wrecked bike to walk (don't know why I did this, I was still 5 miles from work). My faith in humanity was re-affirmed by a passerby in a mini-van who looped back to offer me a ride, and even detoured to the bike shop so that I could drop off my bike before driving me to work.

To this day I find it somewhat embarrassing that, on the advise of co-workers and bike shop employees, the only lesson I took away from the accident was to buy a helmet ("You wrecked your bike? You should get a helmet!"). It actually took another contraflow sidewalk T-boning (this one ending with me on the hood and my bike under the front tire) to teach me not to ride like that. :o

I think if you ride enough, you will eventually get into an accident, there's so many opportunities. Good thing you are smart enough to wear your helmet, most likely saved you from some sort of head injury.

Accidents happen to everyone. I think we become so accustomed to doing the same thing over and over again we eventually take things for granted.

Ouch, sorry to hear that :( Glad it wasn't worse. I hope you'll recover quickly and go back on a bike. I made it a point to detour around two metal-grated bridges along my commute. It's not the fall that I'm scared of but falling in traffic in front of oncoming trucks. And yeah, 2.0" tires on my commuter :D

Sorry to hear about your crash. Five plus years is pretty good considering. I would guess longer than most have gone without a mishap. Expansion joints on bridges are the worst. I had a front wheel momentarily catch in one. Damn skinny tires. Got my heart going I tell ya. Started taking them on the diagonal thereafter.

Heal up soon. I managed to face plant back in '86. Kept me off the bike for far too long. Don't let this be you.

Thanks for everyone's good wishes and sorry for not replying a little sooner. I've been sleeping a lot. Funny how an injury can make you tired.

To answer various questions & comments:

mtnwalker - The bridge is a drawbridge, so I think the gap I caught was the one between the two halves, perpendicular to the road. My best guess is that I was at a shallow enough angle to it as I crossed from the right lane to the left that my tire was able to turn a little and fit into the gap, tossing me for a real fun ride. Too bad I was not conscious to enjoy it, huh? ;-) Still, Boston's mayor is pretty bike friendly and you may be on to a good idea about seeing if something can be done about it.

Chris Pringle - The only reason I made the lane change when I did was because there were no cars for a good distance behind me. I often have to wait until traffic is stopped at the light where I need to turn in order to weave between stopped cars to get safely over to the left.

slcbob - I plan to visit the spot again, if for no other reason than to perhaps get a better understanding of what happened. I'll try to remember to get a photo and post it.

Doohickie - I wonder if I would have continued to commute if I had crashed as early on as you. On the other hand, I was considering getting on the bike and continuing home until the ambulance showed up the other night.

bergerandfries - Very good point. Like I said, Boston's mayor is very bike friendly. Hopefully we can get something done. If nothing else, we can get better crash data for statistical purposes?

capejohn - I have followed the helmet debate on and off for several years. I agree with those who say that wearing a helmet can lead to riskier behavior, but I also think that the helmet really did help me this time. Seeing the chunk missing from the helmet right where my forehead is (and still is) was proof enough for me. Ultimately, I think that it is the decisions I make (like perhaps not changing lanes on that drawbridge?) that lead to my safe riding. Stuff like the helmet, lights, and reflect-y clothing are all gravy that help make it a little safer. You're absolutely right though, I'm okay. And that IS the bottom line.

AdamDZ - I actually have 2 bridges like this on my commute. I can only avoid one of them, but to do so takes me over much more hilly terrain. To go my normal route is much flatter and faster. Maybe someone is telling me to try interval training for a while? ;-) BTW, I've had the same thought about falling in front of traffic.



A few other comments:

I have always worn my helmet. I consider it equivalent to the seat belt in a car or an American Express card. I just don't leave home without it.

Tires. My front tire is a Michelin something-or-other. It's a 1.3". Not the skinniest, but not the widest either. I plan on switching it out for a Schwalbe Marathon when it wears out. My rear tire is already running the Schwalbe. I prefer my tires to be relatively high pressure so I can go faster. My bike is heavy enough and my commute is long enough that I need all the help I can get.

Dizzy,
Glad you are ok! Scary to hear it though. I know that we are all susceptible to this same sort of fall no matter how careful we are. You had a pretty long run yourself without a spill! But now you have war wounds to show for it :)

I have done some silly falls with scrapes here and there, but they are trivial compare to your accident. I'm happy to hear the helmet saved you though. Strange how more people feel they don't need to wear helmets.

Do you think you can post a picture of your helmet? I've never seen a post accident helmet before. I know they are basically suppose to shatter (instead of your head) but i've never seen it before.

Actually, the polystyrene is supposed to compress, not shatter (think crumple zones on a car). Helmets shatter when the stress load of the helmet has been exceeded and the helmet can no longer absorb any more energy, or provide any more protection. So it's not that they're designed to shatter, it's just that they're only designed to absorb a finite amount of impact energy, and beyond that they break.

Oh, point taken.

I'll have to see if I can find the thing. I saw it a few days ago and there was a decent chunk of material missing from the front edge. You know, right where my forehead would be. Crazy.

Bell helmets has a "crash replacement" program. You send them your old helmet, the receipt for the new one, and a description of what happened and they'll send you something.

After this, maybe I should get a motorcycle helmet. ;-)

Im gonna +1 that statement, glad to hear your doing better. Crashes happen to the best of us, we do need to start a wrecked helmet photo thread as a reminder of what can happen when you don't have yer noggin covered:) if we do i got a cracked helmet to post

Glad to hear you're ok. Same thing happened in Seattle a while back. You can read about the accident and subsequent settlement here: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/429030_settlement26.html

NeuroDawg, that's awful. :( I know well wishes from some random internet person probably don't mean much, but I'm sending them to you anyway.

Max