scared_cyclist

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well

Let's have a survey. Please copy the 4 questions below and answer them:

How many years have you been cycling?
How many crashes?
Describe each crash.
What lasting injuries did you get?

For example:

How many years have you been cycling? 4 years.
How many crashes? 2 crashes.
Describe each crash. 1 minor crash with a pothole. Second crash was fairly serious where I hit a pothole and did not see it. Thrown from the bike and almost broke my thumb. Helmet
tapped the ground, and I was dizzy for a few minutes afterwards.
What lasting injuries did you get? Thankfully none.

HectorStorm

How many years have you been cycling? 3
How many crashes? 4 crashes, all happened within the last year.
Describe each crash.
1: Shoelace got caught on pedal, fell off slowly uphill onto grassy verge
2: Crashed into man playing cricket on a path
3: Crashed into curb on fast road, handlebars went 180, flew off onto grass verge at speed
4: Crashed due to overspeed on gravel path turn, bike went over on right side

What injuries did you get?
1: Brambles impaled forearm
2: No injuries
3: Broken arm, smashed in face, sprained wrist/hand
4: Grazed hands, crushed chest, sprained hand

I decided to list all injuries than just major ones.

bboy314

It strikes me as odd that you visit Bikeforums just to share your hysteria at the dangers of riding a bike.

shelbyfv

A&S, please.

Jughed

My worst injuries came from…


drumroll…


yep…


assploding carbon fiber.

cant be true according to bike forums experts!!!

dedhed

Alcohol related or non alcohol related?

RCMoeur 

Well, mine have been...

*WHUMP* *SPLOMP*

"Don't answer the questions! You'll jinx yourself!"

"But what if I don't believe in jinxes?"

"Do you want to find out... the hard way?"

Hmmmm... I'll pass on answering.

Maelochs

I have been riding for .... 58 years? 55 or so in traffic .... Waaaay too many crashes.

First off dirt bike crashes are in a different category because off road I sometimes try to conquer obstacles which are a little beyond me .....

On the road .... the smarter I got, the less I crashed. The more I crashed, the smarter I got.

Then I got clipless pedals and fell over a few times.

veganbikes

scared_cyclist STOP seriously stop. Cycling is not generally dangerous. People ride their bikes daily all over the the world with no crashes and no issues. The number of issues people have in comparison to the ones they don't have is a tiny tiny tiny number. Yes you could have any number of hypothetical situations happen. You could ride and a piano could fly off the back of a truck and hit you in the face, it is not likely to happen in any situation but you could come up with all sorts of stuff like that and let fear control you. Don't do that.

Get out and ride if you want to ride, the more you worry the more likely you will be to have issues. Don't worry, just ride. Be situationally and spatially aware as you should be generally in all facets of life but DO NOT let it just turn to fear just keep it as awareness and be smart with it.

Maelochs

I got a bike and the first time I rode it I crashed fatally.

Don't Ride Bikes.

Chuck M 

I've been cycling long enough that I probably don't remember all the incidents I've had, but they most likely can be counted on one hand. I did have a minor spill about a year ago that resulted in a broken wrist, and at my age, I damn sure I don't heal well.

13ollocks

How many years have you been cycling? ~50 years
How many crashes? 2 crashes.
Describe each crash. 1981 - hit some gravel on a descent, took significant skin off shoulder. 1988 - JRA and hit the ground for reasons unknown. Walked to local ER with scalp wound, kept in overnight with suspected concussion. Bought my first helmet soon thereafter.
What lasting injuries did you get? Some scarring on arm and shoulder.

HectorStorm

But was the bike ok?

Wileyrat

This is pretty much my story, timeline and all, probably written in more detail than I would’ve included. I will say I bleed more when I bounce off pavement than the dirt.

edit..Did I mention the two cracked helmets?

rsbob 

Insufficient evidence to substantiate claim of hysteria. Objection overruled.

rsbob 

them:

How many years have you been cycling? Started at age 5 and crashed a lot then. As a dedicated (non-serious) cyclist, 40 years.
How many crashes? As a mountain biker, more than I can count, but one serious crash into a tree. As a road biker, 2 crashes.
Describe each crash. Descending single track at speed did not react quickly enough to avoid upturned stump tree root. On road bike, was taken out at speed by another cyclist whose rear wheel slipped on wet railroad tracks, taking out my front wheel. Slipped about 30 feet in the wet. The other was being forced into a curb by a car and luckily landing on grass.
What lasting injuries did you get? Took about 8 months to rehab my shoulder which struck the tree. The road bike slide only involved painful showers for a week or so. Uh, grass stains?

Steve B.

Road bike, maybe 4 crashes in 35 years, one a wipe out in a turn on a wet road, another as a collision with another cyclist on a MUP, then a cyclist cut me off on the NYC Century, broke a rib on that one, then a car left hooked me, that was a very long time ago.

