Have you ever crashed?

[tjodit]

I've been riding on the road for about a year now but can't seem to get over a fear of crashing. I saw I roadie on tv crash awhile back and can't seem to get that image out of my brain. I would love to be able to take the curves fast and really lean into it but the fear of road rash makes me hit my brakes. I am especially fearful of loose gravel...I almost went down once on that stuff!

I've crashed on my mtn bike several times and it wasn't that big of a deal but there's a big difference between mother earth and father pavement.

Have any of you crashed on the road? Is it as bad as it looks?

[caligurl]

you've been riding a year an NEVER crashed! geez... for a while there hubby was calling me "crash"!

my most memorable was the time i crashed in front of an amulance! yes... an ambulance! they stopped... had the lights on.. the whole bit.... (i was ok! bruised ego and bruised palms of my hand and bloody ankle.. but ok!)

then there was the time i crashed and squished my banana.... i had one in my rear pocket.. and was must upset that i had squished it!

i layed the bike down going around a corner in sand.....

i wasn't paying attention and crashed off the side of the road...

and that doesnt even include the learning to ride clipless (uhm....... FIRST day on the bike.. leaving the driveway... i fell over trying to get clipped in)

so yes... i have most certainly crashed... fortunately all mine have been minor (some major bruising... but nothing broken)

there are some on here with some really bad stories (bad as in hurt bad)!

consider yourself lucky that you have never crashed!

[tjodit]

Well, I did fall over at a red light once...but I mean going more than 5 mph.

Did you get road rash? Did it heal or scar?

[caligurl]

i never got bad road rash.... mostly bruising... the time in front of the amublance i had some gravel in the palms of my hands (i wasn't riding with gloves cuz of tanlines )

the time i slide in the sand making a corner.. i had a HUGE bruise on my upper leg/hip.. but no road rash (i've never torn any of my clothes in any of my crashes! just squished my banana ) that time i had on amfib gloves.. so my palms were sore/bruised.. but the palms of amfibs are thick! so no gravel!

i can't even remember if i had "road rash" the time i endo-d on my mtb! (i've fallen over a LOT on that too! but the endo was the WORST! scared the bejeezus out of me!)

[mtbdarby]

Tjodit,
I've never crashed on the road - yet - but I've had two bad mtb crashes. One I flipped over onto a boulder (dont' know how it tripped me up), which left a scar on my knee. The other was a wipe out on a scree hill so that would constitute road rash. Yes it hurt and yes it left a scar. Lesson learned: don't use hydrogen perioxide on road rash, and clean it out as soon as you can. It really hurts to clean gravel out of your rash after it's hardened and starting to scab (I rode 14 miles after I crashed). There was a good thread here on how to treat road rash complete with ingredients for a road rash kit. I saved it somewhere, I just can't find it now....

[Aint Doody]

I had a bad road crash that I posted elsewhere a while back. My front tire clipped my friend's rear one. Anyway I had road rash on my upper thigh on the side. Didn't phase my PI tights I was wearing--no scarring. My glasses broke and cut my forehead to the tune of about 15 stitches--slight scarring there, but you really have to look to see it. I spent 2 days in ICU because my brain bled in 7 places. I don't think there's any scarring there--I feel normal and people don't seem to look at me sideways or anything. Hurrah for my helmet!

I also went down on some railroad tracks one time (I now walk them) and have a slight scar on one knee--badge of honor!

Don't be scared--everything in life involves risk. The rewards of cycling are worth the risks.

[maillotpois]

Oh yeah.

1. Rode into a pole dividing the "lanes" of the Truckee River bike path during the Tahoe century, which I was coaching for Team in Training. They removed ALL of the poles except ONE - the one I hit!. I was riding with an honoree (leukemia patient) whom I adore, and he tends to go off and tell these wonderful stories, so I got distracted and hit the pole dead on with my handlebars, going about 15. Did and endo and basically landed on my feet but I broke off my computer.

2. Riding down Silverado trail at 20 - 25 mph in Napa into a stiff headwind after a 90 mile ride in 100 degree heat, during which I basically bonked. We were in a tight paceline, and a gust of wind hit the rider in front of me and we touched wheels. This happens, and usually I could deal with that and not crash, but I was so fried from the ride that I couldn't recover and went off the road. Bent my bars and got some road rash, but otherwise okay.

3. I coached the Tour de Tucson last year for TNT. This is a real race, and I generally race it, and do pretty well. But last year I decided to coach instead. Big mistake. My ride group was pretty strong, but there was one guy who didn't make it to the practice rides - we usually would not let someone like that ride with the group, but since the group was all friends we made an exception. Bigger mistake. Anyway, one mile into the race, in a tight pack, someone's water bottle popped out and rolled across the road. This happens all the time in races and it is no big deal. But the weenie who hadn't trained with us shrieked like a little girl and slammed on his brakes and hit the deck. While I could have avoided or run over the bottle, I could not avoid the 200 pound weenie right in front of me, so I hit him and crashed hard on my hip. No road rash, but I knew immediately when I got up that my back wasn't right. I ended up DNF'ing - my first ever. As a coach, my priority was my ride group, and I rode about 40 miles with them and they all ended up finishing fine (even the weenie!). But my back still bothers me a bit climbing.

I have been riding about 6 years pretty seriously in long distance events and races, so the number of crashes may seem like a lot, but over that long, its really not a big deal. I also seem to fall well - knock on wood. I grew up riding horses, so I am good at the tuck and roll. Don't stress about it. It may happen or it may never happen.