Hit the pavement
10-01-18, 06:48 PM
#1
Mother Nature's Son
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Hit the pavement
Today I took a spill not even a quarter of a mile from the start of the ride. I live on a narrow 2 lane road that has a fair amount of traffic. I was just passed by a driver that was in a hurry to get past me without slowing down for the oncoming vehicle. I turned my head and lost my focus, went off the edge of the road and then tried to get back on the pavement without slowing down. My front wheel hit the edge of the pavement and I lost control. I was going about 15 mph and thought I had it back but then knew I was going down. Fortunately, I was not seriously injured. Just some scrapes and bruises and am probably going to be sore in the morning. My bike has a couple of scrapes, nothing major.The fall was entirely my fault. I knew the passing vehicle had enough time to pass me and I should have kept my eyes on where I was going. I really screwed up when I tried to get back on the pavement even though I saw the edge drop off and knew I needed to slow down. Just that instant of lost focus could have been the start of some very serious consequences. It was the worst spill off a bike that I have had in a long time. It was a harsh reminder that I need to keep my mind, my eyes and my ears focused on what I am doing, to control what I can control. I also found out that I still know how to take a fall, stay calm and keep relaxed. That is really just instinct from training and not a conscious reaction. I took a couple of minutes to check on myself and my bike and then continued on my ride. I am grateful that I can go out tomorrow and ride again.
10-02-18, 03:13 AM
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Really glad you didn't fall into traffic. That's the worst part of trying to move left onto the road after slipping off--you often fall towards the traffic lane. Glad you were able to type this.
10-02-18, 04:22 AM
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I am incredibly fortunate. This morning I am not as bruised as I thought I would be and the soreness is minimal. It is going to be another gorgeous day here in slower lower Delaware and I am looking forward to getting a good ride in. Thanks
10-02-18, 04:58 AM
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I'm glad you're OK. That part about going off the road then coming back on before falling over sounds very familiar. I'm sure you can relate to parts of my story:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...-shoulder.html
I hope I have enough presence of mind to just go all the way off the road next time, rather than trying to remount the pavement at a shallow angle.
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...-shoulder.html
I hope I have enough presence of mind to just go all the way off the road next time, rather than trying to remount the pavement at a shallow angle.
10-02-18, 05:40 AM
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Good deal that you and the bike are OK. ENJOY the riding!
10-02-18, 07:28 AM
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10-03-18, 02:10 PM
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Today I took a spill not even a quarter of a mile from the start of the ride. I live on a narrow 2 lane road that has a fair amount of traffic. I was just passed by a driver that was in a hurry to get past me without slowing down for the oncoming vehicle
I turned my head and lost my focus, went off the edge of the road and then tried to get back on the pavement without slowing down. My front wheel hit the edge of the pavement and I lost control. I was going about 15 mph and thought I had it back but then knew I was going down.
Fortunately, I was not seriously injured. Just some scrapes and bruises and am probably going to be sore in the morning. My bike has a couple of scrapes, nothing major.The fall was entirely my fault…I should have kept my eyes on where I was going. I really screwed up when I tried to get back on the pavement even though I saw the edge drop off and knew I needed to slow down.
Just that instant of lost focus could have been the start of some very serious consequences. It was the worst spill off a bike that I have had in a long time. It was a harsh reminder that I need to keep my mind, my eyes and my ears focused on what I am doing, to control what I can control....
I turned my head and lost my focus, went off the edge of the road and then tried to get back on the pavement without slowing down. My front wheel hit the edge of the pavement and I lost control. I was going about 15 mph and thought I had it back but then knew I was going down.
Fortunately, I was not seriously injured. Just some scrapes and bruises and am probably going to be sore in the morning. My bike has a couple of scrapes, nothing major.The fall was entirely my fault…I should have kept my eyes on where I was going. I really screwed up when I tried to get back on the pavement even though I saw the edge drop off and knew I needed to slow down.
Just that instant of lost focus could have been the start of some very serious consequences. It was the worst spill off a bike that I have had in a long time. It was a harsh reminder that I need to keep my mind, my eyes and my ears focused on what I am doing, to control what I can control....
Really glad you didn't fall into traffic. That's the worst part of trying to move left onto the road after slipping off--you often fall towards the traffic lane. Glad you were able to type this.
