Road riding falls

[Geonz]

Welp, the question was a little scary - "the majority of your falls" - sounds like they happen all the time!!!
My falls generally have a good reason, though not necessarily something I could change. In hmmm... definitely over 20,000 miles of riding:
- moved to sidewalk in a drizle when an ambulance was coming... went over wet RR tracks... does that count as side-slide or side-tip? Graceless splat that owuld have hurt the noggin proper w/o helmet.
- Fall on the ice and snow during the "Illini Chill" - defies category since I'm not sure I was upright anyway :-) WHen you fall into snow it doens't matter, though my keys were in my pocket and left a bruise and a hole in my sweats.
- Tip and splat going 5 mph carrying something and hitting a stick.
-over-the-bars... when the club said "Sue, you *gotta* see how fast you could go on a lighter bike!" and we didn't consider that a higher quality bike would have higher quality brakes... hello, gravel!
... but then, there were the roughly 15 falls that I *caused* in that messy clumpline I didn't realize (newbie thing) I was in, when the bike in front of me lost her light and I hit the brakes jsut hard enough to bring 'em all down behind me... I didn't go down at all, of course, 'cause it's the one in back who bumps wheels who goes down!

[Fredwina]

I think SK has jinxed me!
Today I was in 25mph paceline, crossed wheels, and have pretty new blue sling for my left arm (fractured Humerus)
My previous worst fall (which resulted in a Ambulance ride). Descend at 30 - hit a patch of gravel - slid out. Problem here was I wear clip-on over prescription glasses and the cut me to where I was bleeding bad enough that I could not see out of one eye. Had about 10 stitches (Knee got banged up pretty bad), Broke a finger, and destroyed a helmet.
I've never gone over the bars, and I used to do a lot of mountain biking. I remember think today That maybe should have gone OTB (The tandem couple I was with Can drop pro women(I.e. Amber Nieben) with ease. we had been going 20, but had attracted a few wheel suckers, and I think Tom and Sue upped the pace to shake them

[Jenerator]

With a sample set of only 4 road crashes (that I remember) I voted for every which way...thought I could have gone with variations on slow & high speed slides...

I'm not sure of the first, it may have been over the bars, or it may have been a high-speed slide. I was 5 or 6 at the time, the hill was steep, there was gravel, I hit the coaster brakes hard before trying to take the corner at the bottom. I got a bunch of stiches in my head and a scolding from a neighbor for damaging the curb with my head. (before the new scolding starts, it was the reckless 60's...I don't think they had bike helmets for kids then)

The second and third were variations of the slide, one from my rack coming un-bolted and getting jammed in my spokes, the second cornering on ice.

The 4th was the obligatory slow speed tip when getting used to clipless pedals.

[deedolce]

Yah, hard to count those silly tip over falls, being clipped in. How many have I had?? 4 or 5? And many close calls where a desperate yank of the foot has saved me.

My one fall in motion was my own newbie fault for trying to get as close to the edge as possible instead of asserting my presence on the road, and letting this sedan 'think' it could squeeze it, me, and the giant tomato truck coming the other way with no bike lane on a narrow country road. My tire fell off the edge of the hardstuff and into the soft gravel, and I slid for a while, kissing asphalt. Road rash on my cheek (hey! It erased some wrinkles!) and messed up my hand. I limped the 5 miles back home, shaking. Got a cell phone that week!

[massbikebabe]

Sadie;

Before my stroke I did an awesome fall to the right, rolled onto my back and got my bike over me so it would not get scratched. My son thought it was the best fall he ever saw. Then there was the fall backwards onto my arse trying to do a pop-wheelie fall. These days when I feel strong enough to get on my bike I fall off to the left all the time, (this bein my stroke side). I also drive my bike to the left and go looking for crashes, (not on purpose)
So I am an everywhich way faller, but mostly because life happens!!!!!


karen

[Tater]

Road bike wipe outs? Three. First was the obligatory unclip failure after switching to clipless pedals. Second was a slow-mo tip over in Yellowstone, eighteen miles into a metric. (I think I was looking for my friend, turned the handlebars one way and my body went the other.) Third was dog induced. Avoided one, but the down stroke of my left pedal caught the second one in the head and I went down. Now I have the same problem as Nanci, my knee still bothers me to kneel down on it and that incident happened at the beginning of May!
Mountain bike wipe outs? I lost count a long time ago!

