Dumped my new bike! What Happened!?

Well, I started another thread just last week "new bike, I'm exhausted" because I was exhausted after every ride - I had just transitioned from a commuter bike to a hybrid. Took everyone's advice and laid off a day. Much better energy the next day. Yesterday, I was literally just turning around and the bike just shot out from under me. I wasn't even pedaling I don't think. Who remembers. My head smacked the pavement (cracked the helmet) and because it all happened so fast I must have landed on my ribcage - didn't have time to put my arm out or anything.
Spent 3 hours in the emergency room, nothing's broke - just bruised. Big red spot on my left forehead this morning and ribcage is extremely sore. Guess I'll get some rest now eh. No damage to the bike really. Mirror shattered, that's about it. What I'd like to know is WHAT HAPPENED??! It happened so fast I can't even describe it better. It just shot out from under me. It had been raining but the pavement sure looked dry. My husband thinks it might have been oil film on the road? I sure didn't see anything. I almost lost the bike in a flippin' crack in the road the other day too. So, okay - obviously I can't ride this bike the way I was riding my fat tired commuter. A friend told me you have to take cracks at an angle - can't do it head on like I did with the fatties. Is there a book, an article, or something on how to ride a road bike and not kill yourself. I want to get back on this horse - not be afraid of it. Thanks!

Wow. Sorry about your fall. Hope you heal up well.

Are you riding a hybrid or road bike? I admire those that ride road bikes. I am no where near ready to hop on one (though I do know which one I want when I am ready, lol)

What kind of hybrid do you have? I have a Trek 7300, which has been called a "grandma" bike by my Bianchi riding ex-bf.

"Just turning around" as in making a U-ie?

I don't know the specs on your new bike vs. the old one, but it sounds like it's probably lighter and has a shorter wheelbase, and if so, it may take a bit more attention to keep it balanced.

Also, were you looking behind you where you wanted to end up, or at the ground? It's really important to look THROUGH your turns, look where you want to go, for a lot of reasons. Glance at the ground to make sure there's nothing you don't want to run over, then look up. Looking too hard at the ground is a pretty good way to wind up on it.

Hope you feel better soon. Pain is exhausting even when your injuries are minor, so get plenty of rest.

PS - good thing you DIDN'T put your arm out. That's how people break their collarbones.

ditto on the arm/collarbone connection.

When you are healed up, maybe you can go to a road cycling clinic. They also teach you falls sometimes: I learned how to let myself fall onto grass on an incline. I don't "do it regularly", but maybe it will teach your neuromotor system not to stick your arm out if it happens.

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A friend told me you have to take cracks at an angle - can't do it head on like I did with the fatties.

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eh ? - maybe you misunderstood your friend, or I am misunderstanding you. You have to go over cracks, tracks and such at a steep angle, best is 90 degrees like so --|, so "head on". Don't cross them on a narrow angle like so /|.

A road clinic will teach you other useful stuff to handle your bike.

Oooh, that sounds scary, DMB. Hope you feel better soon. (Ribs can take a while to heal...I had a bad cold back in July and pulled a muscle in my ribcage from coughing, it still bothers me a little bit even now.)

I believe that when you encounter cracks in the road, or other things that might swallow a tire (such as RR crossings) you should take them at as close to a 90-degree angle as you can. If you're riding in the same direction as the crack, and the crack is wide enough, the tire's gonna catch in there and cause you to crash.

Also, I'm thinking that if there was only a light rain, so that the pavement still looked dry, it's likely your husband is right -- a light rain only makes the roads slicker, it takes a heavy rain to wash road oils away.

Heal up soon!

I'm glad you're okay - and really glad you didn't extend your arm! That's the #1 rule of crashing and you've learned it already, so you've been doing something well!

As a prize, you need to get yourself a new helmet now. :)

All that the others said about turning and rain and angles is right. Another thing of course is to have the inside pedal UP (and to put your weight on the outside pedal so that it's down and weighted) when you turn a tight corner. You don't want your pedal to scrape the pavement, it would also send you down.

