Crash and Sods Law

mattyarse

Went out this morning, and went much later than usual so that I could ride in the daylight for a change (left about 8.30 / 9am I think).

Anyway, about 4 or 5 miles in I was happily making my way up an incline in a fairly rural spot between some farmers fields when the rear wheel 'twitched' - that's odd I thought..... And then found myself on the deck merrily sliding along on my side! :shock:

As I was wondering what on earth had happened I attempted to stand up and performed one of those comedy leg actions as I was in the middle of a big patch of black ice. That's a hoot isn't it?

I had gone down on the drive side so had to bend the rear mech from the wheel and move the right hand shifter back round before I was able to carry on. A bit of road rash on the shifter and a pedal, and even having had a look when home I can't get into the biggest gear when in the big ring (recognise that it is not a great thing to do anyway, but the point being that previously I could and now I can't).

But the real bonus was the hole in the side of my gilet and the back pocket of my jersey, both of which were being worn for only the second time. :roll: Oh well, nothing broken so I guess not the end of the world, and I can at least see what Rapha can do via their crash repair service for the gilet and jersey.

So my first road cycling crash is out of the way (I am an experienced MTB crasher ) and I can confirm that mud may initially be a bit yucky, but is softer for sure!

Secteur

This will sound daft to anyone who has ever fallen off a bike, but the first time I fell off I was shocked that tarmac was so much harder and unrelenting than I imagined it would be!* Even a low speed, low impact fall bloody hurts!!!

If you've never made arse-tarmac contact, then trust me you really dont want to!

* obviously I didnt think it was made of marshmallow, but having never really thought about it, I thought humans would bounce more, but we dont! The titanium screw through my scaphoid can attest to that!

Secteur

PS obviously glad you're not too hurt! It's a bugger about the clothes / bike though, especially as Rapha stuff is very expensive (I dont trust myself to wear it!)

eric_draven

i had a fall about 3 years ago on black ice,this was whilst riding on the flat and straight in the dark on a back road,i picked myself up while looking at myself in in the light i had,i heard a car coming towards me fast,they must of been doing about 70mph i left my bike in the road and took what cover i could behind a tree,in case he lost it,a hole in my tights and a good bruise to show for it,first crash on road bike going fast in summer with only shorts and jersey on,i donated alot of skin that day,and found out how hard tarmac was,as you say unlike dirt on a mountain bike

with your rapha kit you should get new one,because at their prices you've paid for it twice

nochekmate

Low speed slide out myself this morning whilst out in the Peak District - made for some nervous descending for the next hour. Fortunately bike & rider came through it unscathed and stayed out for 102 miles on what was a beautiful day!

sloppyschleckonds

There aren't enough threads about crashes IMHO FWIW FFS SAKE

chris_bass

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

There aren't enough threads about crashes IMHO FWIW FFS SAKE

I sometimes wonder why you bother with this forum, everything seems to annoy you, or bore you or just generally not interest you!

cougie

And yet by posting on a thread about crashes - he bumps it up the forum so more people read it.

desweller

To the OP: Your mech hanger has been bent; you need to replace it before it fails (and it will) and drops your derailleur into your wheel.

Initialised

So I'm not the only one who found one of those today!

Let me guess, north side of the hill?
Loads of ice at the top?

I ended up on the wrong side of the road and bruised my knee on the top tube but didn't go over. Nerves were shot for the descent, was doing 20 where I'd normally be 40+

@DesWeller, I helped someone out after a failed derailer. He had a chain tool so I told him to set it to single speed and limp home after I free'd the wheel from the derailer.

wavefront

Chris Bass wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

There aren't enough threads about crashes IMHO FWIW FFS SAKE

I sometimes wonder why you bother with this forum, everything seems to annoy you, or bore you or just generally not interest you!

Give him some credit, he thought of some new acronyms today rather than the usual 'CSB' and almost formed a sentence

Anonymous

I remember my first crash, it was on a club run, descent from a sizable hill, we all were taking it easy when some idiot from behind us came flying down the hill, hit some black ice, took me and two others out. I stayed attached to my pedals and slid across the road, on to some loose gravel and then in to a fence. I broke two bones in my hand and ripped my leggings and had some pretty severe road rash. It also bent my bars and fork. Was a pretty horrific experience, must have been 3oC and I was freezing sitting on the side of the road covered in blood. Got someone to pick me up with and take me to hospital. One of the other fellas broke his collar bone and arm I think. I lost all confidence and went back to normal pedals for about 3 months afterwards. Was horrible.

chris_bass

wavefront wrote:

Chris Bass wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

There aren't enough threads about crashes IMHO FWIW FFS SAKE

I sometimes wonder why you bother with this forum, everything seems to annoy you, or bore you or just generally not interest you!

Give him some credit, he thought of some new acronyms today rather than the usual 'CSB' and almost formed a sentence

haha - that's true, i'm just waiting for the CSB in reply to my post! I'd imagine scrabble must be a very short game round his at christmas!!

mattyarse

DesWeller wrote:

To the OP: Your mech hanger has been bent; you need to replace it before it fails (and it will) and drops your derailleur into your wheel.

Cheers. Sounds worth preventing.

Secteur

I very slightly bent mine a couple of years ago, but I was never able to find a replacement, despite some in depth searching on line. I've ridden on it since most days, and not had a problem, but with threads like these I sometimes wonder if it's worth it!

Brant

Last winter I had a wobble going up a fairly steep hill, there was a highish wall and banking to my left so luckily could put my hand out to stop me falling, got a little graze/surface tear on the top of the index finger of my Rapha winter gloves... boo hoo! I was horrified at the time as those things were effing expensive but barely notice or even think about it now.

lanternerouge79

Secteur wrote:

This will sound daft to anyone who has ever fallen off a bike, but the first time I fell off I was shocked that tarmac was so much harder and unrelenting than I imagined it would be!* Even a low speed, low impact fall bloody hurts!!!

If you've never made arse-tarmac contact, then trust me you really dont want to!

* obviously I didnt think it was made of marshmallow, but having never really thought about it, I thought humans would bounce more, but we dont! The titanium screw through my scaphoid can attest to that!

Done it twice and f**k me your ass and hip hurts for days afterward. How i didn't break my hip on my last crash i'll never know :shock:

DiscoBoy

Secteur wrote:

This will sound daft to anyone who has ever fallen off a bike, but the first time I fell off I was shocked that tarmac was so much harder and unrelenting than I imagined it would be!* Even a low speed, low impact fall bloody hurts!!!

If you've never made arse-tarmac contact, then trust me you really dont want to!

* obviously I didnt think it was made of marshmallow, but having never really thought about it, I thought humans would bounce more, but we dont! The titanium screw through my scaphoid can attest to that!

I know exactly what you mean. I had a low speed off due to a slippery surface and hitting the ground hurts! It's so terribly undignified as well, falling over is for kids, not for adults.

I'm pretty sure that the drive-side of your bike is like the buttered side of toast, or the legs of a cat: it always lands that way down. I might see if it's possible to built a left handed bike, and then go about trying to crash to see if it still happens.