[light_sabe_r]

The one crash... hit the gutter and Fell off right side... SLID on the road and still have a palm sized scar on my right calf... It's fading to look more like a birthmak

[cosc]

My fall happened when I made a sharp turn to the right to avoid a car that was skidding past a stop sign.The incident happened 14 months ago and my handlebar still has a imprint on my breast.

[KSH]

Fell over on my side... on a very slick muddy road. Once the brakes were applied the bike just slipped out from under me.

The damage to myself and my bike were minimal... and I was very lucky.

[DebW]

No clipless tip-overs. One over-the-bars accident in May 2005 that broke my collarbone. I'm assuming it was over-the-bars because I came to 6 feet from the road with a bumped head, a broken collarbone, and dirt ground into my jersey on the back of my shoulder. It was my own d##m fault too - wasn't watching the road and (I presume) hit the curb.

The only other accidents which I'm not counting because they were decades ago were (1) a toe clip and cleat tipover back in the old days when the cleat was nailed to your shoe and you had to loosen the strap by hand to get out, and (2) getting hit by a slow-moving car on a 3-speed (minor damage to me, bent the bike).

[PinkBike]

i voted! no slo-mo falls from the clipless pedals, but went down hard approaching a street light, my front wheel went into the groove between asphalt and sidewalk - as it will do!! - lotsa road rash but nothing major. i've watched my DH fall from the same thing and once from riding thru a dark parking lot hitting a median he never saw. my old bike commuter buddy also did the front-wheel-in-a-road-groove thing, he went over the bars. never anything serious.

[rheidis73]

Just wondering about falls on the road only and not in a race - just recreational or training rides.

Would you describe them as newbie-type falls or $hit happens kind of falls?

Yep, mine was riding clipless the first time. I totally forgot that I was clipped in and feel over like a ton of rock. The second time it happened, I was in the road (no cars luckily) and I hurried to get off my butt and pretend nothing happened! I had the biggest bruise on my hip for days...but of course, that was at a slow speed...

[Lifesgreat]

As a child, my most memorable fall involved trying to use a jump rope to steer my bike.

As an adult, ALL my falls involved uncooperative clipless pedals.

[East Hill]

All right SadieKate, you have brought me out into the open with the call to slackers!

My first, and so far only, significant fall occurred when I was still foolish enough to think that riding on the sidewalk was safer than riding in the road. I hit a large bump in the concrete, but due to my slow speed (I was on a beach cruiser) did not perform an endo, just fell off sideways. Still managed to get my left knee quite bloody, and the scars remain to this day--almost ten years later.

East Hill

[newfsmith]

Falls that have done me damage:
1) First spring morning ride without studded tires, I rode through spring run-off on my way to work in the morning & found the skim of ice under the water. My wheels went left, bike & I went right & landed on my right shoulder, with my feet still clipped in. Slight AC separation, bike fine.
2) New Symmetry set up with flat bars. Took it out for it's very first ride and couldn't unclip, landed on my left elbow. 3 weeks later, when I still couldn't extend my elbow I had rads & learned I had cracked the head of my radius. A few months later I developed a "frozen" left shoulder, probably secondary to the fracture.
3) New Felt with first drop bars I had ridden in 15 years. I was approaching a line of traffic stopped for a red-light, went for the top of the bars to brake out of habit, and came up with 2 fist-fuls of nothing. Panic stop with no control & fell to right. I was wearing tights, which didn't tear, but sure tore me on my right knee, leaving a dark tatoo.
4) Casual ride with my husband while on vacation, looked back to find him, looked forward to see a rock, slow swerve and fall to left, landing on left knee. I didn't even skin my knee. Got up & rode back to camp with DH, then went out & did a couple hill repeats. The next morning my knee was so swollen I had trouble getting out of the sleeping bag. Wound up cutting vacation short, spent a week with my knee in an immobilizer, and took 3 weeks to be able to commute both ways again.
5) Nearing the Provincetown finish of the PMC this year I was turning left for the Family Finish when the rider in front of me realized he needed to go the other way to get to the Inn & made a U-turn in front of me. I swerved to avoid him, but ran out of road and hit the deep sand. Partial tear of ligaments in my right thumb, still wearing Spica splint. Also did something dramatic to my front brakes, the quick release won't lock. I had to do some cable adjustment to get enough braking ability to be able to finish the ride. Bike is in the LBS for post crash check and repair.

So, it is quite clear that my road skills are not great, I tend to ride faster than I should, I'm easily distracted, and I don't plan bail-outs enough. I would like to go to a Ride NoHo clinic to improve on that, but in the meantime I guess I have to say, "ride with me at your own risk."