First bike accident
 

I had my first crash last weekend going over some wet railroad tracks. I’ve been over them plenty of time wet or dry but I just hit them wrong and my front wheel slipped out and I landed on my left side. The bike is fine but I limped away with lots of scrapes and bruises. A shoulder contusion, sore hip, road rash, and scuffed left shifter was the result of the crash. It was my first road bike accident in 3 or so years of riding.
Now that I’m starting to feel a little better I’m giving some thought to my next ride after recovering and how it might go. I know falls and crashes happen in cycling but for any of you that have had one how did your first outing go? Was there any nerves or anxiety? Did you lose any confidence being on 2 wheels?

Just get back on the bike and ride on

Rail road tracks, they are a bugger. One of the big problems are those that you have been over several times. After my motorcycle days I have learned to give deep respect for all rail road tracks. I have one set close by that are not a complicated traverse but receive allot of traffic. I have one spot that offers the smoothest crossing. Well one day I slowed for no reason and there just at the spot I would have crossed at was a piece of sharp angle iron just waiting for me. I stopped and with the assistance of a driver by, pulled it out of the channel. Dam thing was sharper than I though and would have ambushed any one crossing in that area car or bicycle.

Wishing you a fast recovery. So glad it was not any worse...

As to the OP: The only anxiety I have had after a crash has been the wait before I can ride again...

Get better soon! I still remember from Driver's Ed, the picture of how to cross RR tracks on a motorcycle -- slow down and cross perpendicular. I still do that on my bike. There's one tracks in my locale that's about at a 45 degree angle, and on a very busy street, so I'm always leery of it.

Slow down a bit and try to cross as perpendicular as possible to the tracks.

Some communities create a little circle around the tracks for bikes to cross into.

Although, I'll admit that after decades of riding, a track laid me flat on a day with snow/sleet/ice. I have much more respect for icy tracks now.

I got clobbered in New Orleans by a wet street car track that I didn't expect. I had ridden on the street many many times without problems, the tracks were fairly flush with the road surface, but that night I found out that the city periodically washed the street, tracks and all, with soapy water. Never seen that anywhere else. The bike just flew out laterally from under me. I'd crossed those tracks when they were wet before, but this was a whole new level of slippery. I was lucky to be able to get back on the bike and ride home. Could have been a lot worse.

You'll probably ride a bit slower at first, but very rapidly regain your confidence. But you learned wet metal is bad.

My family visited Zurich, and the cyclists rode along the streetcar routes, which have tracks parallel to the street (of course). The cyclists seemed fearless despite swerving around and seeming to come within inches of death.

Must take practice and steady nerves. ;)

I launch my bicycle/skateboard/anything straight over RR tracks. Unweight yourself while hitting them perpendicularly. Never ride parallel to them.

Whew! :thumb:

My first bike accident (as an adult) was simply squeezing the front brake too hard, so I don't count that one. However, the one I do count, because it was a huge lesson learned, because there are so many ways this could have happened and you have to be super vigilant to prevent, unlike the front brake thing, it's a relatively easy lesson to learn.

I was riding to work on a two-way road with no shoulder and the cars drive at near-freeway speeds (this was back in the mid-80's). I momentarily drifted off the road, being a relatively new cyclists, I immediately swerved back to get back on the road, but there was a little drop-off from the asphalt to the soil (ground) off the side of the road, as my front wheel hit that lip, which was only about a couple inches high, it threw me so fast I didn't even feel myself flying thru the air, but I did land directly in the middle of the lane, on the yellow line.

This is the weird part. I had two cars coming at me from both directions, but I didn't see them at the time, but I somehow just automatically jumped up, grabbed my bike and ran off the road. From the time I went flying thru the air, until I ran back to the side of the road, I don't remember one thought going thru my head, everything I did was without thought. All I remember was a mother with her kids in the car passing me with strange looks on their faces.

That's one day I should have died. To this day, if I feel myself drifting, I think of that accident. There are so many ways this type of accident can happen, even with those longitudinal cracks in the road, if you ride thru them and swerve you can go down really fast.

I never crossed any railroad tracks until I did my first long distance bike ride (1993), I did a 1,500-mile ride around the east coast and crossed a lot of rail road tracks, but my lesson was already learned on that day, so no problems, except once I did go down, but that was more out of complacency on a very wet, rainy day and it was my rear wheel that slipped out. That was a cool crash, because I just slid for the longest time and there was no pain involved, probably one of my best crashes, if you can call that one a crash, it was more like a slip and slide ride:)


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Light 1st of the year rains on oily tracks. Just enough off perpendicular to take a header into the curb. Stitches and a new front tooth and the quote down below...

