LiquorLad

So what your worst ride? Only 2 come to my mind. One time getting 3 flats & having to walk home, and last year getting 3 flats on a group ride, trashing a brand new Veloflex Master tire.

So let's hear your stories of woe, anger, pain, embarrassment, etc!

Retro Grouch 

Wife's birthday. I went for a ride with my 10 year old grand son. Somehow I went over the handlebars and broke both elbows. Ambulance ride to the ER and needed a home health care aid for 2 weeks while my wife was at work.

Sorry, but your flat tires don't sound very serious to me.

fietsbob

Yea falling, breaking a bone, like Cracking a femur, and ending up in a cast for a couple months,

or breaking a collar bone, qualifies, as a not good day.

Eddie72

Hit a hole in the road, crashed and broke my wrist. 6 weeks in a cast...

LiquorLad

Damn man, that sucks. I agree flat tires ain't a big whoop, but it's the worst I got. This is just story sharing, no urine relinquishing contests here.

ClydeTim

Getting surprised by a heavy rain 20 miles up a mountain road after 5,000 ft of gain. Temps dropped to 29 degrees, freezing cold and without a jacket and only shorts, no leg cover. I had to do the 20 mile descent in pouring rain. I had never been so cold in my life.

Hiro11

When I was 15, I bonked 20 miles from home so badly that I couldn't even pedal. My teammates had to push me home. I basically never lived this down.

FBinNY 

Worst ride is a strange concept, because all rides are good. Here's an example that maybe proves that.

Some decade back, I organized an annual ride known locally as the Montauk Century -- 115 miles from Jamaica Station to Montauk Point, with return via a chartered train. Weather w consistently poor for years but the ride kept growing, and folks would joke about having a glimpse of the sun. However one year we "enjoyed" what was an all star worst ride, with a cold all day rain and headwind. Out of 187 who started only 13 finished. We ended up stopping at every LIRR station on the way back to pick up cold, wet and miserable riders.

What makes this interesting, is while we all had stories of abject misery, few if any characterized the ride as bad, and the next year the ride grew, including a large percentage of those who'd suffered that day.

wthensler 

Nov. 2016 less than a mile from home in my BlueRidge Mtn. home, attacked by a dog. No time to unclip, fell and broke my pelvis and spent two nights in UVA Hospital. Took me more than 10 weeks to get on the bike.

CrowSeph

Worst day? 2 flats , my emergency pump whent broken while i was using it. Add a bunch of rain and a loooooong way walking home (3-4 km) whitout the k-way.

FBinNY 

I stand corrected, NOT all rides are good.

Glad to hear it's all behind you. BTW - 10 weeks to be back on the bike after a broken pelvis is pretty good.

Currmudge

Okay....

One was the shattered collarbone in '08. The other was the permanently ruined rotator cuff in '15. Guess why.........

FBinNY 

I think that we might need to separate two concepts. Bad rides and bad outcomes from rides or crashes.

Otherwise, we're dealing in apples and oranges, and meaningful ranking is impossible.

Of course, it might just be me, but, while I enjoy swapping war stories, I don't like talking about serious injury.

Defyme

Mine doesn't compare to any broken bone stories but my worst ride so far was during a ride on the 2nd outing on my new bike. Came to a complete stop and clicked out of my pedals on my right side, but leaned left to push the light change button on the street post. Of course, I fell over. Cracked my derailer hanger and tried to continue on, only to fall again less than 1/4 mile up the trail. Derailer completed broke off the bike and ended up between seat stays and wheel.

I was just coming off my injury (ruptured quad tendon) and did not want to call my wife and upset her. So, I walked the three miles (in my bike shoes) back to my car with my bike draped over my shoulders.

andr0id

I've posted it here before, but "The Frog Ride" is still the worst ever.

I used to live in Lafayette, LA. I went for a long ride one day north of town toward Opelousas. Most of what is out there is pretty swampy. Frogs live in the swamps and when they want to get to the next swamp over, they cross the road. Now this was long before Frogger existed, and the poor frogs had no way to practice dodging cars before having to do it for real. So they get smashed on the road and then dry up in little lumps of frog bits in the sun.

Now I'm riding along far from town and we get one of those mid-afternoon Louisiana thunder showers. Those dried up frogs lumps now become re hydrated frog bits.

And as with all road bikes without fenders, whatever you are riding through when it is wet gets flung all over your bike, your back and your legs. So there I was out in the middle of nowhere, in the pouring rain, drenched and covered in dead frog bits.

Hardrock23

Haven't really had a bad ride, yet anyway. There's been annoying & difficult ones because of the wind though.
My last venture out into a windy day on the bike, I ended up packing up for home just 15 minutes after beginning...I was being pounded with wind. Couldn't keep my head up or hardly move forward it was so strong. Just a bit before that day, I had been knocked over by the wind too. Iv since given up riding on days like that.

Hardrock23

That's pretty awful Andr0id

Machka 

A 600K I attempted about a decade ago. We did the first 300K in absolutely torrential rain, and bridges were being washed out behind us (we found out later). Wind so strong we were pedalling downhill. Reached a main highway and were just about washed away by the wave created by the semis.

By the 300K point, in the middle of the night, we were starting to struggle with hypothermia because it was not only still pouring but it was getting quite cool, and so we pulled the plug (so to speak) at 300K.


A few weeks later I attempted it again and had to be picked up at about 330 km suffering from hyponatremia.


Never did complete that particular 600 km.

biketampa

I've had pretty tame "worst" rides. Worst was on group ride waiting for back of pack to catch up after a crossing, pedaling slowly, looked back, drifted to right, hit edge of trail, went down, and biggest dude on the ride fell on top of me. Smashed my helmet on pavement, got twisted and strained groin muscle, and road rash

Zoroman

Yes I think there should be a separate thread for worst rides involving crashes and one that does NOT involve crashes.
My worst bike ride in the second category was I road my deeply loved bike over to my new girlfriend's house when I was in highschool. I parked the bike on the side of the house. We sat on her back porch in the dark and one thing lead to another and we made out... when she had to go in I walked around the corner and my beloved Spanish made bicycle was gone! Stolen! I loved that bike. Worst bike ride ever!!!

2cam16

Nothing on par with your rides.
Quite a few years ago, a group of us were on a nice singletrack ride up near the coast. Towards the end of the ride was a "jump" with a 4-foot drop. on my landing one foot slipped off the pedal, cranks make a round, pedal comes up to my left shin, SLAM!, pierces and scratches on my shin. Still hold those scars 15 years later.

exmechanic89

My thoughts exactly!

GlennR

Not my worst, but:

Last week I was in Scottsdale, Az. and went on a 50 mile ride with my son into the desert. Even with drinking (3) 24oz bottles of water, at 35 miles I had to stop due to cramps, dehydration and getting dizzy.

First time I "bonked" since getting back into cycling over 5 years ago.

eja_ bottecchia

I've never had a bad ride, even when I crashed and shattered my finger. Anytime I am on the bike it is a good time!

WizardOfBoz

Long time ago. 16 yo. Wrapped myself around some malt liquor. Not a lot, actually. Was riding my bike home, and goofing around, swerving from side to side. Hadn't glued the sewups on well enough. Tire rolled off rim, into brakes, I went over the handle bar and landed on my chin. The had to scrape the dirt out of my chin bone to sew me up. Cracked 13 teeth. Dentist said "worst dental damage I've seen without fatality".