My first fall

[xeney]

In my experience it does not have to be a perfect 90-degree angle, so I wouldn't stress yourself into a railroad tracks phobia or anything. (I say that because that is the sort of thing I would do with that information, get so paranoid about hitting at exactly 90 degrees that I became terrified of crossing tracks at all.) You don't want to cross at less than a 45-degree angle or the thing you just described will happen, but you have a fair bit of fudging room between 90 and 45 degrees.

It happened to me once, on light rail tracks. I didn't fall or fly over the handlebars, and in fact I just thought I had a flat. It was easy to get the bike out, but it was really embarrassing.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well, after reading about it, I personally would never go over RRtracks at a 45 degree angle, especially when wet. I don't think one needs to obsess about calibrating an exact 90 degrees, but way better 85 than 50!
I guess the faster you are going the more likely you will be thrown when your wheel gets caught and you come to a dead halt. I like to take the safer alternative myself.

[massbikebabe]

Falls do not count in my house until you have:

1. Scraped the Sh!t out of some part of your body

2. Had an audience

3. Perserved the integrity of your bike while falling

4. Were able to laugh about yourself

5. Got right back on and rode that bike

karen
glad you are o.k. and able to tell us about your fall

[CorsairMac]

just as a "foot" note:

I was setting up a bike I'm selling ( me? selling a bike?) and I put the platform pedals back on for him. When I test rode the bike, as I was coming to a stop I realized I was twisting my sneakered (or trainered for the UK ladies) foot off the platform pedal. I guess my feet have muscle memory now! lol

[Cassandra_Cain]

just as a "foot" note:

I was setting up a bike I'm selling ( me? selling a bike?) and I put the platform pedals back on for him. When I test rode the bike, as I was coming to a stop I realized I was twisting my sneakered (or trainered for the UK ladies) foot off the platform pedal. I guess my feet have muscle memory now! lol

LOL - damn, wish I would have been at the stoplight next to you to see this. I'm sure more than a few people snickered. Better that than falling though

[leveerider]

Today was my first fall (and this is also my first posting on this forum). I was riding in a pace line at around 20mph. My front tire hit the back tire of the bike in front, and I went down hard on the asphalt. I've got road rash to the entire left side of my body, and banged up my knee a little. Funny, I never even thought about whether or not I would un-clip in a fall until I read the previous postings on this thread. At some point during the fall, I came un-clipped, so that wasn't a problem. I did some research on bike sites about what to use on road rash to promote healing without scarring. Found a great product -- Johnson & Johnson Advanced Healing Adhesive Pads. Everyone should stock up before their next fall.

[Fledgling]

I was also relieved when I finally had my first road bike fall. I was out on a two lane, gravel shoulder country road this past Monday since if you want to ride hills in Kansas, you usually have to go looking for them. I pulled off the road to get a drink from my canteen, slid off of my saddle and put my unclipped right foot down, and just tipped right over to the left. No points for a crowd, though. Believe me, I checked.
Scuffed my handlebar a bit, but no other damage than scraped palms, a butt-bruise, and an interesting looking set of chainwheel slices on the outside of my right ankle. No worries, though; ride went on to be magnificent!

It's nice reading about similar situations.
Safe and Happy Riding!