Originally Posted by
Zaskar
Typically, when you encounter sand, gravel, deep(ish) water, etc unexpectedly, there's a lot of weigh transfer to the front end as you quickly slow down - from hitting that sand/gravel. The front tire will push. That's hard to recover from. If you can shift your weight back, apply a lot of rear break - even inducing a skid, you can sometimes get the front tire out of that push. It's just easier with hydraulic brakes - that whole modulation thing.
You're correct about what happened. But, personally, I did not have time to react or respond in any way. I couldn't brake, let alone determine which brake to use. I couldn't shift my weight. I think that when my front wheel hit the gravel, three things happened. It decelerated, it lost traction, and it shifted position.These things happened in a very short time frame. When the front tire emerged from the gravel patch (which wasn't very big) it suddenly re-gained traction, but it was no longer lined up with the rear wheel. I think I lost it when the bike tried to re-align itself.