We're talking non-vehicle related crashes that involve just you, your bike and the ground...

Other: Inattention or lack of concentration.

Other - caused by third party stupidity
(cars, prams, shopping trolleys etc.) and
trying to avoid em.

Marty

BRAIN fart ,Nuff said

Finding out that the "gate" in the trail description was actually a cable stretched across a heavily shaded fire road and being unable to complete both a.) stopping (successful) and b.) removing feet from pedals (unsuccessful), falls under which category? Cable only identified within 6' of cable.

Hmph. I've had two such crashes. (The other two were with cars, outside the scope of your poll.)

In one, recently, my tire got caught in a trolley track and I went over. Could be lack of skill, I'll call it loss of traction. After all, whatever the stupid reason, eventually I was falling over sideways -- no traction there!

In the other, long ago, I got distracted momentarily and hit a big hole and went over the bars. Lack of skill? Looking at girls? I don't even remember. I remember that I had no traction as I flew through the air, however.

So I voted "loss of traction."

RichC

I'd say rider error, whether distracted or didn't unclip soon enough ... rider error. Yes, definitely rider error.

Just about every crash I've had is because I couldn't get my feet out of my clips fast enough!
I think I've crashed/fallen about 6 times this season already. Duh!

when I think of something else instead of consentrating on my bike riding, then I have a crash

As stated above, lack of concentration or brain fart
Cheers

When I have 2 things to concentrate on, and a third comes along.

So far just black ice in terms of actual spills, near misses have mainly been caused by squirrels.

What a crap poll, you should have included motorists as a major factor!! "waving a motorists" - what??!!

More crashes are caused by daddy letting go of the seat after he took the training wheels off than for any other reason.

It's all about confidence.

The idiot who rides on a vehicle bridge the wrong direction holding a surfboard. Why don't you ask him cuz I don't understand how he's still riding and I manage to cross paths with him all too regularly unfortunately.

Kathy

Good question. Since we are talking about our own experiences, I would have to say, "Skill deficiency of the rider (me.)"

I can link most of the crashes I've ever had to a mistake in my own judgement or to my own inexperience. In other words, I learned something
from them which have helped me to avoid them in the future.

Even bicycle accident statistics seem to support the general conclusion that unskilled and inexperienced riders are involved in the lion's share of accidents.

Then again, you can't be prepared for everything (or avoid everything.) That's probably the biggest lesson I've learned.

In the one or two crashes that I have had where I was all alone on the road, in each case, it was the other guy's fault.

Cheers,
Jamie

I am involved in as many as 15 accidents per week and since I'm a relative newbie, I'd say it's inexperience. Last week alone I was involved in 8 accidents, 3 involving cars, 2 involving shopping carts, 2 more involving other riders and one where I struck a moving train.

At first I thought something was wrong with my bike, like the time I hit the barbed wire fence, but the LBS said it was my fault. Or the time I was going down the street with my head tipped back, putting eye drops in my eyes. Boy, that was a mess.

There was the time I tried a short cut and rode right in to someones pool. Just 2 weeks ago I was looking at a girl wearing a bikini on rollerblades and I slammed into a street sign, then I wobbled off and went over the curb and was hit by a motorcycle.

Sometimes accidents are unavoidable, like the time I spilled hot coffee on my crotch when I was riding down that steep slope by my house. Or the time I was trying to pee into a cup when on that group ride, I took out 5 other bikes but hey, I had to pee.

Sometimes it's the weather, there was that time the wind blew me into that telephone pole.

On this mornings ride I forgot to tighten the quick release and did'nt know it until I did a wheelie to impress this hot chick. No matter how many times this happens, it's always wierd watching your front wheel rolling down the road about 60 feet ahead of you...I came down so hard on the forks it knocked the breakfast burrito right out of my hand.

You don't even have to be on your bike to have an accident. Last week on 4 different occasions, my bike came off my bike rack while I was on the freeway. Fortunately I made a quick u-turn and was able to recover the bike on each occasion, although my car got pretty messed up.

Oh! While we're talking safety, take it from me, biking and shaving don't mix. I was peddling along a couple of weeks ago, had just finished brushing my teeth and was shaving when as I was trimming my mustache I ran over a dog which caused me to cut myself. Maybe I'll switch to an electric razor.

I used to sit on my helmet because it seemed to fit nicely over my hard seat, but now I've started wearing it on my head, as a safety precaution, you guys should too.

Anyway, I'm getting better and better.

I live in Southern California and am lookiing for riding buddies, so drop me a line if interested.

....Richard

Glad to hear you haven't had any trouble when using your cell-phone while riding.

Oops. Hope I didn't just jinx you!

RichC

Jeez Richard...

Think you could get someone to follow you with a video camera?

My jaw was in the process of dropping into my lap ...and then I read the second paragraph.

Since I suspect there truly are people like this on the streets, I was growing quite concerned!

-Rob (still laughing!)

let's just say that when you are on a steep downhill, make sure that both your brakes are working, not just the front one.

I would love to! I myself am quite a klutz, maybe we can learn from each other's mistakes (if we don't kill each other, first!)

(Are you sure you are not one of those guys from that show where they purposely crash into things, set themselves on fire, etc.?)