since this seems to be CRASH day!

[caligurl]

there may be better places to actually crash... but my location has to be at least in the top two!!!!!!!

so sunday hubby and i are out riding.... coming down a slight grade... so going pretty fast.... stupid me... i turn around to see if there is a vehicle coming... yes... an ambulance (not with lights.. just driving)...

i turn back to the front and realize i'm drifiting into the dirt!

so i brake (i'm told that was my first mistake) and i unclip my left foot (and i'm told that was my second mistake.... hubby says that the sand/shoulder was packed enough i should have been able to maintain and slow down.... but hey.. i'm inexperienced with crashing... sorta.... i don't think it's something i want to get "good" at doing )

soooooo down i go.. tumbling... grrrrrrrrrrrr

first thought: OMG.. MY BIKE! (so much for getting a new one... i'm not "allowed" to get a new bike if i keep crashing!) then once i'm on the ground... shoulder, elbow, arm check.. then i remember... and am quite embarrased that an ambulance is behind me... uhm.. they even turned on their lights!!!!! i'm trying to unclip my right foot so i can stand up so they know i'm ok.... all the while still checking myself....

i'm shaking my arms (hard to explain... but was mad.. and checking for breaks... shaking was not the smartest move.... hubby made fun of my arm shaking later that day.....)

hubby gets back to me and is checking me over.. the guys get out the ambulance and i'm saying "i'm ok, i'm ok" (but my left hand was KILLING me... so everyone checks that.. just bruised.. but REALLY sore!

i also had a small scrap on my ankle.. (and some bruises on my leg, arm & hip that i didn't see right then.. but that i noticed later)....

hubby gets done checking me and starts to check the bike... brake/shift lever was moved but ok (scraped more *sigh*) he thought the wheel might be a bit bowed but no scraping on the brake.. ok... all looked ok with the bike...

i decided i needed to put my gloves back on (i had JUST taken them off not 15 minutes prior to my crash! i don't wear them in the sun of the day cuz i hate tan lies *rolls eyes* remember the recent discussions on here! however i think my hand still would been bruised bad.. but the scape wouldn't have been there...

then the ambulance guy asks i need a bandaid for my ankle... blonde moment of the day... perhaps of the weekend? (maybe even the year????) my comment back to him? "do you have one".... DUH.......... it's an AMBULANCE! of course they have one! (hubby LOVES telling that one to his buddies!)

to make matters "worse".... one of their stationmates was behind them a ways... a FIRETRUCK! so when they caught up and saw the ambulance stopped with their lights on ... they put their lights on and joined the "party".... OY VEY!!!!!!!!! i know they spent some of their day discussing the ditz on the bike!

i'm just thankful i was technically ok! bruised and a bruised ego... but OK overall.....

it was painful with my hand to ride my remaining 25 miles that day.. but i was damned if i was gonna stop!!!!! and then i had to go home and do my workout.. and on the menu for the day: pushups and pullups! that wasn't as bad as i expected... the push up bars helped...

no laughing at me! it's not nice! :D :D :D :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[DeniseGoldberg]

Hey - I'm really glad you're OK, but how can we not laugh (with you, not at you) when you inject so much humor into your story?

No more crashes allowed!

--- Denise

[caligurl]

ok... you can laugh.. and definitely WITH me! cuz i do laugh about it now that i know i'm OK! but geez it does scare the bejeezus out of me when i'm on my way down! you just don't know how it's going to end up (as you well know!)

[LBTC]

so, let's see...

you were hurt, surrounded by ambulance attendants and firemen.....

and you didn't *cry*? awww, they would have been all over that! :p

I'm glad you're okay, too! and, good gravy! Another 25 miles *and* a workout after! you rock, girl!

Namaste,
~T~

[Grog]

I too am really glad you're okay! Going down at very high speeds always frightens me a bit, I think it's one of the most important moments to be well dressed and wear a good helmet. I always always wear gloves since my riding friend cut his hand open on a fall recently. Actually he cut through his gloves so I don't want to imagine what it would have been without them...

But the story IS funny! I loved the part when the firetruck comes in! At least you have something to tell to the little kids when you're old. These stories are much funnier than the rides-that-go-perfectly-well stories, aren't they? (As long as you live to tell them of course!!)

Heal well and soon (both the skin and the ego)...

[bikerchick68]

you know what they say about murphy's law right? apparently I'm not the only one murphy has it out for!

OMG! First of all.... really glad you're OK. Second, wouldn't it JUST FIGURE that there'd be an audience??? UGH! I feel for you... I have crashed only one time, and it was in the middle of an intersection where I got my front tire stuck in the trolley track and didn't stop til I endo'd onto the sidewalk with the bike landing on top of me... every freaking car in the intersection stopped cold and they were ALL staring... :rolleyes:

How shaky were you when you first got back on the bike? Once I realize I'm OK then the shakes set in and I'm more wrecked from nerves than actual damage...

