mschwett 

been thinking about this a bit lately, observing various road conditions, pondering how close to the envelope it’s worth getting, and wondering just how dangerous this sport is. of course there are statistics about fatalities but few or none about injury crashes in general.

for purposes of discussion, a “crash” is your body meeting the pavement at more than a few miles per hour. broken skin or damaged bike or worse. include any such incident regardless of cause - automobile, rider error, equipment failure, etc. exclude things like unclipping falls ans any other zero injury (other than pride) incident at low speed.

if you don’t know your mileage, guess. i have not yet crashed. not looking forward to the first time.

spelger

i prefer not to contemplate on how dangerous this sport is. that said, i don't crash very often, last self inflicted crash was maybe 2 years ago. a couple car run-ins last year or the year before. sometimes i do think i push my luck sometimes, its the descents, they are so much fun. my sister asked me once why so fast, i didn't really have a good answer.

on the self inflicted crash i was losing it on a turn (way too fast) and headed toward a split rail fence. i started to reach out with my hand to grab a nearby stop sign pole while fishtailing on the pavement thinking i'd brace for the inevitable. i quickly pulled back thinking that i'd break my hand. that hand survived, the other did not.

daviddavieboy

Last one was about 1990 on some fast singletrack. The day after I bought my first ever helmet. I average 5000 kms per year mostly on the road.

Canker

Well as more of a mtn biker I'd have to go with the less than 1000 option. On the road bike I've never wrecked and never want too. The idea of sliding across pavement basically naked or getting ran over isn't very appealing. Wrecking in the woods on dirt isn't really that big of a deal most of the time, dislocated finger.

rsbob 

Fortunately haven’t hit the deck in 25 years. The last time I did was at 20 MPH when my front wheel was taken out by another rider’s rear wheel slipping out on wet rail road tracks. We both went down and ruined a brand new rain jacket, aerated my shorts and had less than fun showers for a week.

Like Canker, when learning to MTB I would crash just about every time for the first two years overcooking corners or obstacles, but it was a blast if you didn’t mind bruises and a bit of blood.

SpedFast

On the MTB almost every time I rode, but nothing more than scrapes and bruises. On the road bike, I have scars.

lasauge 

Really depends on the ride scenario and how much risk I'm exposing myself to: Casually commuting around in normal conditions, I think I've crashed maybe once in the past 15 years and even that was a result of a careless mistake combined with the influence of alcohol. When I lived in Colorado and commuted year round by bike minor falls on snow and ice would happen a few times per season, but these were no worse than a minor fall when skiing. Road cycling in general, I've had other people run into me twice in 15 years, but never crashed myself out. And when I'm regularly mountain biking, I might crash a few times in a single year, but that's entirely from riding on steep downhill trails where playing with gravity is inherently more dangerous (but fun).

Chandne

Not on the road bike or gravel bike. I actually don't crash that much on the MTB either but maybe one a year on some loose steep downhill, usually.

Mtracer

First time in a year and half last weekend. Out mountain biking, too much hill, too many rocks, too little skill. Fell over. I don't ride MTB often.

Last one before that was a right hook. More me hitting the car than the car hitting me. Busted bike, busted right collarbone.

Aside from hitting/hit by a car once, most of mine have been spills usually related to off-road riding. Once I couldn't unclip fast enough and fell over. For the record, I forgot I put on new cleats and therefore forgot I would need more effort to unclip.

In general since starting ~4 years ago, I think I've gotten smarter and do a pretty good job avoiding danger when road biking. And I don't overreach riding MTB. Pretty much keep it to flow trails with some occasional rocks. I also maintain my bikes, so odds of a major mechanical causing a crash, I think it is unlikely for me.

But we balance on two narrow wheels, so no matter how careful we are, odds are we'll fall over sometimes. I'm somewhat cautious, especially at speed, so hopefully most of the damage will be limited to my ego.

jadmt

Prior to yesterday i could have said not in over 30 years. Was hit by a car in 1985 and had a high speed crash on a mountain bike in the mid 90’s and then yesterday hit a patch of mud in a corner at around 18-20mph and went down. No real drama just some skin off my forearm. Not even sore today this was about 55 miles into a 71 mile ride

merlinextraligh

This is like talking about flats; don’t use the F word. Likewise, don’t use the C word.

that said, I think the answer here depends on how you ride. Race Crits competitively and you’re going to donate some skin occasionally. Ride solo, and take things conservatively cornering and descending and your crash risk is pretty nominal.

