KenSmith

Well, I knew it had to happen eventually. The bike and I parted ways mid ride this morning. I got up early (5:00 am) and planned on doing about 20 miles on the Katy trail before it get's hot. It was a great morning, beautiful, partly sunny, very light winds and around 75 degress. I was having a marvelous time. Riding along, reached down to get my water bottle and hit a crack running down the center of the packed lime trail. Bike kicked left, I kept going forward (inertia really does work). Ended up sliding off the side of the trail into the cockle burs. Both the bike and I came out of it pretty well unscathed. I ended up with a small bit of road rash on my left hip, a cut on my left thumb and an embarrased look on my face. The bike ended up with a small scrape on the right brifter and a small scrape on the right side of the seat. Jumped back on and finished out my 22 miles.

For those of you who are familiar with the Katy trail, this occurred about 1/2 mile west of Matson, between Matson and Klondike. So if you see what appears to be a drag mark from a dead body, that's me.

Ken

Monoborracho

The Newtonian laws (particularly the first), when applied to bikes and bodies, are a real bummer. Glad you're not scratched too bad.

By the way, what bike and tire size do you ride on the Katy?

KenSmith

Mono,
I ride a Fuji Touring with 700x28's. It came with 32's, but I recently changed to Specialized Armadillo's in 28s. Not usually a problem as the Katy is pretty hard packed, but hitting a crack one handed changes the rules a bit.

Ken

genec

It is those "self crashes" that really tend to burn though.

I went down a couple months ago while doing a slow U turn. Everything was fine until I hit a small plastic bead that was on the pathway. Didn't even see them at first... but while on the ground it was quite obvious that they were everywhere. Looked like some child's toy necklace had just exploded.

Anyway these small hard beads were just like bearings... and my front tire hit one just right.

Felt so dumb and small and fragile sitting there on the ground with my fingers bent back the wrong way. Got a bruise on my hip and one finger still has not gained all the strengh back... I notice it whenever I grab something heavy to lift... that finger just protests.

It dawned on me while lying there on the ground that this is the very reason we wear helmets.

DnvrFox

So sorry about your crash!

And I thought "String Theory" outdated those old Newtonian laws! I am still trying to decide in which parallel universe I should live and bicycle.

KenSmith

I did indeed have my helmet on. I will admit that I don't always wear it on the Katy, but will in the future.
The good thing about this crash, only one racoon witnessed it. However, he's probably laughing with his buddies right now.
Ken

centexwoody 

Raccoon standup comics are the worst; so sorry your crash became fodder for his comic material...

jppe

Yikes! It's good to hear that most of damage was just to the ego. You have to wonder what the next crash in 40 years from now is going to be like????

stapfam

Problem with crashes- is all the practising that has to be done to do it properly. One of my riding partners took one of his work colleagues out a few weeks ago and had an off on a stiff uphill trail. Phoned him Sunday to ask where he was as he doesn't normally chicken out on a ride. Has a very stiff upper arm and a broken rib. He's seen me fall off often enough following downhill so you think he would have learnt something by now. Thats the problem with youngsters- they read the books and view the videos but don't practice enough.

KenSmith

JPPE,
If I wait another 40 years, it's going to be bad.... I can see the headlines: 92 year old man falls off bike, raccoon dies laughing.

Prosody

It's been about a year since I last rode the KATY, but I think that crack has been there for some time. I had a similar crash on the road long ago when my front wheel fell into a crack between slabs of pavement. Glad you're OK.

KenSmith

Now comes the fun... It appears there was poison ivy mixed in with those cockleburs.... starting to itch and break out... bring on the calamine lotion...

centexwoody 

POISON IVY :EEK:

Wash your clothes in hot water, rub yourself down with rubbing alcohol & scrub until the skin comes off. Then the oils may not continue to spread...

Congratulations on a truly remarkable crash with interesting side effects - much more entertaining than simple flat tires.

gear

If I understand correctly, you have had only one crash while mountainbiking since the 70s???? If thats the case, you just aren't trying. Now if your talking about road riding...well your still not trying. Half the fun (and most of the doctor bills) come from "quick departures".

KenSmith

Gear, I took about 25 years off to raise kids and get fat. I only recently began riding again. (April).

Ken

OneSlowLap

I too got back into biking recently after a 30 year layoff. Coming up Keifer Creek in West County with a neighbor on an early morning ride. I turned around so I could hear something he said and drifted off to the right a bit. Ran my front wheel up against a section of pavement that was about an inch higher than the surrounding stuff. Bike went straight, I went off to the right in a nice tuck and slam. The judges gave me a 9.3 for form and a 10.0 for impact. Nice rash on the elbow and spent a day unable to raise my right arm above my waist.
His comment: "Dude, I bet that hurt."
At least he didn't laugh, for which I will be forever grateful.
Lessons I learned:
1. Pay attention
2. Trek builds strong bikes
3. Gravity works
4. Pain is...well....painful

tribe3

5. Don't use cool looking dark "Oakleys" if you can't see $hit. I know I put my wheel in that gap cause I didn't see it...

tlc20010

and just remember.....your last crash was not your last crash....unless you give up cycling completely.