trekmogul 

Hi my fellow over 50 riders and greetings from NW Ohio One week ago today i took a nasty spill on my bike while crossing over a set of RR Tracks. My front wheel dropped down in along the rail and opening next to the rail. I had no time to react and was tossed to the ground with such force that i ended up have 2 small fractures to the hip and my helmet was cracked. This is my first serious tumble and now see what others have gone through. I am on the mend and in good spirits but missing out on some lovely fall riding. My shoulder is sore and i have enough ROAD RASH on my left side to share with others.. I required no surgery and it is suppose to heal on its own. I never thought it would or could happen to me.. Banged, Battered and Bruised but ready and able to ride as soon as possible. Haave a great Sunday everyone..

10 Wheels

I changed to a trike for safety after a crash.

20 inch wheels with 2 inch wide tires now spaced 35 inches apart.



Heal quickly..I was Off for 7.5 months.

trekmogul 

Sure would love to hear from others that have gone though something similar and how you dealt with it? Orthopedic Surgeon told me i could start applying about 20% load to the bum hip and go from there. Just currious how you calculate 20% load.. The biggest news i was SO WORRIED about was if i was going to require surgery or not. When they finally told me No, what a deep sigh of relief came upon me. Anyways folks, please chime on it and cheer me up.. Jerry

qcpmsame 

Ask the PT or your surgeon about how to figure the weight applied. Sorry to hear about your accident and the injuries, hope things heal up well for you.

Bill

ButchA

Ouch... Heal up quickly!

Posts like this (along with many others) is one of the reasons why I will NEVER have clipless pedals & cleats or anything like that on a road bike. At best, I would use the "old school" platform pedal w/ toe cage & strap. But even then, in situations like crossing a railroad track, it becomes very tricky.

Edit: Thinking about this again, scenarios like this are also important for us motorcycle riders too. Even crossing a railroad track on a motorcycle can be a challenge!

dbg

Several years ago on our annual Wisconsin trip a group was approaching a RR crossing that was slightly diagonal. One rider's front tire slipped sideways between rail and surrounding road cover. He went down hard and several behind him also. His bike stayed wedged in its spot standing upright. No pictures but the image remains in our memories. We are now very careful about diagonal RR crossings and usually turn into the perpendicular as much as possible.

trekmogul 

YES this is EXACTLY to the T What happen with me dbg. The tracks set diagnal to the actual road and off to the right of the road was a large pothole. Trying to avoid the pothole, i also turned the wheel to the left ever so slightly and the track was also wet from night before rain. It slid perfectly right down in the groove and i was moving about 20MPH when it happen. There was no time to react and next thing i know, i am laying on the ground motionless and in lots of pain. I did manage to scoot myself off the middle of the road, but knew something was really wrong.. Lots of nice people stopped to help and call 911 for me. It flung me to the ground like a rag doll..

qcpmsame 

The perfect storm for a RR track crash, wet rails, off perpendicular to the rails and a pothole thrown in to get you distracted. Good for the folks that helped you out.

Bill

trekmogul 

Bill that just about sums in up . "PERFECT STORM" I did not even have the courage to share this here on the night but after a week, i thought its good to air it out and try to get it behind me. For as hard as i was thrashed on the pavement, it surely could have been alot worse. I am up and about with my walker and have been able to hobble up on my riding mower and cut grass yesterday for several hours. Really no extra pain after that. I have limited myself to 2 of the Percosets per day from the 12 they said i could take in a 24 hour period of time. I can see how those could and can ruin lives..

bikemig 

I just took a spill on a MUP. I was on my cross bike with 32c tires and went off the path to get around a family with small kids. When I passed them, I tried to reenter the MUP at an angle and went down because my tire rubbed alongside the path. This was purely operator error on my part. I wasn't thinking and I should have hit the path at something closer to a right angle and I would have been fine.

So the two things I think about is (1) that I would not be riding a 23c tire. There is a lot be be said for a 25c or even a 28c on a road bike. T(2) he other is to keep in mind those situations that can take you down. Railroad crossings won't take you down if you hit it at right angles.

RR crossings can be a bit dicey if wet though but water introduces a new layer of situations you have to think about.

I disagree with the previous post that clipped in pedals are more dangerous than platform pedals. Clipless is easy to get out of. Plus if you fall when you are clipped in, you tend to fall right which means that your fleshy parts hit first. That's what happened to me when I fell. My thigh and shoulder hit first which broke up my fall before my head hit the pavement. It was not a bad accident at all other than I think my thumb looks 2x as large today as it did yesterday. Two aspirins after the ride and a few beers at night took care of the headache, .

'll be heading out for a 30 mile ride later this morning.

Bottom line is the importance of situational awareness. You need to be aware of those situations that can take you down and then change a bit how you ride to take the potentially dangerous condition into account.

Mark Stone

OUCH!! Hope you heal up fast so you can start riding again!

