Crashed for the first time......
 

My back, my palms and my thigh are not happy with me right now. My bike isn't happy either. It's scratched on the rear skewer, left pedal and both hoods. I was riding on a road that had trolley tracks embedded into the pavement and I wasn't even paying attention as I was turning off that road. I was looking up and around for oncoming traffic and my wheel fell right into the recess of the rail in the road. I dumped right then and there in the middle of a very busy intersection. (For the Boston folks, I fell where Beacon St meets Commonwealth Ave near Chestnut Hill.)

Observations:

1) My feet miraculously unclipped themselves as I hit the ground. This was one of my biggest concerns whenever I thought about my inevitable first fall.

2) My road rash doesn't hurt nearly as much as my misaligned back does right now.

3) I'll never make that stupid mistake again.


Please share your first crash with me here so I don't feel as stupid as I do right now.

Joe, Glad to hear you are "ok" and hope you feel better soon...on to my first crash

It was about 1969 and my Dad was holding onto the seat running next to me after taking off the training wheels that day on my red two wheeled (20") bicycle. I was pedaling really fast and when he let go I lost balance and fell onto the sidewalk. I scratched up my knee and the palm of my hand. The bicycle suffered some scratches as well. It wasnt carbon fiber so I didnt have to send the frame out to be x-rayed for cracks.

My first crash was in my first collegiate race when we were coming through the feedzone. The guy in front of me tried to grab a bottle, and FAILED. He went down, and I, being right on his wheel plowed right into him.

This was the green line right? Man I hate biking around Brookline.
my first big crash was when I touched wheels and bada bing, bada boom, mucho road rash and perma scar on the elbow. Chicks dig scars..

My first road bike crash was when I was 13. My father and I were finishing our usual 15 mile route and were sprinting for the last corner. I ran over a rock I hadn't seen but seemed to be fine. 10 seconds later I started to lean hard into the turn only to have my bike slide out from under me. Turns out the rock had caused the tire to unseat from the rim and rolled when I tried to corner. The road rash on my hip got infected and green for a week after that and left a scar for years (testament to shaving).

Glad you're not badly hurt. Rails are a major source of concern to me. Not only are the grooves dangerous to get caught in, but wet rails also make your wheels slide out!

edit: Oh and good job crashing on the nondrive side. :beer:

My first 'real' crash was last January on a twisty descent on some ice around a bend. Smacked my helmet onto the pavement and rode the remaining 10 miles of hills home.

Yeah, it was right near the end of one of the green lines. I am not sure if the tracks in question were even in use anymore.

Was racing a friend and went around a blind corner and hit a car head-on. Bent the fork and frame. I rolled over the hood and onto the windshield. Fortunately, I wasn't hurt.

Was riding full tilt and hit a small patch of sand on a tight corner. That hurt. Still have the scars on my hands.

Again, was racing with a friend and a small yapper came running across the road. Nailed him. Did an endo and rolled. Lots of road rash on the shoulder, back and arm.

And then there was my first bike crash when I was seven or so. I hit my pedal on a curb and fell on my face. Knocked myself out along with four teeth and a total road rash number on my face. So—if you ever meet me—you'll know what happened.

June 2002. Went over the bars on my TREK 1000; then only 5 months old. Still can't remember exactly what caused the crash but I hit the road with a head, neck shoulder roll and wound up stunned on the ground. This was on a residential street so there was no heavy car traffic. Was taken by Paramedic van to the E.R. Got a chest x-ray, cat-scan of my head and shoulders along with a few stiches to my left ear lobe, which got cut by the plastic from my helmet cracking, along with scrapes and bruises to my face, arms and legs. Was off the bike for four weeks and spent about 6 months going to physical therapy and a chiropractor to get over the residual trauma to my body. The bike was undamaged. Had the LBS where I bought it from inspect it for any damage. It only had a few scratches here and there. It came through better than I did. I've fallen, a.k.a. minor crash, a few times since but nothing as bad as the June '02 one. I'm sure it will happen again but not if I can help it. I've learned from that experience. PG.

First real crash was about 3 years ago. Doing my standard recovery ride, there had been an accident and some sand had been thrown down right by a sharp turn. didn't realize until it was to late. skid right through it, landed on my side with the bike on top of me, broke my hand, ripped my shorts and jersey and got a bunch of nasty road rash on my legs and arms. still nervous every time I take that turn.

