First crash today

duckiciao

Well, went out for the first time with the club on my 5 day old road bike. And crashed. And I was only about 9 miles from home as well

The usual story (I think) of drafting too closely, having a momentary lapse of concentration and clipping matey boys back wheel. Chap behind me went down (who just so happened to be the club secretary) and fractured his arm, whilst I escaped with just road rash! I feel about this small.

ash68

these things happen, don't let it bother you mate. We all have crashes and near misses at some time. How's the bike? Sods law it had to be a new bike as well .

duckiciao

The bikes seems ok, still rideable, just a bit of paint missing and some cork tape got ripped off and a chunk out of the saddle. Ill take it to the dealers to get it checked out properly though.

benvickery

Oh no!! :shock:

I thought that breaking my chain 25 miles from home yesterday was bad enough! Had you just joined the club? I'm new to road biking and thinking of going out with a club. I'll remember to stay well away.

Good luck with your bike

purplemad

Sorry to hear about your crash.

duckiciao

benvickery wrote:

Oh no!! :shock:

I thought that breaking my chain 25 miles from home yesterday was bad enough!

Thats pretty cruel, at least I got a free ride in the ambulance.

benvickery wrote:

Had you just joined the club? I'm new to road biking and thinking of going out with a club. I'll remember to stay well away.

Good luck with your bike

Yeah, I had just joined. My very first ride with any club.

dudi

Blimey, doesnt sound like much fun!

My first crash involved me, a noise at the crank, a parked lorry and a broken collar bone.

nice.

Andy

spasypaddy

glad to hear its only 'minor' injuries and all stuff that will heal (except pride!)

my first crash involved me, the front end of a car and some pavement. Got the scar on my knee and the memory of an operation but its all good

oldwelshman

duckiciao wrote:

Well, went out for the first time with the club on my 5 day old road bike. And crashed. And I was only about 9 miles from home as well

The usual story (I think) of drafting too closely, having a momentary lapse of concentration and clipping matey boys back wheel. Chap behind me went down (who just so happened to be the club secretary) and fractured his arm, whilst I escaped with just road rash! I feel about this small.

You just have to get used to drafting and in club runs it is not a race so you really don't have to draft so close as to clip wheels
It may sound stupid but you also should not panic when clipping a wheel. Just hold your line and ease off pedalling and you should stay up. Some people panic and steer wheel out of contact then fall down as wheel wobbles.
I have clipped wheels in races and club runs but "luckily" have not come off yet Hope your secreatry is ok

McBain_v1

Bad news about the crash. Get some hydrocolloid plasters on the road rash and watch it disappear Still, if your bike got away with only flesh wounds then that's a good thing.

How did you get your text to go really small? Is there some secret bit of code that you have to write in the [square brackets] that makes it shrink or something?

suze

Two more and then you can call youself a cyclist....

BMCCbry

Oh dear. I really sympathise.

I've had two crashes on club runs. First time we were changing on the front and the guy who pulled in front of me got out of the saddle (it was on a slight incline) and his wheel 'came back' and I clipped it. I had a very sore shoulder for a couple of weeks, and three layers of clothing ripped. The guy behind me came off too but wasn't injured. Little damage to bikes.

Second time, the guy behind me asked me a question and I turned my head sideways to answer. As I did so, the road in front of me slipped away into a big rut running along the side, and my wheel went into it. :oops: A couple of others fell off, but no serious damage to them. I had a big hole in my elbow, and £300 damage to my bike. Oh, and we missed a wedding that afternoon cos we were still in A&E/at the bike shop!

I've learned from both crashes, and don't feel like I'm close to crashing a lot - it was just a couple of slip-ups through inexperience. The only thing to do is go back and stick with it. Don't be so embarrassed about it that you don't go back and then miss out on everything the club has to offer. I apologised to the people involved and don't feel like it's been held against me (even if they do take the mick still!).

duckiciao

Ive just taken the dressings off and decided that leg shaving is definately an option for the future. My leg hairs kept getting stuck in the dressing/wound, much pain.

