7bmwm3gtr

I crashed into the back of a Ford Focus @ 23mph when it suddenly braked. My throat hit the rear spoiler and I lost my voice for a good week and a half. My cleats did come out of the pedal, but I had road rash the size of a quarter on my right arm and a little wider one on my hip. I never really crashed into the ground at that speed yet, and I'm not planning to, but it's going to happen anyways.

DrPete 

You're mostly right = but the equation you give is for kinetic energy. That IS, however, a decent approximation of the energy transfer to the body in a collision.

Billy Bones

It's a lot to remember unless it's instilled by some training [not usually bike related] or experience. Tuck in your sticking-out parts and try to land on "meat" covered bits rather than where bone is near the surface. Try not to break your fall with your hands.

I've never had to worry about unclipping SPDs; it seems to happen on its own in a crash.

big chainring 

And AGE. I crashed all the time in my teens. 30 mile an hour sprints on the track, touch pedals with an apponent and you're down. No big deal when you are 18. Bounce right up and get ready for more. Maybe some road rash and a bruise. 35 years later and something like that would put me in the hospital.

Homebrew01

Relax, tuck & roll, don't stick out your arms.

achoo

Wow, what a jackass comment, ESPECIALLY after asking questions about crashing and then getting told what it's like. And just what do you think a doctor does for a dislocated shoulder? He pops it back in, and if you're lucky he tells you to take two aspirin and call him in the morning.

I'd guess this is just a lowbrow troll given the OP's disappeared after starting this thread and making a couple of smartass posts like that.

Megiddo

I got hit doing about 22mph by a left turner. A trip to John Hopkins shock trauma, no broken bones, lots of bruising and road rash (one kidney stone knocked loose).

I was actually surprised my shoes unclipped without effort.

wphamilton

20 mph can kill with a little bad luck if you don't have the skills.For someone who does have the skills -absent bad luck- there is little risk of injury from the ground at under 20mph including road-rash, broken bones or head injury. The main danger is from other vehicles, obstacles and vertical surfaces. Your own vehicle tops that list for someone who's had little experience. The skills don't necessarily fade with age.

Far be it from me to instruct people how to ride or what to practice, but for someone worried about crashes there's really only one answer: train for it.

guadzilla

"How well you know to fall"? Yeah right.

I had a crash around 22-23mph last year - hit a pothole I hadnt seen, wheel went sideways and before I could even figure out wtf, let alone decide how I was going to fall, I was on the ground and my head had bounced off the tarmac.

Val23708

A gymnastics background would help.

Also there are ways to practice how to crash. My team practiced crashing on a grass field. Basically tumbling practice with a helmet on.

gbiker

Whatever. The person I was responding to first said go out and find out, then HTFU. If I dislocated a shoulder, I'd go see a doctor, like an orthopedist. I'm not trolling and by and large the posts in this thread are great and exactly what I was looking for. Except for your worthless comment.

Gene465

Once when I was about 15 I mistakenly went down a incline at a construction site, no broken bones but around 10 stitiches to close a gash in my head. Around the age of 25, commuting to work on a rigid forked MTB with slicks in the rain took a turn a bit too fast around 20+ and the bike slide out from under me somehow I landed on top of my bike as it lay on its left side both feet unclipped, my new vetta seat's skid rail took a beating. Aside from a few scratches on my hands no damage. Gene

GP

The last time I got hit, I was laying on the ground watching the van that hit me drive away thinking, "damn, this is going to cost me a fortune"
because I sheared off the pedal, the derailleur, a brake, a shifter, etc.

gregf83 

A common cause of crashes while riding in a group is touching the back wheel of the rider in front of you. The natural reaction when your wheel touches a wheel in front of you is to turn away. This virtually guarantees a crash.

