Originally Posted by
downtube42
I once had a stick flip up into my spokes and stop my front wheel dead. I was on the ground before I knew anything was happening.
That happened to me 9 years ago. Woman in front of me spit out a stick from her rear wheel. (lots of debris on the road from a recent storm.) Hit my front bladed spokes, spun up and lodged horizontally between my rim and the inside of my right brake caliper. I was probably doing about 16-17 mph about to power up a short, steep hill. I went flying. As I was in the air, I yelled "Oh man!" Fortunately, I was able to turn toward my side. My right shoulder hit first into the inclining road surface. Split the end of my collar bone. My head barely grazed the pavement, but I replaced the helmet anyway out of an abundance of caution. I take blood thinners, so I avoided what could have been a serious head injury.
One of the guys in our group was in his 60s and had raced during his life. He said it was the oddest crash he had ever seen. He took a photo of the stick still suck in my bike. It looked like someone had placed it there. Unfortunately, I no longer have the photo.