I ride fixed ... every time I go down I switch out the handle bars ... it removes all anxiety about a repeat occurrence

A few months ago my riding buddy failed to correctly negotiate just such a lip at slightly faster than walking speed. He now has PTSD, four fewer teeth in his head, and rides in a full-face helmet.

1969, Frankfurt, Germany, riding to work on a fairly new UO-8. Entered a round about and needed to go about 3/4 of the way aroud. A car came from behind to take the first exit. Contact at the handle bar, pedal, and elbow. The car did the steering for me. It was all I could do to stay upright and lean right to disengage. Success!
Heart beating like crazy. Anger, he shook his fist at me! Hessians are not nice people and have a reputation, obviously. Don't know how to pronounce Ich either. Anyway, didn't impact my riding until a couple of accidents later. I have done a face plant from fall leaves on wooden bridges, face plant due to wet wooden bridge, have had a bruise reflecting the outline of a car door across my belly and chest, and the big one, fractured scapula, broken humorous (8 inch plate and seven screws), damaged vision, severe tissue trauma (12 years and nerves still growing back) on the forearm below the humorous, road rash, and a shoulder joint needing a lot of PT.

In my old age, i take corners a little slower and am a bit more caseous.

Had eye surgery a couple of weeks ago that has improved my vision dramatically. Still 3 months to go to full recovery.

It's never pleasant, but having falls is just part of bicycling. A couple of years ago, I went down on an MUP I had ridden a lot. I hit a shady spot on a curved incline that was still damp, and though I was going slow, my back wheel slid out and I hit the pavement hard. My right hip had a really bad contusion and elsewhere the normal road rash. One always needs to have some caution and awareness, but no matter how diligent one is, things happen, sometimes in a split second. Just be grateful you were not seriously hurt, remember the lesson, make sure all is good to go with the bike, get back on it and ride. FYI, look out for wet leaves on pavement.

occasionally, when I have trepidation, I'll take a ride on a protected paved rail-trail. it's a confidence builder, for me

Since we're swapping war stories, it was about 40 years ago around 1980 or 1981 since I was about 9 or 10. I remember for sure that I was in 4th grade. I had signed up for a bike-a-thon being put on for our school to raise money for something or other. The route was a paved county road 6 miles out of town to the highway and back. Since I had a paper route, and I had done the ride the year before, it was going to be no big deal.

I had my good old trusty Western Flyer banana seat bike with the ape hanger handlebars, and rode down to the highway and was on my way back to town. Made it up the big hill and was on the descent, with the wind to my back. I remember I had just waved at some other riders going up the hill when all of a sudden my handlebars started shaking, and then my bike went out from under me. I hit the pavement and slid on my face, skinning up my knees in the process. Luckily it didn't take long for one of the adults in a pickup to find me. Ended up getting several stitches under my nose and a couple in my chin. Still have the scars on my face and knees to this day.

I really didn't know why I had crashed but I did notice when they were loading up my bike the rear tire was flat. I figure that my tire went flat on the descent resulting in loss of control. Had it happened just a few minutes earlier on the climb I'd probably have been OK. A couple days later, with sore knees and stitches in my face, I patched up my tube and went back to riding. Luckily the crash didn't result in any fear of getting back on the bike.

Luckily this was my only major bike wreck. I can't even think of any minor ones, unless you count trying to turn around on a sidewalk, getting my tire off the side and falling over while stationary.

Last time I went down at speed on a road bike was while riding with 4 other guys when it started raining. The wind was blowing so we assumed an echelon formation. We headed over RXR tracks at a 45* in this formation when the lead rider’s back tire slips out and nails my front wheel, taking me down and me taking down the guy on my left. Since the road was so wet, and we were doing about 18, had a fairly long slide, shredding my brand new rain jacket and old shorts. Showers were intestine after that.

That experience swore me off echeloning and taught me a healthy respect for wet tracks.

In regard to MTB, I lost count long ago how many times I crashed, especially the first few years. Bled a lot. A ride without crashing was one to be celebrated.

I fell last year over a very simply portion of a trail that I have ridden many times. Just hit a rock the wrong way and my bike came out from under me. Ended up with a broken rib and wrist. Wrist still hurts on longer rides, but all in all, no major long term affects or even mental affects so far

agree, don't spend too much time or energy dwelling on it. Get out and ride.