It's a good idea to find a friend and practice touching wheels on a grass field and learn to turn into the wheel your touching until you can get your bodyweight over to the other side of your bike.

zonatandem

After 300,000+ miles on single bikes and tandems, have had a few high speed crashes.
30+ mph on tandem on downhill; drive chain bounced between dropout and small cog. Instant stop. Front wheel buckled, pilot did paratrooper roll over the front bars; stoker (unfortunately cannot roll as pilot is in the way) went down with tandem.
She had roadrash from head to ankle + black eye; pilot had huge hematoma on right hip and some torn clothing.
3 days later (with new wheel) we did a 3-day 200-mile loop by the south rim of the Grand canyon.
HIgh speed crash descending a twisting paved mountain road in northern Utah on single bike. At 38mph developed severe harmonic vibration that was not stopable; bike was slaloming across the road and double yellow line; decided did not want to be a hood ornament on oncoming truck, tapped brake and rolled over the bars.
Looking under right arm as I flipped over the bars saw cyclist behind me . . . he rode over top of me and went down too. He cracked helmet and had roadrash while I suffered double break of the shoulder (NOT collar bone). Bike was OK.
Pedaled down rest of the mountain, went home and drove to the hospital.
Actually prefer a higher speed crash than slo-mo fall over.
At age 78, am still riding +/-100 miles a week.
There are those that have fallen and those that will fall . . .
Next?!

Runner 1

:slaps forehead:

I didn't think you guys would actually debate the physics of my joke.

crhilton

Wiped out at 30mph. The guy in front of me hit debris and lost control of the front of his bike. He went down hard, head/face first. He had some broken bones, concussion, that sort of thing. I veered right, his bike flipped up in front of mine.

I went over my bike (or something like that). Unclipped (in almost every crash I've ever had I've come out of the pedals without any conscious effort). Tucked, rolled a few times, and rolled up onto my feet. I turned and attended to the guy in front of me (with all of my other ride mates who didn't crash) who wasn't so lucky.

Injuries: Minor muscle pain for a couple weeks. Broke the bits that hold my helmet on, but the foam was untouched so I pitched it and reluctantly bought a new one.


Another time, riding fixed at about 20 (probably a little under), lightly feathered my front breaks on a muddy wooden bridge. Front wheel went out and I went straight down. Bashed my head, got tangled up in the bike (I believe I was clipped out, but still got tangled in the bike). Broken helmet, headache for the night, and a ding on the top tube of my bike.


It depends on a ton on how you fall. How you're thrown off the bike, and how you deal with that. I'd say, at over 20, if you lose your front wheel it's just bad. Knowing how to fall doesn't do any good when you get tangled in the bike and everything is pulling/pushing you head first into the pavement. If you lose your rear wheel and know how to fall (you know, reflexively, not to brace with your hands or arms and how to roll) I think you're likely to come out with road rash and other minor injuries.

canyoneagle

Ahh, I didn't catch that you were joking by saying crashing at 20MPH would be twices as bad as at 10MPH.

All I was saying (really) is that it is more like 4x worse.

Blackdays

You're so cool, and clearly far superior to us mere mortals.

Thank you for gracing us with your presence.

rodieartist

I'm most concerned about ruining my tattoo if I fall

Hammonjj

For me, I crashed doing a little over 35 mph at the beginning of November and ended up breaking my wrist and pelvis. Plus, I was totally covered in road rash and cactus needles. The worst part was the pelvis though, it kept me off my bike for the better part of 8 weeks and I couldn't hardly walk for the first 2.

patrickgm60

Sounds logical. How does it sync with the "tuck and roll" comments, though? It seems that, in the sudden front wheel pothole/lockup scenario, holding onto the handlebars almost guarantees a head slam, no?

zigmeister

Ok, I just have to ask..WTF was with the guy going 8mph while everyone was doing 30mph in the middle of the road??? He didn't have a flat or anything from what I saw.

ls01

Stop bragging already.

ls01

Dr.'s are for woosies! ( no offence to any of the fine md.'s on here.) H.T.F.U.