zonatandem

Normal for you, not for me.
Half dozen real crashes for me in over 300,000 miles of pedaling.
Luck does not have much to do with crashing. Mostly it is inattention.

umd

I am always amazed at the utter stuipness of this forum and people too

I had something to say, I said it.

Maybe, but...

So how can we have a meaningful discussion without agreeing on the definition of words?

The "old umd" would say something snarky here.

Crashing certainly happens. But does that make it "normal"?

Do you want a cookie? Between the two of us, who do you think probably rode more?



I crashed twice in August. Once in February, but I was hit from behind. 2of the 3 were in races, the other may as well have been a race. But I think most of BF knows about that one...

umd

Of all my crashes, when I broke my collarbone a few years ago was the most stupid. it was pure inattention.

pedalhard

Totally agree with you but in this case I stopped pedaling as always before I pass[chris king hubs] and gave lots of room but this guy hit me as I was almost past him he hit my bike just behind my leg. And yes I will admit I was not looking at the fact we were coming up to a turn off.Next time.But still he should of LOOKED.

pedalhard

Once again I am amazed this time by the size of your own self importance , really man get over yourself.

Yaniel

eh so i used a bit of dramatic license.

umd

I am amazed how far some people manage to get the stick up their ass.

Flatballer

he's probably on the internet because it's blocking his windpipe.

Chris_F

When your wife asks you "do these jeans make my arse look fat?" you typically don't respond "no, your fat makes your arse look fat" do you?

Chris_F

Closing speed? If he hit you in the back of the bike I'm guessing you didn't just ease by him. You were probably moving MUCH faster. Either he was intentionally looking to try and crash his and your bike (unlikely) or he was doing something he has every right to do and you occupied the space he needed to do it.

urbanknight

No argument there, but that still doesn't define a "normal" number of crashes. Of course your chances will go up with the number of risks you add, but it's still chances and not an expected number. Simple probability (even if you flipped a coin to tails 10 times, the next flip still has a 50/50 chance of either side).

GP 

From your description, it sounds like you are following another rider on a bike path. Both of you are approaching a turn-off to the left. You are going to go straight. The other rider is going to turn left. You overtake the other rider as he turns. The two riders collide. You are at fault.

Think of the same situation in a car. You attempt to pass another car on the left as he turns left and he hits you. You are at fault.

gjb483

base layers save skin.

very few crashes on the road bike, the last one involved a wet wooden bridge and an ill timed tap on the front brake. mountain biking is a whole different story, managed a really nice rolling endo 10 minutes into my ride today.

JoelS

You really don't think it's your fault, do you? Chris King hubs? So what? They're noisy, but not as noisy as if you had called out that you were passing. And if the guy had in ear-buds of some sort and was listening to music, he wouldn't have heard you anyway.

You were passing. It's your responsibility to make a safe pass. If the other person turns into you because they didn't look, it's still your fault. You have to leave room to maneuver if needed.

Chris_F

I want a "Loud Hubs Save Lives" bumper sticker.

HWS

5 years as a roadie, somewhere around 25,000 miles, one crash. It was last year, riding in the rain went into a small puddle that turned out to be a deep pothole and endo'd.

dman-ebike

Now what is the correct way to fall? I'm dying to find out.

banerjek

Seriously? To quote botto, it depends.

By definition, if you are crashing you have lost control. But often you can do a lot to minimize damage to yourself. In many situations, staying with the bike is the way to go. Keep hands on the bars, elbows tucked in, and feet on the pedals. The effect you are trying to achieve is kind of like rolling with the strongest part of your hip and leg taking the impact first. If impact was involved which sends you flying, you want to avoid flailing if you can.

There are plenty of situations where there is not much you can do, but if the OP's account is accurate, he loused things up for himself.

Even presuming significant size disparity, a collision with a cyclist who already had plenty of forward momentum shouldn't have caused the effect he describes. The other time he broke his wrist -- I'll go out on a limb and guess he stuck out his hand to break his fall. When you start sticking arms, elbows, etc to break your fall and let your feet fly around so they can get caught up, you are asking for things to be broken.

The OP needs to work on his judgement, bike handling, and emergency skills. If he can't handle dumbasses who just turn left without checking or signaling, how long do you expect him to last before he gets right hooked? He gets messed up pretty bad over what should be a pretty tame collision by cycling standards (unless he plows at high speed directly into the guy in which case he's an idiot).

I'd be dead long ago or disabled if I rode like it sounds like the OP does.

RecceDG

I never crash the road bike, but the MTB I crash all the friggin' time.

Had a beauty over-the-bars yesterday. Perfect endo. It actually hung on the point of balance for a heartbeat before toppling forward (and if I had had the presence of mind to release the front brake I probably would have rolled out of it)

Happily, a misspent youth BMX racing taught me how to fall. Don't try and catch yourself with your hands (that breaks collarbones) Instead, roll with it, tucking your head under and taking the impact on a shoulder and rolling over your back. Dissipate the crash energy in little chunks, not all in one big impact.

I've had a few scrapes and punctures, but few bruises.

DG

Seattle Forrest

I was in a few crashes when I was younger; all but one of them was my fault, and even in that one, I could have done more to avoid it. I haven't crashed in years, knock on wood, except in cyclocross. But you do crazy stuff in CX, and you expect to crash. I didn't hurt myself or the bike.

The_Cretin

JonnyHK 

You asked a question, then you got an answer.

Then YOU let loose with a whole paragraph of defensive tripe for which a number of people have suggested that you A) were not justified in doing, B) were being hyper-sensitive, or C) you deserve to be slapped for.

You need to have a deep breath, step away from the keyboard (go have a coffee or something), then come back with the realisation that the entire world is not out to get you, so you don't need to react like it.

Some more advice:
If it hasn't already been said - Wear a base layer.

c0urt

I had atleast three "crashes" in the past two years. but they came from my own poor choice to ride.
unfortunately they are all connected-you ride-you crash-it happens. hopefully you learn from it. like they said, it is just different for everyone

Supercameron

ive just started on a road bike and had my first crash after 48km and mine was definately not my fault. I was about to change gears so i could go up my steep driveway after a ride and this magpie came and swooped me so i freaked out and didnt change gears and he swooped me again as i was going up the steep part and i couldnt pedal anymore and fell into a garden bed

socalrider

The bottom line: Gravity can be a ***** sometimes..