The First Crash
 

So staring at effects of my first crash, I was wondering what yours was like.
I was riding along on the sidewalk/paved bike trail of a road (it was a really sketchy road with no bike lane) and a piece of a chain link fence grabbed onto my jersey. I went over the handlebars and cracked my chin open (3 stitches). I rode away from it, thank God.
Anyway, leave me your stories! :)

p.s.: the bike is fine! :thumb:

Last week I was riding the rain bike w/ stem shifters. Stood up to drop the hammer, hit the shifter with my knee and downshifted all the way. Chain didn't like that. Went OTB.

was riding around a small bend in a good rhythm, head was down for no more than 3 seconds, when i looked up all i saw was another cyclist pulling out of his driveway. boom, my bars caught his. i went into the street. fractured arm.

Ive had many crashes in my cycling lifetime, the most recent memory of one was when I went down near a school, it was weird because it just happened and I didnt hit a rock or slide on rain or nothing I just lost control of the bike and I went otb, it was weird.

I was racing my father back to our house after a 15 mile ride and sprinted down the next to last street. I didn't see a rock in the road and ran over it. No big deal, everything seemed fine. What I didn't realize is that it had unseated my tires and as I leaned hard into the final turn around 20 mph, the bike just slid out from underneath me. Some good road rash on my hip and some scratches to my rims and rear derailleur were the only consequences.

I got a 250 dollars per mile ride......

how so?

My guess: Crashed 2 miles into a ride and has a $500 ER co-pay.

First one....

Bought bike, didn't know how to handle it yet, bombing a hill with a 90* turn at the bottom, panicked, hit the curb and got launched. Came out of it pretty well, just some scratches and bruises.

First crash,

I had just taken the training wheels off and all I understood about keeping the bike upright was to keep going. So some friends pushed me along until I was up to speed, then let go. For a while I was all "look at me! look at me!" but had no idea what to do when I had to stop. So I didn't stop. I hit the curb at the end of the street and went OTB.

I think I was about 5.

Oh wait, first? Oops. Something mountain biking last year I think.

GW Bridge (south walk), January 3, 2007 -- yes, I remember the date. I was pedaling up and around the hairpin turn on the Manhattan side. I rounded the turn and lo: there was a commuter bearing down on me. Of course, I momentarily forgot how to unclip. By instinct I threw out my arm to stop the impending fall. The arm snapped against the guardrail. The other guy directed the EMTs up the ramp, and he kept my bike in his apartment until my next-door neighbor (who happens to be an absurdly strong rider) came by to pick it up. The orthopedic surgeon cut off my forearm and reattached it with stainless pins and screws. Physical therapy was administered by a beautiful and merciless Russian woman (Equinox Sports on Broadway at 96th, for interested Manhattanites -- no idea if she's still there).

Oh, wow. They cut your forearm off?? That's a pretty bad break if that's the way they fix it.

Distal humerus fracture -- in other words, right at the elbow. I'm told it's the hardest type of fracture to set. Anyway, I'm glad they didn't use titanium. Steel is real, you know. :)

Imagine if they threw some carbon fiber in there. Your arm would be broken again in maybe two years if you're lucky.

too many to remember as a kid screwing around in the neighborhood.

My first wreck on the road was last summer. I was in the middle of a paceline on a group ride, getting pretty tired so my grip on the hoods wasn't exactly tight. The guy in front of me swerved around one of those small but deep potholes without pointing it out (I think he saw it at the last second too). When my front wheel hit it, my hands slid over the hoods, and I had just enough time to think "oh sh*t." Luckily, I basically just rolled onto my shoulder/back. The only damage was my torn jersey, some scuffs on the side of my rear skewer, scratches on the left brifter, which was also twisted inward, and, of course, a few scrapes and bruises on my shoulder.

First that I can remember was when I was like 5 or something and was bombing up the street as hard as I could on my little red BMX, cut to the neighbours lawn where there was a depression just before rising to their driveway. Hit is wrong, and I kissed asphalt.

Worst, monetarily: Riding my Surly LHT out to my parents along a rural trail, that I've ridden twice before. Went down a steep hill with a blind corner, thinking I remembered how sharp the bend was...I was wrong: Boulder on the outside greeted me like a prison cell mate. Folded the top and bottom tube so the front tire was damned near on the cranks, split the top tube right before the seat tube. Bent the Tubus rack's stays, and busted the lens mount on my D70. I had just taken off my helmet cause I was sweating something fierce....walked away with a bit of rash of my forehead, shoulder, elbow and knee. (Pics are around somewhere if you really need to see it)

and the motto of that story is always wear a helmet. Was your bike aluminium or carbon? Thats sound pretty damn hard to do on a bike.

I was 5. Nice trip to the emergency room (I remember it well), lots of stitches and a pretty big scar on the back of my head to remind me to wear a helmet 23 years later.

You guessed wrong.
Two miles in I wouldn't be crashing I would be getting run over by a car.

P.S. It wasn't a first crash.

I had mine today too :P I went back out for a second ride today, I was riding in the BIKE LANE, going at a decent pace when some stupid lady who didn't have her dog on a leash (there's a city ordinance here) the dog no joke, ran from the sidewalk where they were, over the patch of grass between the road and sidewalk and ran between my two tires, needless to say I went down. I ran over him with my back tire I think... that kinda freaked me out. I told her to put her damn dog on a lead, then got on my bike and rode away, then I noticed I was bleeding, but not before I noticed that my wheels got pretty screwed up. :(

I went to the LBS to get my wheels checked out, then went home and soaked in the tub for a few hours.

My first road crash?

It was really pathetic. Last summer. I was holding a line with my uncl-- er, coach when a car drove by. For some reason, I felt the need to watch it go by. So much for holding a line. Looked left and the bike went left right into the other rider's wheel. He kept pedaling while I was on the ground on my $7,000 Orbea rental bike. :innocent:

Good times.

and the dog??

sorry for the double post, but where in the WORLD did you get a 7grand Orbea rental???

First crash. I was 6 and some of the older kids set up a small jump in the alley. So I tried to jump and I didn't know I needed to pull up on my handlebars. So I landed on my front wheel and flip over my handlebars and landed on my head leaving some damage on my forehead. Yes I didn't have a helmet. It was 1979. The part I remember most is the blood in my hand and me running home screaming for my mom. This post really brings back some memories.