There might be a club teaching some skills in your area. Others will maybe have suggestions.

Heal well and take it easy...

Geez, I hope you feel better soon. Be sure to get a NEW helmet pronto. Throw the cracked one away. Everyone else has given very good advice.

Sorry you got hurt!

My alltime favorite bicycling book:
art of cycling
It's mostly about defensive cycling and avoiding dangerous situations in traffic.....but it has a great long chapter about road hazards aside form cars- things like bad pavement, cracks, debris, curbs,rough or slippery surfaces....and how to cope with them to avoid injury. You might like the book, I do. :)

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Originally Posted by tulip

Geez, I hope you feel better soon. Be sure to get a NEW helmet pronto. Throw the cracked one away. Everyone else has given very good advice.

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Or bring it back to the shop, who'll send it back to the manufacturer and is likely to give you a discount on the next one.

Bell and Giro both have a helmet return program. (I think they want the used helmets to study how they are impacted by accidents. It usually requires a bit of an explanation of your accident and how you hit the ground if you can.)

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Originally Posted by DMB

What I'd like to know is WHAT HAPPENED??! It happened so fast I can't even describe it better. It just shot out from under me.

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I know JUST what you are saying. The last bike I had was a mountain bike with fat tires....that was a decade ago. Then life intervened and I didn't ride until 6 months ago when I bought a Hybrid bike with slick 700X28 tires.

I thought I was going crazy. It seemed I didn't have any control over the bike for the first few weeks. I didn't take any spills but some very close calls. I thought it was just me and just rode very carefully until I started gaining confidence. After a month I realized that at 62, slick tires for a newbie wasn't the smartest thing so I refitted to 700X32 tires with a bit of tread. It made a big difference but still wasn't like the confidence I had on a mountain bike.

After several months, I'm now completely confident in how to ride on narrower tires but there will never be that easy, you can ride over anything, sense of calm of the fat tires. Also, I now prefer the thinner tires, I just know I have to be vigilant and not sloppy in riding.

It sounds like you are pushing yourself AND that you didn't realize there was so much different in how a road bike would react. Take your time if you want to remain with a road bike OR switch out to a wider tire if that is not your goal.

I love the idea of a "riding workshop" - will definitely look into that. And "learning" how to fall - great idea. YES YES - I hobbled over to the bike shop first thing this morning and ordered another helmet as they didn't have the size, or color I wanted in stock. Good thing I have to wait, I might have just gotten back on that bike tomorrow.....I'll show that bike!! ;) I'll probably have to ride my commuter for a while, the bend over position won't work with ribs hurting. That's okay - I need to calm down. I can't tell you how exhilarating the ride was and how much fun I was having on that bike. It's a trek hybrid 7.5 WSD, narrow tires, carbon fork, very light, 27 speed - they told me the only dif between it and a road bike is basically the handlebars (mine are straight) and the tires are not as narrow. I was riding on 26 x 1.95 before so these 700c32 are pretty skinny in comparison. I will definitely get that book the art of cycling - thank you! thank you! so much to learn. I didn't know anything about looking ahead, not braking on a turn, etc. - yikes!

Hey, that's exactly the same bike I have!.....'cept it isn't WSD.....and it's a 7.6. I LOVEEEEEE this bike.

DMB, sorry about your incident. Hope you figure out what you want to know (I'm a noob so no help).

Bleeker St., thanks for the book recommendation. I'm planning to buy just one book (for now) and that looks like the one for someone struggling with city traffic.

Pam

Glad that you are o.k. - one thing I learned when I had real horses was to get back on - good for you! Nice also to hear from other hybrid riders. I went from a mountain bike to my hybrid too and it was “squirrely” at first too. Now I ride everywhere both on trail and off - and take cracks at an angle. My tires are definately not slicks and have some decent tread so she does well in the rain. Thank goodness for helmets too - imagine how your head would have felt if you had not had it on. Pick out a nice bright new one - you deserve it! I have a Giro - feels great. Best wishes on your healing and hugs for you.