First fall

here2help

It was bound to happen sometime. I was riding at about 15mph, looked over my shoulder behind me because I wanted to cross in the middle of the street, saw no cars, looked forward again only to see that I was drifting into the curb next to me. After I hit, I put my foot out, it came out from under me right away because of my speed, felt then onto my side, wrist, and ended up twisted on my shoulder and head.

I'm glad I had the helmet on because it hit hard and has a bunch of scratches from when I skid. I'm still not completely used to riding the bike again after not riding for 10+ years. I'm still ok to ride the bike, but my ankle is pretty sprained and for some reason my heel is killing me to the point of making me limp, but there's no swelling and no bruise. Also have a bruise on my shoulder and my leg is all scraped up from the pavement.

The bike is prefect though, no damage because it mostly fell on top of me, lol. Could have been worse I guess.

phil_ss1

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your tumble, sounds like a weekend of nursing your wounds.

Worth a trip to A&E re: the ankle? You may have chipped the bone? Although you'll just probably end up with paracetamol and nurofen!

I also noted the natural instinct to protect your bike on crashing :?

Phil

BentMikey

Oooh, glad you're OK. I reckon it's definitely worth going somewhere quiet and practicing riding along a line whilst looking back.

PhilTheFish

BentMikey wrote:

Oooh, glad you're OK. I reckon it's definitely worth going somewhere quiet and practicing riding along a line whilst looking back.

Took me about 2 weeks of returning to road riding to get used to keeping a straight line whilst looking back. Rather than looking over the top of your shoulder, try looking down the line between your elbow and shoulder (works for me)

secretsam

PhilTheFish wrote:

BentMikey wrote:

Oooh, glad you're OK. I reckon it's definitely worth going somewhere quiet and practicing riding along a line whilst looking back.

Took me about 2 weeks of returning to road riding to get used to keeping a straight line whilst looking back. Rather than looking over the top of your shoulder, try looking down the line between your elbow and shoulder (works for me)

Yup, watch the pros, they either sit up and slow down, or sort of do a duck dive and look through their elbow

I look down, not over, if that makes any sense. I've also got one of those "Mirrorcyle" jobs from the '80s which I find quite good (but useless on modern brake levers)

woodford2barbican

If your helmet had a bang you should change it for a new one - the manufacturer might offer a discount on a new one if you send it back to them......glad you are ok.

tardington

Sometimes they will give you a new one for free!

And, yep, I can't hold a straight line without looking ahead, or at least sideways - Glad it's not just me!

t4tomo

I look down, not over, if that makes any sense. I've also got one of those "Mirrorcyle" jobs from the '80s which I find quite good (but useless on modern brake levers)

I found that the boot of a shiny black cab in front of you is way better than any mirror - no blind spots at all.

Clearly there are some obvious limitations to this system

Plax

Mmmmmm, you know I never noticed whether or not I cycle in a straight line when looking back. I think I keep pretty straight. I usually glance over my shoulder as if I was checking my blindspot in the car before merging onto the dual carriageway. So far haven't cycled into the hedge

cntl

I got a wide-angle view mirror. Problem solved.

Gambatte

Saw a post on here or cyclechat recently. Mirror that attaches to the frame down tube. It was getting quite a few positive responses from current users

cntl

>>Saw a post on here or cyclechat recently. Mirror that attaches to the frame down
>>tube. It was getting quite a few positive responses from current users

It's here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ght=mirror