Stick vs Bike
 

Anyone actually lose this fight? Do tell...or am I overly paranoid.

Had one fly up and hit me yesterday but not in the spokes yet. Also had some strip of flexy metal slash a tire. I think the spinning of spokes would tend to kick thing away but suppose it's possible. Certainly works to jam a stick in the front tire in movies. I think smaller ones would break/bend at the fork too.

Sticks can break your derailleur straight off if they get lodged in there right.

Herbie recently lost the stick v. Zipp fight.

A friend had one wedge in his front fork a few years back. Sent him and two or three people behind him to the hospital.

Or twist the rd into the spokes. I've seen that happen. It gave me a new respect for sticks in the roadway. Same for plastic bags.

I saw a plastic bag, big garbage bag size, on the shoulder. I thought about hitting at a joke then decided against it.

As I passed it I realized that it wasn't a garbage bag, it was a block of ice about 2 feet square (2'x2'x2').

Also watch out for even small bags and such. You never know what's inside - brick, manure, kittens, etc.

I have read the big problem with plastic bags is they can get wound up in your cassette and seize it up.

yes

http://www.painforlaughs.com/biker-h...ttyPhoto-94/0/

Stick won this one:

http://www.ride-strong.com/wp-conten...n-leg-4-rs.jpg

Had a metal wrench take me out good :) went into my front wheel, locked spokes against fork. Fortunately escaped with scratches. Apparently same thing happened the previous day to another group, except that rider got a ride to a hospital.

I ride over an awful lot of sticks on my MTB. No problems yet but I'm sure something awesome will eventually happen.

I wouldn't worry about it much on a road bike. There are usually quite a few on the ground after a thunderstorm, but otherwise I don't see many and wouldn't think they are near the top of your threat list.

I've destroyed a wheel with a big stick before. Luckily the fork survived (and me).

um, wow

Stick took out the RD of my MTB on a trail. Walking back sucked.

+2

might want to ask this in the MTB or cyclocross section.

Fwiw, I think the high pressure of the smooth road tire and hard substrate causes them to behave differently, often flipping them up into harm's way. My experience off road is that I can ride over them with no weirdness. They usually just break or do nothing but lie there.

Oh god, that's just disgusting.

Ooo, my eyes got real wide.

And some of you need to post a link (not the pic itself) of those pics with at least a warning. >_<

I hear sticks hit my wheel/spokes/downtube occasionally. Ever since I started riding, I've always tried to avoid the obvious ones in the road. I even point them out like I point out potholes.

However, I did lose to an acorn, which knocked me on my right side, popped my front wheel, giving me few scars that are very noticeable today. This was in July, kept me off the bike for two months because my knee's range of motion was very limited.

And today, an old wire hanger I did not see, got caught in my wheel and wrapped all the way around, twice, between the cassette and the spokes. Luckily nothing broke or malfunctioned.

The little things...

IIRC, that's a splinter from the track, and the guy got up and finished the race.

Here's the story:

http://www.wendmag.com/blog/2011/02/...ough-his-calf/

Wow! That dude is a badass.

The 'facts' in the story seem suspect, however. If he didn't fall in the crash, how exactly did his jersey and bibs get shredded?