I heard once that statistically you'll crash once every 3 years... so you've got at least 3 more years now free and clear!

[Lynne]

OMG...I'm so sorry, but I'm trying really hard not to laugh at work! SO glad you are ok, but that is the best story...I love it! And I agree, that's the kind of thing you remember forever, not the great rides (even if hubby isn't constantly reminding you that you asked the ambulance driver if he/she had a bandaid...)

Thanks for sharing! Wish my crash (ok, technically it was a fall over sideways thing...*plop*) had been as good as that one....

[mtbdarby]

Cali,
I'll chime in too I'm glad you're ok. You do tell a good story though! Hoping there was at least a nice looking fireman or two for you.....

All my biker friends keep telling me you have to leave a little blood on the trail and earn a story to tell. My knee hurts like a SOB today - it's right up there with having had a c-section. Time for my ibuprofin dose and a couple of cold cans of pop to the knee. The things we do for fun.....

[LBTC]

Actually....although I'm deathly afraid of crashing on the road, I've done it many times on my mountain bike!! And, I must say, I'm a little jealous that you did have an audience. I've only had people see 2 of my many crashes. and they weren't even the good ones!

heal, well, cali!
Namaste,
~T~

[caligurl]

thanx for all the well wishes and the laughing with me! :) :) :)

uhm... ok... so crash once every 3 years? well then i shouldn't crash again for another 15 years! cuz i've crashed 7 times in a year and 1 week of riding! (that i can recall.. probably more if i really thought about it!! no wonder hubby likes to call me "crash") (well..... ok... fell over 1 times due to being new to clipless and crashed 6 times but 2 of those again.. due to clipless newbieness :( this was the most amusing though.....

i've got to stop crashing! i want a new bike!

i wasn't so much shakey... but i was nervous and a lot slower after that... now i could say it was cuz i was tired from two days of long rides.. but no doubt the nervousness played a big part in the slowerness! (ya.. not a word!!!) i think i was too busy thinking about how much my hand hurt and trying to find positions on the handlebar that i could ride! i did stay MUCH further to the left.. away from that AWFUL and MEAN shoulder that had sand... that would make me fall and go boom again! :eek: hubby "yelled" at me one time... "i told you car back and you didn't get over" and i replied.. "i got over as far as i was comfortable" (which wasn't much further over than when he told me.. but hey.. i didn't want to get NEAR that sand!)

[Trek420]

Glad you're ok! So tell us...cause we all gotta know...and someone's gotta ask.....HOW'S THE BIKE!!?? :confused:

[caligurl]

the bike appears to be fine! phew! the shifter was moved and scratched more (yes.. more... since it was already scratched from previous crashes)

hubby thought the front wheel was bowed (not sure that's the word he used) thought it looked like it wobbled a bit???? but didn't rub on the brake... i gotta remind him to check it out again!

my little bar end light thingy got twisted a bit.. but it still works!

my handlebar bag moved down and needed readjustment!

i'm sure my poor baby has additional scratches :( :( :( to go with its other crash related scratches... i'm such a bad bike-mom.. crashing my poor baby :( :( :(

and to think.. the 2 top bikes on my wish list are a custom luna or a full carbon roubaix pro... like hubby will let me get either.. just so i can crash on it! *sigh*

[betagirl]

Glad to hear you're ok. And your bike. Were the paramedics or firemen hot? No pun intended :D

I've only had an interaction with paramedics (not biking related) in Phoenix, and man it looked like they just walked out of a calendar. I immediately felt better!

[caligurl]

sadly.... no..... not hot.. just very nice!

(i think if they had been hot.. i woulda been more embarrassed than i already was!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm kinda glad they weren't hot! ya.... glad they weren't! ok.. maybe not.. hot woulda been good!)

[nuthatch]

Glad you survived! Ever think about a rear-view mirror? I love mine because where ever my head turns, my front tire follows. I can't tell you how many times I've found myself crossing the road unintentionally when I looked back to check out the rear!

[bikerHen'sChick]

Glad you're okay! I thought I had a good audience for my crash, but your's sounds much better. I got my front tire caught in some train tracks and flung into the road in front of two VERY large logging trucks. I don't know who was more scared, me or them! Anyways, as I was sitting on the side of the road at a busy intersection, crying and generally looking pathetic, this motorcycle cop pulls up and is all ready to call an ambulence and fire truck and god knows what else (the fire/ambulence station was right up the road) but I convinced him I was okay. But afterwords, my mom said I should have let him call, in hopes of meeting a hot fireman! It's good you were able to keep going. I was banged up enough to merit stopping the ride, going to the doctor, pain killers and two day of couch rest. Glad your baby wasn't hurt worse. I just got a new one and am dreading ever crashing him.

