Road riding falls

[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."

[GLC1968]

I almost replied that I'd never fallen when I remembered my two stupid falls while reading everyone else's responses. They are so embarassing, that I think I blocked them out.

They were both during the MS Bike Tour ride last fall.

The first happened at the top of this HUGE local hill. I felt really strong, so I virtually flew up the hill and passed tons of people. I get to the top, all proud of myself, and when my husband catches up and tries to tell me that I'm turning the wrong way. I felt the need to point out which arrows I was following. As I went to point out the correct arrow, I drove right off the road onto the gravel shoulder and completely skidded out. Of course, by this time, all the people I'd passed on the hill were at the top just in time to see me do it. Other than a couple of scratches to my bike, I was fine.

The other time, was AFTER the ride was over. I was riding down this cement path to the parking lot where our car was (and there were tons of people milling around) when my wheel slipped into the opening between the cement blocks and just stopped moving. There was nothing I could do as I didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. I just fell over sideways onto a decorative lamp (and crushed it!). About 10 people rushed over to help me and I felt like such an idiot! Who bikes 115 miles in a weekend and falls when it's over? Duh.