I'm glad you're OK. That part about going off the road then coming back on before falling over sounds very familiar. I'm sure you can relate to parts of my story:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...-shoulder.html
I hope I have enough presence of mind to just go all the way off the road next time, rather than trying to remount the pavement at a shallow angle.
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...-shoulder.html
I hope I have enough presence of mind to just go all the way off the road next time, rather than trying to remount the pavement at a shallow angle.
... about commuting vs. risk, for the past two years I also commuted when the days are long enough and the weather warm enough. The possibility of an accident is something I, and I assume most of us, prefer to close our eyes to.
Every time we take our tandem out I worry. I worry less so on a solo bike because it is more agile, but I still worry about some inattentive or drunk driver hitting me from behind in a most unlikely place.
Nevertheless we ride anyway. You can't run from life.
Every time we take our tandem out I worry. I worry less so on a solo bike because it is more agile, but I still worry about some inattentive or drunk driver hitting me from behind in a most unlikely place.
Nevertheless we ride anyway. You can't run from life.
… Well said and so true. I have had two other emergency room visits while cycling. The first was up in the exurban Hamilton-Wareham area of the North Shore in the mid-morning on a weekday. I was able walk to nearby Gordon College, and call my wife for ride to Beverly Hospital, where I got some upper lip stitches,
sweat in eye... what to do
Be careful. My worst crash [prior to 2012] was when I tried to wipe off some sweat in my eyes with the back of my glove I ran off the road and got some stinging abrasions and a cut on my upper lip requiring sutures. I thought I might have to lose my moustache.
Be careful. My worst crash [prior to 2012] was when I tried to wipe off some sweat in my eyes with the back of my glove I ran off the road and got some stinging abrasions and a cut on my upper lip requiring sutures. I thought I might have to lose my moustache.
10-05-18, 06:45 AM
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…Be careful. My worst crash [prior to 2012] was when I tried to wipe off some sweat in my eyes with the back of my glove I ran off the road and got some stinging abrasions and a cut on my upper lip requiring sutures. I thought I might have to lose my moustache.
).
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 10-05-18 at 06:49 AM.
10-05-18, 08:21 AM
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Last winter one of our club members, Kate Embrie, while on holiday in Florida, had a somewhat similar incident. In her case the pavement on the shoulder suddenly ran out and the wheels dropped into sand, causing a lose of control. She went down in front of a car and died at the scene. She was long time member on our club, active and well liked and missed. So be very vigilant and then a bit more so. In could all be over in an instant.
10-05-18, 08:50 AM
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This is a good point. Last weekend, while in a pace line, the rider in front of me missed a huge and jagged pothole, we both hit it hard enough that our water bottles ejected, I knew my rear wheel probably flatted, and beyond that I was not sure. Two lane country road with a lot of unusual amount traffic since the freeway was shut down due to a wrong way driver. When I hit, I had already got off my saddle and was moving my weight forward, and I just coasted to a stop off the edge of the road away from traffic and I didn't really try to "save" it or anything. When I stopped, My front tire/wheel was fine, then I saw the rear tire flatted and the wheel severely cracked in 3 spots. It was toast. I was glad I didn't try to immediately save it or try maneuver around the pot hole last second. I just coasted away from the pace line and slowed to a stop. It wasn't something I consciously thought about, it was just a natural reaction. Its hard to hold off from hard application of the brakes, or quick maneuvers when something drastic happens
I am just glad your ok! Hope you heal quick.
10-08-18, 04:22 AM
#13
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Hope you heal fast! This is also a good reminder to never become complacent or distracted while riding. There are times where I have let my mind just wonder when riding. Keeping ones head thinking about 360 degree awareness can help with risk management.
10-08-18, 05:38 AM
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I have frequently posted that as a "back-up" to continuous 360 degree awareness:
…Over the past few months I have come to realize that my safety aphorisms, collected over the years by personal or vicarious experience,are my way of actively aligning the stars in my favor, to anticipate those unseen and otherwise unanticipated dangers.
FWIW, for my own information at least:
FWIW, for my own information at least:
- Make yourself as visible as possible,and assume nobody sees you.
- Like a weapon, assume every stopped car is loaded, with an occupant ready to exit from either sid
- To know where a car is going, watch the front wheels, not the body or hood.