[annie]

What a story!! So glad you made it out, not unscathed, but not terribly "scathed1" Very scary, knowing you are going down and you can't do a da** thing to prevent it.
I've had numerous crashes, too, in the last 3 1/2 years. Broken pelvis, two concussions, major road rash on my face, bad ankle from a hit-and-run driver. But that last one was ALMOST a year ago and so far, so good! Crash-free and loving it. I rode for 15 years with nary a bad crash till these past years. I intend to ride the rest of my years crash-free. Got to keep a positive attitude. You, too, can be crashless. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D :D And then you can get that new bike... :cool:

annie

[oph4887]

speaking of mirrors? Does anyone have suggestions if they like the handlebar or helment mirror better? I've got to get better at seeing behind me somehow and my bike goes where my head does.
Hang on in there with the crashes, in the past 2 weeks I've had 2 substancial crashes - bruises, cuts, xrays for the knees, antibiotics for the cuts(so what else would I want to spend money on?)
Remember how brave you are that you get back on and ride again. I know it's tough, you need to pat yourself on the back (not with the injuried hand).
My daughter is a firefighter and a EMT, they like helping people out, it's in their nature.
Take care
Writing from hotter than all get out
Memphis,TN

[SimpleCycle]

Aren't Lunas steel frames? I think it would be a perfect bike for crashing! You can fix steel. ;)

I'm glad you're okay. If you're going to have an audience, at least you got one with medical training!

I've only really crashed once, and fallen over oh, maybe seven times learning to use clipless, so my poor components are pretty scuffed too. The good news is they still work fine with scratches! The brake levers, left pedal, rear derailleur, and right crank are all scuffed. I bent my frame a little too, when I'd only had the bike for three days. Luckily they could bend it back and there was no real damage to my frame. The guys at my local bike shop joked with me that you could tell I actually rode my bike. I told them it would probably be better for me to spend more time on the bike and less on the ground.

[nuthatch]

speaking of mirrors? Does anyone have suggestions if they like the handlebar or helment mirror better?
Memphis,TN

I tried helmet mounted and I knocked it cockeyed every time I ducked into a porta-john during a ride. Within two weeks it was hanging off my helmet at a 90 degree angle...so I switched to a bar end mirror (blackburn) that swivels everywhich way. I can push it completely in against the inside of the bars when I'm loading it into the car and then swing it back out when I ride. I thought I'd hate looking all the way down to the bottom of my road bars to view the mirror but I really LOVE it and adjusted to it right away. I'm just too goofy/dizzy to turn my head backwards and I really want to see what's coming up my backside. Some of those imported cars have such quiet engines, I don't hear them until they are upon me!! :eek:

[Jo-n-NY]

Glad to hear you are ok. I am smiling and laughing "a bit" with you also. I have to say in the last couple of weeks I took two very graceful falls myself. Nothing bad, like I said graceful or like gumby and just out of my own stupidity because I really never fall.

Anyway, it is good that you are able to laugh about it now and your husband (mine wouldn't be any different) has a funny story to tell at your expense.

~JoAnn

[emily_in_nc]

speaking of mirrors? Does anyone have suggestions if they like the handlebar or helment mirror better? I've got to get better at seeing behind me somehow and my bike goes where my head does.

I tried a helmet mounted mirror, and it jiggled too much, easily got knocked out of place, and the stickum (which was supposed to last FOREVER) simply didn't. I polled a few folks in my bike club, and all recommended the "Take-a-Look" glasses mounted mirror. I got one and absolutely love it. I believe they're still available right here on Team E! It never moves around and provides a large field of vision. My husband could never get used to it visually, but then, he can look behind himself very nicely without swerving or veering into the road at all. I can't always do that. I am usually the first to see someone coming up behind us, though, because he doesn't look back nearly as often as I do with the mirror. I think it's a wonderful safety device!

Emily

[Grog]

I crashed too!

In no way as spectacular as some of your crashes I have read about here, but a little frightening nonetheless.

On Montreal's Women's Championship course (on road) this morning at 7:30 I was just finishing my warmup and going down at pretty good speed from one side of the hill (Mont-Royal) and preparing to turn right to ride up on the other side. When I entered the curb, already slightly bending toward the inside of the curve, I saw orange cones "announcing" a pile of gravel/small rocks/sand but actually the cones were way too late into the curb for me to slow down or get back to full vertical position. In that split second I had the time to think about Caligurl's crash and probably smiled thinking about the ambulance and firetruck, but there were none behind me, just a guy about 200 feet before me, and there I went, my wheels skid and I was on the gravel pile myself, with the orange cone in my face. I must have braked with the rear brake because I landed on my left side, while I was turning right.