I've crashed the exact same way (hitting embedded train tracks). The one thing I was glad of, was that I was wearing a helmet. I'm pretty sure my helmet saved my brain. I went out and bought a replacement the same day.

That's a horrible place to crash man, glad you are relatively ok considering the circumstances.

I dread riding in the city and its not because of the motorists, its the crap on the road that I run over. Pot holes, glass, rocks.... I remember crashing hard in the city after riding over a deep, smooth indent on the road and flying over my bars at 25mph.

My first crash on a road bike was last year, trying to impress a girl. Was sprinting when some idiot pulled out in front of me, swerved to avoid him hit the gravel shoulder and went down. I was on a borrowed bike at the time which, thank god, landed mainly in the grass ditch avoiding any real damage, my body wasn't so lucky really bad road rash on one side, it was down to the bone on my elbow. The girl I was trying to impress saw the whole thing, so I felt like a complete idiot. I finished the ride though (to be fair there was like a mile and a half left so it wasn't a great accomplishment), then promptly went to the hospital.

Yeah and not to mention the ****ing 1 inch steel plates covering stuff on the road..

Thats all immaterial, did you impress the girl ;).

Tegaderm !!!!!!!

Perfect new skin in 7 days. Google it or search in this forum. Can be purchased CVS.

mine didnt....
I was going up a steep hill, derailleur came off my bike, I fell in slow motion, one foot still clipped in.
partially tore my achilles tendon, sprained ankle.
happy 4th of july... summer in a cast.. 2 years later I still feel some pain while running.
Hope you feel better soon, it could have been worst for me or you! that's the good part :)
heal fast!

How about my first and second crashes, both on the same ride?

I was a newbie on my commuter MTB, out for an evening ride, when it started to drizzle. Purely out of habit I took one corner at my usual speed and went down promptly: road rash on my left side, but the bike was fine.

I continued my ride, got to my turnaround point and headed back. Coming to the same corner in the opposite direction, I remembered what happened before -- just as the front wheel went out from under me and I went down again: matching road rash on my right side.

Talk about feeling stoo-pid!

First crash happened 4 weeks ago. It was wet, I took two rights and was trying to get back up to speed. Evidently was going a little fast for the upcoming left turn and slid into the corner. Messed up my rear brake spring, got some nice road rash on my leg and injured my wrist, which still hurts. I haven't ridden for a week, as I'm trying to rest it. At least I've gotten my first one out of the way. :-)

Man that sucks. Comm Ave. runs parallel to Beacon doesn't it? Were you near Chestnut Hill Ave, or further up toward BC?

My first road bike crash?

I was riding my 3 day old Madone on a secluded little (not very well known) path. I am booking it doing probably 32Mph. This is a narrow path, maybe 4 or 5 feet across. It also curves to and fro and has lots of hills and dips. Very fun.

Anyway, I came accelerating out of a corner and suddenly see these three fat women walking shoulder to shoulder up the path a ways. I call out that I am coming up. No response, I shout again, louder. No response. I finally am maybe 100 ft from them and I yell "Move the f*ck out of the way". They finally all scream and jump into the dirt on the sides as I tear through. Then they start yelling at me. "Slow down *****hole" they say. I flip them off over my shoulder as I stand and sprint up a hill and out of their sight.

Little did I know, this particular hill did not remain straight after its crest, it reaches the top, drops down AND turns at the same time. Turns sharp. I am doing 35 Mph. This is not a good thing. I slam on my breaks and start trying to get some lean in for the turn. Not happening. I go straight off the path, into the sand, where the Madone quickly grabs a front wheel full of sand and, brakes applied 100% now, throws me over the handlebars.

I did NOT unclip as this happened. I had the joy of hurdling through the air with the bike still attached, landing on my face and chest in the sand (thank FSM for small miracles) and then having the bike land on me, unclip my shoes and tear my calve open with the chainring.

Believe it or not, I was up, back on the bike and riding away WELL before the fat beeatches came over the hill to see my all wrecked.


That was my first road bike crash,

No offence, but what the hell were you doing going over 30mph on a 5' wide path? That's just f'n dumb.

No argument there. It was 10:30 AM on a weekday. I wasn't terribly concerned about foot traffic. Plus, like no one knows about this place. Anyway, yes. I was going way too fast. I was having so much fun with the bike, I let it get away from me.