That said, only racing the occasional gravel race in recent years, I hadn’t crashed in 10 years until a mechanical failure this year which was entirely my fault

jon c. 

Not since the early 70s.

But there were about 30 years where I didn't ride.

CAT7RDR

After the last one about two years ago, I have pretty much shut myself down trying to push things.
Just not worth it. At 60 y/o, healing takes a long time and it is a bit self-indulgent when family still depends upon me.

mschwett 

yes, this occurs to me often. i love descending fast, but i wonder how much safer it would be at 30 vs 40, for example. or never riding when it’s wet. or on busy roads.

that said, the results of the poll are moderately promising with the median crash frequency hovering in the 15k miles range, skewed by MTB crashes, which is a big no-go for me for various reason.

Iride01 

Do I count the times I came to a stop suddenly and forgot to clip out?

genejockey 

Once in 1973. Again in 1995. Broke a collarbone in the first, dislocated the other one in the second.

mackgoo

Cycle Cross bike, a couple times a season. Road, I can't remember.

mschwett 

nope. unless maybe you forgot to unclip and tipped over off the side of a cliff? 😱

Jughed

Road - three major crashes.

-Somehow went over the bars on a 120 mile ride. Knocked out cold, ambulance, woke up a few hours later in a CT scan. Was off the bike for a few months.

-Got pushed off the road by another rider - good tumble, minor fracture in my wrist.

-Equipment failure, assploding CF handlebars - broken shoulder, collar bone, 3 broken ribs, concussion, busted up knee.

Reflector Guy

It's been many many years since I have crashed.

The only two I even remember anymore were back in H.S. Once, when I was riding my old Sears Free Spirit with 1/2-inoperative brakes, I was carrying something in one hand and the other hand was on the handlebar with no brake. At some point I was faced with either hitting a parked car, hitting an oncoming car head-on, or crashing. I chose the latter. Fortunately it was all grass and I was fine.

The other time was when I was riding and some older kids were coming the other way. One veered towards me and gave me a swift kick which sent me into the ditch and dense brush, just like Dave Stoller in "Breaking Away". I recognized his face from school and I got even a couple-three years later but that is a tale for another time.

msu2001la

My last pavement crash was 5-6 years ago. I was on a wet MUP and I swerved to avoid a runner on an MUP who suddenly decided to U-turn as I was passing. I lost traction and went down hard on my side, then got yelled at by the runner as I was scraping myself off the pavement.

I also race CX and find myself hitting the deck at least a few times every season. These are usually uneventful and result in little more than grass stains and laughs, though I did go over the bars last fall when another racer immediately in front of me crashed and I couldn't avoid him.

mschwett 

a very nice statistical distribution hovering around a median of 1 crash per 15,000 miles.... hard to weight the "never crashed" folks without knowing how many miles their excellent luck/wisdom/skill/judgement represents. i ride around 6,500 miles a year, if i have a major crash every three years i'd probably quit the sport. some minor scrapes and bruises every three years, that i can live with!

rsbob 

1 crash hitting my noggin 30 years ago, I think, and cant remember all the rest.

tFUnK

One major time when I was hit by a car. Another time due to a mechanical issue.

Two occasions where I've scraped a car or the side of a tunnel (but body did not hit pavement).

Two occasions at low speed in the parking lot due to I don't know what, no injuries but I did have to bend the derailleur hanger back. These probably don't meet the criteria set in the OP.

When I used to mountain bike, it got to be like once every other ride, and that's what prompted me to stop trying to get air on descents.

All this over probably 25k miles of riding.

Jack Tone 

Crashed once on a sportbike going into a turn too fast. End over end, totalled the bike. Fortunately only a broken ankle. Once on a bicycle in a criterium. Got a free replacement helmet from Giro. A few crashes in Motocross. I think that's pretty good for 57 years of two wheels.