Here's a bike suggestion lol, from Surly:

trekmogul 

I have one but was setting in my shop

Dave Cutter

I've crashed a couple times myself. It hurts! Sometimes those bicycle ouchies can last a lifetime. Particularly with us +50 crowd. I prefer to just accept bicycling as a blood-sport and assume there will be accidents, pain, and blood. The joy I receive from cycling is well worth the occasional discomfort and risk of greater injury. Many of us older people suffer from minor pain.... whether we ever exercised or played sports. At least your hip pain will have an interesting back-story now.

This too will pass. Nothing lasts forever.... including our opportunity to enjoy bicycling.

Glad your doing OK and I hope you heal quickly. How's the bicycle?

trekmogul 

Hi Dave and a nice pep talk from someone whom needed it. I do have atleast 20,000 miles under my belt since i started riding a few years ago and except for the little mishaps of falling off the bike, its been very quiet and uneventful. I knew sooner or later something would happen. I have not seen the bike since the accident as its still setting at my sons house. I dont plan on ever riding that bike again i dont think. I will remove my lights and peddles and give it to the kids to ride. Son said it dont look to bad but i have not seen it..Jerry

tigat

Everybody and every break is going to be different. A similar crash for me last year (rumble strip not RR track) needed a surgical rebuild with titanium. Three weeks to a stationary recumbent (25% weight bearing at the time), about 7 weeks to the trainer, and two months to the day to get back on the road.

Sorry to hear about your crash. The good news is that even old bones heal and, if you work it, muscles come back. So does confidence, but, as others have noted, you will never look at bumps in the road the same again.

Good luck.

ofgit

Had a similar experience crossing RR tracks on my, new at the time, '74 Fuji. It was during the morning rush and as I, surrounded by car traffic, crossed the still wet with dew tracks at less than 90 degrees, suddenly found myself on the pavement with cars passing by. The bike had just...disappeared right out from under me! I quickly scrambled to my feet and got back on the bike. This happened when I was about 22, living car free, going to school days and working nights. Was lucky to be fully clothed (blue jeans) on my way to school and suffered only a small amount of abrasion on a knee and one hand. Never, ever crossed tracks at less than 90 degrees after that morning. Often used to accelerate on approach and bunny hop them.

Kai Winters

Sorry you crashed...RR tracks are difficult...and to be aware of and prepared for when they pop up. It is another skill to learn...to set yourself up for them and how to cross them safely.

The pedals, clip ins or not, do not really matter...can't put your foot down when the bike suddenly disappears from under you.

Glad you will recover without surgery...take your time and recover fully.

OldsCOOL

Hope you heal quickly and completely!

NVanHiker

Try 28's. Seriously.

Latif

It happened to me while test riding a salsa Vaya from one of my local LBSs. 38s and 45 deg crossing of old tracks that were barely above grade and down I went bruising left knee and shoulder. The brake lever was scratched but thankfully no more damage to the bike. I ended up buying another size Vaya from the dealer and he was very understanding about the scratched lever.It happened so quick and am thankful I was going slow.I now always cross at 90 deg whether tracks or cattle guards.

jcb3

Hope you heal quickly!

And thanks for the reminder that this can happen to any of us.

This morning I was riding San Onofre and thought I was hitting a pavement cut at a proper angle and was surprised I hadn't - luckily no spill, but could have been!

And this on fatty 27 x 1.25s (which I had always thought would have been safer on the rough pavement in spots out there)

fietsbob

yes Cross those tracks at a right angle Ideally , or as close as you can , folks

Town here has a Old Cute Trolley running along the river, the MUP includes planked in Trestles.

the pressure treated 4X12s were tight against each other when nailed down, but over the years shrank ,so , now there's 1/2~3/4" gaps between them

grabs the wheel a bit , (I'm using 47 wide tires 559 & 406 sized].. I try to stay straight on the central plank (of 5)

have dropped a wheel in the gap left for the rail wheel flange , trying to ride the planked in space between the rails ..
I've succeed in not doing that more than once (so far) [ it was on the 406 wheel Bike Friday those smaller wheels are rugged ]

On the 23mm tired road bike I just stick to the roads.. [ I've had a cracked femur Cast 'Holiday' in my past ]..

on the path

Two years ago August I had a very similar crash. Tracks at a sharp angle to the road and a ditch between the rail and the pavement. Threw me right down. Afterward, I actually rode 5 miles to my car, with a friend accompanying me on the way. Initial x-rays showed no fractures. I wasn't until over 3 months later that I learned I had fractured my pelvis. Long story as to how I found that out, but suffice it to say to beware of possible secondary issues, blood clots in particular.

To this day I think twice each time I cross a set of tracks. Even if they are perfectly perpendicular to the road and there is good surface all around, I still think twice and always square the angle of approach as much as possible. Feel better soon..

Barrettscv 

+1

Several high performance tires are available in the 700x28 to 700x32 sizes.

TGT1

The flange gap in a RR track crossing is about 50-75mm

tire size ain't the problem.