I’ve had many more crashes in a mt bike,

No major injuries, other then a rib and other rib injuries, banged the crap out of my back once when I hit a tree.

bboy314

Exhibit A:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...-thoughts.html

badger1

What is your point? What do you hope to accomplish by means of this informal 'survey'? Anyone on here who has been cycling actively for more than a few years will have had a few incidents, some major, some minor. So what? Thinking of your previous thread, are you still having an internal debate as to whether you should be riding a bicycle or sticking to 'running'?

rsbob 

Objection sustained.

jaxgtr

Cycling for a long time: 1 crash, broken shoulder, 5 surgeries to fix it, some lasting damage with nerves being close to the bone and surface of the shoulder.

Motor_cycling.... also a long time, too many to count as most was while doing motocross, some roads, broken bones here and there, but nothing major.

Wileyrat

Our buddy Lance Armstrong once said if you we’re afraid of falling off your bike, you’d never get on it in the fist place.

Or something like that.

base2 

OK. Entertaining the idea that the guy with the name "scared cyclist" is actually scared and trying to rationalize an irrational emotion founded in a lack of real world experience with which to form a more informed risk assessment:

How many years have you been cycling? Since kindergarten...41 years.

How many crashes? 3.

Describe each crash.
1) Unleashed dog from a negligent owner leapt up from the side of a gravel path to attack my front tire. It succeeded. As it had a firm grip on my front wheel its head twisted around as my front tire drove over it's neck at 21 mph. It was carried up to the fork crown and wedged itself between the front tire and the frame. The sudden deceleration sent me over the handlebars. I tucked and rolled to find an irate Karen screaming in my dazed face about her dead dog. A week worth of tank tops and nasty stinging showers followed. Head imprint inside of helmet. $60 well spent. New clear plastic display window covers for the shift levers set me back a dozen dollars or so.

2) My front wheel left the paved path edge at speed. (23mph) Bike went right, body carried left. 6 foot stripe of shoulder skin on pavement. Broken helmet. Couldn't talk or think right for a week. Again, Tegaderm, stinging showers & $60 well spent.

3) I was cruising along the local MUP at my usual 20-ish mph. When I came across a family so I slowed to the speed limit as I passed the Mom & Dad calling out "On your left" loudly and forcefully several times. Ahead was a 7-9 year old on a razor scooter. I was coasting, moved to the extreme left, slowed and to about 12mph and covered the brakes when I realized he was non-responsive to my repeated calls. Suddenly in the instant before I was to pass, he decided to make a 90 degree left turn directly in front of me. I was already covering the brakes as I used my last inch of pavement on the left side of the path doing my level best to pass in a safe and appropriate manner. We collided at about 7 mph. He was knocked down, I went over the bars. I stood up & apologized to the displeased parents who rightfully took the blame for their child's action. The kid was fine; more shocked than anything. The parents got a real life lesson on trail ettiquette. I.E. "All trail users keep right." The braking forces combined with the sudden stop put a crack in the paint of the OEM carbon fork at the crown to carbon leg junction on the brake caliper side.From then on the OEM fork was kind of squirrelly when I used the brakes firmly. So I used it as an excuse to upgrade.

What lasting injuries did you get? None.

It should be noted that in every single incident I grasped the bars firmly and stayed with the bike until forces beyond my control forcefully separated us. In every instance the Shimano SPD pedal cleats unclipped exactly as they should and I came to a rest next to the bike.

OP: Learn how to brake emergency style. Learn how to "shove around your gyroscopes" and any dangerous situation can be avoided. From there, you need to ride long enough and often enough to form a habit of anticipating the actions of others. This means developing an active brain and being fully engaged in the activity.

Bicycles are not dangerous. Whoever told you that is wrong.

Would you like a list of car "accidents" (collisions) that have happened to me over the years? The way cars are driven by drivers is dangerous.

Here in A&S we love statistics. Cycling is one of the safest healthiest, longest living, highest quality of life as you age things you can do. Put your fear away. It is unfounded and irrational.

Carbonfiberboy 

How many years have you been cycling? 70
How many crashes? 2
Describe each crash. Descending on a paved shoulder, saw a pedestrian in front of me, had to leave the shoulder. I forgot that the concrete pavement had a 1" high lip on it. Went down on my side, kept my hands on the bars, pressed my helmet into the pavement and slid for a while. Hole in jersey, lost a little skin on that shoulder which took a week or so to heal. No other injuries.
The second time, I was just starting a ride near my home, riding on the edge of the road while starting my computer. I went off the pavement into the grassy ditch and fell on the grass at about 5 mph. No damage.
That doesn't count my many falls when I was 7 and riding a 26" bike which I could only ride standing. The only way I could dismount was to fall over, which I did on someone's lawn. I had to mount from someone's front porch. No injuries.
What lasting injuries did you get? Zero

Otherwise, everything Base2 says, I echo except that I've never been in an automobile accident. I ride and drive fast but aware and actually cautious. Awareness is everything.

squirtdad

Are you a ghost or a haunt