I'm mostly okay, just a pretty good cut on my knee and another smaller one on my elbow, plus a few crash rashes. I cleaned up with water on the spot and then at home with soapy water. I had sand IN my shorts and basically everywhere else. A girlfriend living nearby came to check out the bruise on my elbow as I could not figure it out myself. As for the bike, the left-hand shifter of the bike was displaced, the front wheel seemed a bit false and my handlebar tape is just totally torn. According to the CGBS (I love that Cute-Guy-at-the-Bike-Shop thing), the tape should be the longest thing to fix, the bike will be back tomorrow afternoon. I've dialed the city maintenance "hotline" before I started writing this message but I'm still on hold. :eek:

I have had a great fear of crashing ever since I started road biking but frankly it wasn't too bad and almost fun: when, as an adult, do we have a chance to get bruises? Ok my case is not serious so I can smile, but still, it feels childish to get bruises and then to clean them up and say "ouch" and gently blow on them...

Just had to share this.

[trigurl]

I too was going to ask about the mirror! I need one too, thats next on my list.

I have been afraid of going fast down hills on the parkway b/c my DBF mentioned deer running out in front of me, like i needed that picture, but I am now going fast and trying not to think about it, until today, one of my client's girlfriends called and said they were riding a motorcycle and a deer ran right out into the front tire!!!! he is alive but still doesn't know what is going on around him :( so there goes my carefree flying downhills! I can't imagine what would happen on a bicycle if a deer hit you. We rode last night and after we got back one girl asked if we saw the deer ? I am glad I didn't, i think.

[LBTC]

a deer! yeah, that would be something

one of the local goons was tearing through the bush near my house, on his way to work. he'd already nearly taken out a couple of the guys walking to work on previous rides....
so he whips around a corner and there's a huge buck standing in front of him. the buck really didn't care that he was approaching at mach speed, and the goon apparently didn't have the reflexes to steer around him. Nailed him at full speed! The buck didn't even flinch. The goon was limping and carrying on for a good week or so, and had to ride some decrepit old jalopy of a bike instead of his full on downhill race bike.

I guess it wouldn't be fun at all, but I think it's probably survivable. whew! be careful out there!

Namaste,
~T~

[SimpleCycle]

I often ride over cattleguards and past "Open Range" signs. Obviously they are there for a reason, but I had never seen any cattle until the other day. We ride out to this canyon, and it's a big climb. We cross at least five cattleguards (metal grates that apparently cows don't like to walk across), which probably should have tipped us off that there were cattle in the area.

Screaming down the hill at 30 mph, I spot my first cattle ever. They clearly didn't view us as a threat, and about five of them are crossing the road very slowly. Serious emergency braking ensued. My riding partner and I tried to imagine what a cow vs. bicycle accident would result in, and we concluded the cow would most assuredly come out of it better than we would have.

[julbee]

Great Stories!

Glad everyone is okay! :D

I have not fallen... yet. (I've just taken up biking again this summer.)
I know it's going to happen... sometime, somewhere! :eek:
(I'm likely being extra cautious ever since I've started to use clipleass pedals!)

The area I live in (and ride in) is full of wildlife of all sizes. We have to be extra careful, especially at dusk, as they seem to come out more frequently and in larger numbers then. I was thinking about deer while riding a couple of nights ago. There are so many deer around here! Many people often use those small "whistles" (mounted to the front grates of vehicles and are high-pitched, warning the deer) in this region. I was wondering how fast one must be going for the "whistle" to work and was wondering if they make them for bikes. (Just wonering while riding....)

There are many problems around here, too, with dogs. Some people allow their dogs run around outside without any "restraint." This is , of course, very dangerous to riders! (I have a dog. I love dogs. For the life of me, I don't understand why people let their dogs access the road! Sometimes, for some people, it's a rare mistake...the dog gets away. Others allow their dogs to go wherever, whenever!) :confused:

It pays to be as vigilant as possible! Yet, even with vigilance, these animals are too often unpredictable in their movements! :eek:

If we are out a little later than we had anticipated and we are in an "isolated" area... just woods on the sides of the roads and little or no traffic, we start to see many animals. We start whistling and/or talking loudly to one another in order to warn them of our presence, as the bikes move along rather quietly. Many have scurried back in to the woods when we have done this.

Cattle? I have found cattle to be of a different nature. They often do not dodge oncoming traffic...even cars!

Have a safe ride! :)

[poison tumac]

you should convince your husband that if you got a new bike (that fit you better and that you loved more) that you would be less likely to crash!!! LOL Worth a try!