APIII

Sorry about your crash. I had one too this weekend. Just me and a cleat that wouldn't disengage at a roundabout. No damage to me, but broke a spoke on my rear wheel (Lightweight). Not repairable, apparently, so I am gutted.

Aidocp

I felt really bad on my last club run, the rider on my left stopped sharply as lights went to red so I stopped and yelled; the rider behind clipped the back of my wheel. Whilst I was fine he got a sore one and had to go home :oops:, I hope it wasn't too bad.

Monty Dog

For a beginner new to group rides it's worth sitting on the back of the bunch for a while until you get used to following wheels, braking distances and cornering lines. No-one will have a problem with you sitting there and if riders are peeling off the front following their turn, leave a gap and let them take the wheel in front. After a few hours of riding like this, you can then think about moving up through the group. There are some instances where crashes are unavoidable and many people accept crashes as a consequence of riding a bike - as long its not a wilful act of bad riding I wouldn't beat yourself up. You'll learn from this and you'll be a better rider because of it.

drenkrom

I come back to this often, but it's a workout that is way worth doing. Go onto a grassy field with a few clubmates and practice riding shoulder-to-shoudler. And I mean with full weight on the chap next to you, so if he veers off, you go down. And you probably will at first, hence the grassy field.

Next, put a jacket on the ground and, still shoulder-to-shoulder, each of you pass on either side of it. The next exercise is picking up the coat while doing so. Then, go for smaller objects and higher speeds. Find other little games that'll get you leaning on one another and bumping a bit. One of my coaches when I was a kid had us play "ultimate frisbee" on our bikes. Also, practice rolling along and deliberately touching wheels. If you fall, the odds of getting injured are very low. If you have a winter bike, you might want to take that one, though. Just in case.

With a few hours of these fun games, my coach turned a bunch of shaky kids afraid of drafting at all into an efficient pack of fearless riders who did wheel kisses and shifted other guys' gears just for fun out on the road. We never got a peloton crash after that.

shockedsoshocked

drenkrom wrote:

shifted other guys' gears just for fun out on the road.

Did anyone ever get the urge to put someone in the big ring while climbing

eh

Did anyone ever get the urge to put someone in the big ring while climbing


You can't really do it because you are working against the spring, far easier to shunt them into the smallest cog at the back. NB: This was much easier in the old days with down tube or thumb shifters.

Back to the oringinal post there really is no need on a club run to ride inches close most of the time and further definitely do NOT let your front wheel overlap with the back wheel in front, that is a recipe for disaster. Also don't stare at the person in front, read the road, such that you aren't surprised by people breaking or standing out of the saddle. Drafting is not a hard skill to master at least in terms of club runs (racing can be a bit different), but it does require concentration.

duckiciao

eh wrote:

Did anyone ever get the urge to put someone in the big ring while climbing


You can't really do it because you are working against the spring, far easier to shunt them into the smallest cog at the back. NB: This was much easier in the old days with down tube or thumb shifters.

Back to the oringinal post there really is no need on a club run to ride inches close most of the time and further definitely do NOT let your front wheel overlap with the back wheel in front, that is a recipe for disaster. Also don't stare at the person in front, read the road, such that you aren't surprised by people breaking or standing out of the saddle. Drafting is not a hard skill to master at least in terms of club runs (racing can be a bit different), but it does require concentration.

I think thats the main cause of the accidenty, I lost my concentration for a second (kinda like when your driving along a straight for a looong time), and either sped up, or matey boy in front slowed down. I dont think I was that close to him, but it all happened rather fast, I cant remember.

drenkrom

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

drenkrom wrote:

shifted other guys' gears just for fun out on the road.

Did anyone ever get the urge to put someone in the big ring while climbing

It's way more fun to find the guy marking you and slap him onto his small ring just before you attack. Bye Bye!!!!