guadzilla

In August, I had gone mountain biking in the Himalayas. After a *lot* of suffering, I had made it tothe top of the world's highest motorable pass - at 5800m or so - and finally looking forward to being assisted by gravity. The first 15 odd km was all dirt, stones and gravel, and the road itself was slightly wider than one vehicle and with no railings or guards on the side. And a virtually sheer fall that ranged from 500m to 2000m.

Within a few minutes of the downhill, I came upon a convoy of army trucks ahead of me, going slower than me. After eating their fumes for 5 min or so, I started aggressively looking for a way to overtake. Got past the first few trucks, waving to the soldiers as I went by. The next truck was really hard to get by - another 10 min or so stuck behind it and I was REALLY getting impatient. So when the truck slowed down, I decided to blow by it on the outside, where I had about 5 feet of space. However, just as I got abreast, the truck picked up speed and the road narrowed ahead - so I pretty much ran out of road while I was about even with the middle of the truck. I had less than a foot to my right and then the cliff, and about 6 inches on my left with the truck

I slammed my brakes to slow down and get some space to turn in, but even at slow speeds, the rocks and loose gravel made me unstable and I had no space to dab. My only option was to lean into the truck to recover my balance. Bang - hit my shoulder on it, and I ricocheted off towards the cliff - was able to turn it back in just inches before the cliffside and had to again lean into the truck with my shoulders in order to prevent the bike from going under its wheels... with the same results (got bounced towards the cliff edge) A third lean-in/correct and finally the truck was past and I was able to turn in and stop.

I still pucker up at how close I came to flying off a mountain that day.

lgraba

+1

I had a similar experience: had a front tire losing air, but decided to try to make it home. Took a turn, and quicker than I could blink, the front rim contacted the pavement and slid out, smacking me to the ground. I was stunned, the helmet was cracked, and I had road rash on my shoulder, elbow, and knee, and a huge painful bruise on my hip.

Lesson: don't try to ride with a flat front tire. Stop and fix it!!

RedWhiteandRed

When I go to the dentist I get total sedation - pills, gas and local freezing. My wife has to pick me up and escort me home and keep a close watch.

A few weeks ago she got me home OK but I escaped and found the keys to my bike lock and went riding around the city - this is a big city. After about the fifth or sixth time I crashed into a parked car I decided to head back home. Meanwhile my wife had friends and police searching.

SlimAgainSoon

Came up on two big, long trucks stopped at a stop sign, the drivers having a chat while idling. I squeezed between them, but then one of the rigs fired up and started swing over to go wide for a turn.

The gap got tighter and tighter, and I was touching trucks on both sides before I found daylight.

Drivers never saw me.

I've got nothing on vkalia, though. That story made me kinda sick.

w0lffian

this is really a pretty good thread...

2 weeks ago, took off with couple other riders for a short weekday ride..

we didn't commit to distance or route.. forgot I was only wearing cycling cap

as in rode with no helmet

new wheels (williams 19) on winter bike.. (allez sport)

route took us up a steep hill

which lead to a 49mph decent on unproven wheels and a cycling cap

thought nothing of it going down

at the bottom of the hill, I felt pretty dumb

Servo888

chefxian

Went from riding my Bianchi to a Scattante. Still have the Bianchi though.

substructure

started drinking whiskey

guadzilla

That running out of space has to be the worst "oh f**kity f**k" moment. There is enough time to be fully aware of the potentially disastrous consequences while the event is unfolding and not enough time to really be in control.

Sonoma76

Approaching a stop light, glanced over my left shoulder in order to merge into left turn lane, spent a little too long looking and face planted on the back of a late 90s camry driven by a little old lady on her way to church.

No damage or injuries but I was mighty chagrined

JoshTheSkier

Alright, in chronological order:

-March 15th, 2009: Bottle of Guinness explodes, cap hits me in right eye causing traumatic anterior uveitis and commotio retinae. (Essentially I hit my eye so hard, bruised my retina and then everything swelled up. I now also have an astigmatism in that eye. Perfect.

-April 18th, 2009: Collide face-to-forehead in a rugby match, break my cheekbone in three places. Enough trauma in that side of my face to also damage my facial nerve, my face wasn't paralyzed but it took almost 6 months for me to feel that side of my face again.

-June 27th, wrecked my Mtn. Bike, scrapes, bruises, nothing too serious. My luck is starting to change!! (Although, I still couldn't feel all of my face at this point.)

-July 11th, rode my first century, suffered my first bonk around mile 70, finished strong like a 90-year-old.

-September 27th, Class 3 shoulder separation in a match in NH. For my trouble I get a month out of work and an awesome lump. Also it was my right, dominant, shoulder. Relearning how to do everything left-handed was an adventure in itself, just for kicks try bushing your teeth with your off-hand. Not as much fun as you'd think.

And that brings us to now. It's been just over 5 weeks since I did my shoulder, and I'm finally starting to get some strength back. I max out at a whopping 10 pushups.

Nothing really that stupid, just some terrible luck this year.