- Don’t ride over an area (such as puddles or leaves) when you can’t see the road surface
- When approaching a curve with no forward sight lines, hug the curb…’tight to the right’
- When riding at night, look for cars, not just headlights
- You don’t have the right-of-way until the other yields it to you (learned from my teacher in driver’s ed).
- Truck at corner in sight, don't go right [from a few local fatalities].
- Jim’s Law of the Road: “No matter how well-paved and lightly traveled the Road, a vehicle is likely to pass on the left as you encounter an obstacle on the right.” My argument to wear a rearview mirror.
10-08-18, 10:51 AM
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10-08-18, 01:14 PM
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Hope you heal fast! This is also a good reminder to never become complacent or distracted while riding.
There are times where I have let my mind just wonder when riding. Keeping ones head thinking about 360 degree awareness can help with risk management.
There are times where I have let my mind just wonder when riding. Keeping ones head thinking about 360 degree awareness can help with risk management.
“Attn Mods: Separate Accident Forum Plz”
I apologize if this should maybe be in the A&S forum.
There are countless threads in that forum that are nothing more than a news story relay that always tends to devolve into the exact same cyclist vs motorist rant.
How about a new sub forum just for accidents?
That way everyone that wants to do nothing more than relay a news story about a cyclist being involved in a hit and run can have one place to do so without anything else detracting from it.
There is some great information on the A&S forum on how to be a safer cyclist. Why dilute it with the same news story with only the names changing?
When the new subforum, “Pills and Ills,” was introduced to the Fifty-Plus Forum, I replied to the now-closed thread giving notice, “FYI a new subforum for you all.” Presumably such an “accident” subforum would be informational, rather than rants and arguments.
Personally, I’m not calling for such a subforum (my comment [below is] whimsical), and I have frequently posted about my safety strategies.
Personally, I’m not calling for such a subforum (my comment [below is] whimsical), and I have frequently posted about my safety strategies.
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
A "whimsical" suggestion, how about a Crash subforum, where the old and young could share their cycling disasters? [for example]...kind of a "cycling post-mortem." 
...I was hit from behind in June 2012 near a local hospital, Med-flighted out to a major Hospital with six weeks in acute care and rehab, three months off work, and five months off the bike...
...That road was IMO very safe; a wide, low volume, residential suburban road.
I’m a virtual evangelist about wearing a rearview mirror, but I think I escaped anxiety / post-traumatic stress, because the situation seemed so safe that I didn’t look behind, and did not see the car coming straight at me.
I’m a virtual evangelist about wearing a rearview mirror, but I think I escaped anxiety / post-traumatic stress, because the situation seemed so safe that I didn’t look behind, and did not see the car coming straight at me.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 10-08-18 at 03:33 PM.
10-08-18, 01:43 PM
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10-08-18, 03:14 PM
#18
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Thanks for the suggestion but I actually already have a mirror mounted on the left shifter that gives me a good view of behind me. That is not why I turned my head and I cannot say why I did. I like having a mirror but not the little ones that mount on a helmet. The one I have is an old one that mounts with a brace that fits over the shift hood and is strapped down with a wide velcro strap. Works great and is very stable. It does not mount so well on newer 10/11 speed hoods.
10-09-18, 12:31 PM
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I'm glad the crash wasn't as bad as it could have been, and especially glad you learned from it.
At least yours wasn't embarrassing. Back in the day, on my comfort bike, I had to stop on an uphill across from so many blue gum eucalyptus, pulling over off the road shoulder (which was covered in eucalyptus leaves). I started up again, trying to pedal back onto the shoulder, but between the slippery leaves and the rounded pavement, I did a very slow speed fall instead; managed to lose some skin and sprain my forearm. I had to do the walk of shame the last 3/4 mile home. I've gotten better since then.
At least yours wasn't embarrassing. Back in the day, on my comfort bike, I had to stop on an uphill across from so many blue gum eucalyptus, pulling over off the road shoulder (which was covered in eucalyptus leaves). I started up again, trying to pedal back onto the shoulder, but between the slippery leaves and the rounded pavement, I did a very slow speed fall instead; managed to lose some skin and sprain my forearm. I had to do the walk of shame the last 3/4 mile home. I've gotten better since then.
