Broctoon

In a road race a few weeks ago I saw a rider go down in a pretty frightening manner.

It was right after the start, like maybe a quarter mile into the race. There were at least a couple dozen of us riding together in a loose group, and our speed was around 25 mph on a very gradual descent (1 or 2%, estimated).

Just ahead of me in the pack, I heard someone crashing before I saw him. My first thought was to be ready to avoid a pileup. Fortunately, it turned out to be only one rider; no one else got involved.

Within a second or two of the first crashing sounds, I caught up with the victim. There were orange plastic cones lining the edge of the road (to keep drivers alerted), and this rider had gotten tangled up in one of them. I don’t know if he hit it first and that’s what caused the crash, or he started going down for some other reason and then got mixed up with the cone.

I saw a jumble of bike, rider, and cone flipping, tumbling, and rolling on the ground. There was nothing graceful or controlled about it. It looked like a real mess. The other riders and I all cringed and felt terrible for this guy.

We finished the race, and I hoped to get some word on his condition—I didn’t know him, but I had perhaps a morbid curiosity. My suspicion, echoed by others I overheard, was he might have suffered a broken collarbone or shoulder injury and certainly had some moderate to severe road rash (all this was mere speculation based on the mechanics of the wipeout). But the scuttlebutt around the finish line was that he came out fine, with only a broken nose. The race organizer/announcer stated that there were two crashes in the race, but both riders were okay and smiling at the end. The other one got up and finished the race. I saw him, and he had some road rash on one arm.

It was a relief to hear that there were no serious injuries, given the dramatic nature of the crash. I’m still curious about what caused it. The road surface was smooth and free of debris, and we were not in a turn. Everyone seemed to be getting along and riding responsibly. Obviously something happened to make him lose control; maybe his attention lapsed briefly as he was approaching a cone, but that is just my speculation.

Anyone else have a good crash story?

indyfabz

Is there ever a good crash?

cb400bill

Touch tires with someone else?

Polaris OBark

A broken nose is bad enough, and implies possible head injury.

I think I will stay hope for the next month and eat oatmeal, just to play it safe.

Broctoon

Some are much worse than others. “Good crash story” refers to a good story about a crash, not a story about a good crash.

Broctoon

Perhaps. I think that's a likely cause, but I really don't know.

cxwrench

A bunch of years ago a guy that I raced on the track with had a hip replacement. He came back to the track in the spring for the first low-key races and figured he'd race w/ the C's (lowest level at these races) so he wouldn't get dropped. He was in his early 70's and had been on the track since his college days. He got crashed by a new guy at his first real race and his neck was broken, he ended up paralyzed. Good story?

Koyote

Shoot, in the past few years, I've been in two gravel races in which riders broke their necks. One was a nine (if I recall correctly) person crash in which most ended up in the hospital -- a few of them for several days.

I don't want to trivialize it, but a broken collarbone and some road rash is pretty standard stuff in a bike crash -- esp one in a race, where speeds (and adrenaline) are higher.

indyfabz

A guy I knew was warming up on the course before a CX race. He went off course, smashed his face into a tree and died.

I like the Happy thread better.

Koyote

That's a thread killer.

I "liked" your post, but I don't really like that.

tomato coupe

I saw a "good" crash in a crit a few years ago. We were in a fast right hand turn, and a guy to my left took a bad line. He went wide on the exit and hit the curb, somersaulted over his bars, and stuck a perfect landing in the grass next to a tree.

PeteHski

I narrowly avoided a crash right in front of me at the start of a big Sportive event in the summer. We were in a large, fast moving peloton. The road narrowed and 2 guys in front of me touched wheels and went down hard. I managed to swerve around them as they fell and all I could hear was the crunching of carbon and squeal of brakes. I don't think either of them were seriously injured, but it didn't look good at all. I was surprised they didn't take out more riders with them as it was a closely packed bunch. I'm not a big fan of riding in a large peloton of unpredictable strangers to be honest. Especially at the start of a big event like this.

indyfabz

If I may…He was an older fellow who had crashed pretty badly in the previous years. In one incident, he went over a guardrail and down an embankment while riding alone in CA. There was no indication that he had been struck by a vehicle. When he came to he had to crawl back up to the road. A passing motorist saw him, stopped and called 9-1-1. In the other, he simply fell over and broke his collar bone. (There were witnesses to that crash.) It probably wasn’t a good idea to take up CX racing after things like that.

I know another guy who had “no fault” crashes. He was in his 70s but still strong. Then he fell down a hill while walking in a park somewhere in Europe. His doctor said his next fall could be his last. After that, his wife (smarty) made him stick to indoor riding.

rumrunn6

heck yeah. all my falls were good, except the last 2, unfortunately

rumrunn6

astonishing human resilience

rsbob 

A very close friend crashed mountain biking on a local technical trail. He had a severe head injury and almost died. He was in the hospital for weeks. The doctor cautioned him to give up the sport because if it happened again he would not survive. He has zero recall of what happened.

A son of some close friends was also mountain biking with full protective gear and went down landing on his face. He ended up losing an eye and the trauma created a reaction where enzymes were produced which started shutting down/blinding the good eye. Luckily that process stopped and reversed and still has one good eye.

While MTBing I hit an upturned tree root at about 15 MPH on a fast downhill. I have never been slammed to the ground so fast and so hard in my life. When I was finally able to breathe again since the wind was knocked out of me, which was scary in itself, I was relieved to be able to wiggle my toes. I had months of PT after being severely bruised, but nothing was fortunately torn or broken.

Troul 

Only when you bump into an ole good friend.

rumrunn6

I remember reading about a missing biker, that was later found deceased. the news story had something like this: "the rider had injuries consistent with mountain biking" so one can only imagine

csport

I was riding the Queensboro bridge path. The path is quite narrow with both cyclists and pedestrians using it. Some guy on a Trek hybrid overtakes me on the right and merges in front of me, almost touching my front wheel. He proceeds to overtake the next rider and tries to move to the left, there are no riders going in the opposite direction, but there is an electric scooter approaching quickly on the very left. He passes the Trek guy on the left, touches his handlebars resulting in a crash. The guy somehow managed to come to a stop, but a small dog he was carrying did not make it. The guy started crying hysterically. I managed to stop and avoid hitting them.

rsbob 

So needless and so very sad. I would sue the crap out of the perp.

rydabent

In the last month, I have seen two car crashes right in front of me. The worst one was a car flying thru the air and landing no more than 10 feet in front of me. If I had been one second faster, I wouldnt be here posting this.

Koyote

This thread is about cycling crashes, but thanks for trying.

rumrunn6

got a will & a trust set up?

LeeG

I was 24 riding a road bike downhill downwind before a bridge and a longsleeve lycra shirt strapped under my seat came loose locking up the rear wheel as it got caught under the brake bridge, Might have been going about 24 mph My rear wheel fishtailed a few times before I hit the curb and took flight like superman over the descending embankment that was built of boulders overgrown with forsythia. Another 30’ would have been a drop over a guardrail 30’ down to a dirt road then after that a tidal river. Somehow I came up bruised but uninjured. Went back to the shop, changed wheels and went back on the road as I knew I’d be too sore if I stopped riding. I wasn’t wearing a helmet.
A few years later my partner in the shop had a low speed crash that cracked his skull, put him in a coma for 2 1/2 weeks and required years to recover from.

RCMoeur 

I do get good-natured ribbing when I walk my mountain bike down sudden dropoffs or very steep eroded technical singletrack. My response to the razzers: "My bike may have suspension, but I don't bounce anymore." That usually gets a wave and good reply. And, regrettably, it's true.