I'm stupid and don't know how to ride a bike

[cycle_chic]

Was headed to a group ride. Got to the parking lot where there were lots of cars. A driver was about to turn in front of me then stops and waves for me to go. I accelerate too quickly and catch a curb, go down on my left arm.

Ended up snapping off a ligament (and some bone) in my arm.

Please share your stupid bike accidents that were totally your fault so that I can feel better about my life and laugh instead of feeling depressed.

[kinofaucet]

I usually blow by this stop sign in my neighborhood but one day there was a cop posted there and I slammed on the brakes and tipped over tearing up my brand new rapha gloves.

[charliedid]

That appears to be your right arm...

[cycle_chic]

That appears to be your right arm...

PhotoBooth on my Mac acts like a mirror. Promise it's my left though. :)

Nice catch.

[gone]

Riding a route I do all the time with a downhill into a hard right turn. Thought "let's see how fast I can take this turn". Hit it about 15 MPH faster than it could be taken and forgot there were some BIG bumps right where you'd have the bike leaned over the most. Bike went straight sideways and my HEAD was the first thing to hit the ground (think about how that's possible). Slid across the road on my right knee. Came to a stop still clipped in and gripping the bars it happened so fast. Broken rib, collapsed lung, lots of road rash and 2 days in the hospital to reinflate the lung.

All just for the fun of it.

Hope you heal quickly.

[chismog]

Well, there was the time I wrecked at the most notorious spot in Santa Barbara, "The Romero Canyon Corner of Death". Sure, it's a dangerous spot with an off-camber turn over a polished concrete water crossing at the bottom of a twisty descent. I know this, that's why I always remind my riding partners of the danger at this location.

"Be careful- this is silly dangerous, folks." I must have seemed pretty stupid when I was lying on the road 2 mins later after overcooking it. :rolleyes:

It happens, Chic. Sorry to read about your mishap and hope you heal up fast!

[Louis]

I usually blow by this stop sign in my neighborhood but one day there was a cop posted there and I slammed on the brakes and tipped over tearing up my brand new rapha gloves.

I hope you didn't expect much sympathy from me. :p

[cmg]

i had replaced the brake pads and on the first group with the new pads i crunched down on the rears only to discover that i had put the pad holders in reverse, the holder's opening facing the direction of wheel travel. the right pad comes flying out, can't stop, plow into the rear cassette of the rider in front of me, blow out front tire, go down. Then as i'm changing the tube and bleeding i discover that i only brought one tube with me. this was at mile 2 of a planned 60 mile saturday group ride. it was a long day for me. no rear brakes, didn't find the pad.

[torquer]

Does hitting an inside pedal in a criterium corner count?
Worst (well, stupidest) part was, I was following a wheel in anticipation of a prime sprint for a case of beer. What kind of beer? Bud Light of some such swill (and I wasn't even a regular beer drinker in those days, but prolly kept to the imported stuff when I did imbibe.) Dum, dum, dum!

[dustyrider]

I was riding on the sidewalk, it was a very busy 4 lane road, so I chanced it. There were a few driveway cut outs right in a row that made a seemingly perfect pump track of sorts. Of course, being of the slightly less smart and daring type, I thought I'd manual my way through them.

As I hit the second one the bike came back just a little bit too much and, BAM down I go. I landed really hard on my tail bone and managed to put my right hand out, too. A passerby honked their horn and I looked up through tear filled eyes, trying to breath, only to see them pointing and laughing at me. I curled up in someone's lawn and kinda laughed it off too. Since after all, I was being a bit of a bonehead. Needless to say I walked the bike back to the house.

I was just starting a new job the next day, and managed to work without the use of my right arm well enough so, being one of "the uninsured" I just toughed it out. About 4 days later as I was lifting something above my head, and using my right arm very gingerly, I noticed hundreds of little, tiny pin prick, bruises all around the inside of my elbow.
Never figured out what exactly I did to that elbow by landing palm first on my hand, but I had broken a piece off the radial head in the other elbow the year before, which hurt way more(feel off the bike again). At least now my elbows match in their range of motion before pain!

Pride has never taken me longer to heal then my body, only sometimes it hurts more.

[charliedid]

PhotoBooth on my Mac acts like a mirror. Promise it's my left though. :)

Nice catch.

:)

[vqdriver]

back in college, when clipless pedals were the new thing i was coming up on a line of cars at an intersection and found a spot to wait in line behind a car. couldn't unclip and tipped over. my shoulders bounced off the trunk of the car in front of me as the bike started to meander before i fully tipped over and hit my head on the curb. that was the first time i broke a helmet. it was a specialized sub 6 so that should date me pretty well.

i was fine other than the long line of cars watching this fiasco.

[onsight512]

I had just begun using clipless pedals (this is about a year ago) and was approaching an intersection as the light turned red. I'm planning on turning right and am just creeping towards the corner when folks step off the curb and begin crossing the street in front of me. The first guy hesitates as if to let me by, I slow even further at the same time, he assumes I'm letting him go, which I sort of was, and before I can accelerate, he continues across in front of me. I can't unclip fast enough and fall right over.

Good luck with your arm.

[tannhauser]

It's ok, you are a girl. <--this is a joke.

Bah, it happens. Too many incidents to list.

[FlashUNC]

Two months back my front wheel washed out as I went over some train tracks on a solo training ride. Cracked my humerus at the elbow joint, leaving about 7 pieces floating in there that needed to be put back together to rebuild the joint. Just got back on the bike last weekend, and progress with physical therapy is slow.

Best of luck in the recovery. At least you don't have this in your arm...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/6961450368_15dd9ce3b3_b.jpg

[eippo1]

Hmm, let's see many dumb things.

I once forgot to tighten the quick release on my front brake before a ride and realized it on a descent just before a nice right hand bend. Didn't go down, but my buddies were talking about how awesome I was for leaning my bike over so far and taking the turn so fast as I casually reached down and tightened the release. :rolleyes:

I also lost my saddle on a ride. I was riding with the same guys, heard a clink..thump followed by massive amounts of laughter and a hand at my back with a warning to not sit back down. Never really lived that one down.

More recently, though, I heard that there was a very steep hill (30%+) in the Boston area that I had not heard of (Wollcott road in Woburn), so I decided I'd just hit it on a training ride. I went straight up w/ an 11-23, made it most of the way before realizing that it was too steep to keep momentum in the 23. Got a foot out, but it didn't hold, so I went down and slid about 15 feet back down the hill.

[CaliFly]

Once stood up on left turn at a busy signal when the light turned green. Totally missed my pedal and slammed my crown jewels on the top tube...midway through the intersection. Doubled-over in pain and embarassment, then slowly walked my bike out of the way of oncoming traffic.

TADA!

[weiwentg]

2006 cyclocross race. coming back from an injury. after jumping a barrier and running to remount, I tripped over my own foot. yes, my own foot. I think speedychix was there, actually.

[William]

Was headed to a group ride. Got to the parking lot where there were lots of cars. A driver was about to turn in front of me then stops and waves for me to go. I accelerate too quickly and catch a curb, go down on my left arm.

Ended up snapping off a ligament (and some bone) in my arm.

Please share your stupid bike accidents that were totally your fault so that I can feel better about my life and laugh instead of feeling depressed.

That sucks! Hope you heal up fast.

With that being said, you aren't the only dope on a bike doing stupid. Here's two, one bike related one not. Be warned, it is the epitome of stupid...:)

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=56854&highlight=wheelie

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=58755&highlight=stupid

Then there was the time I was competing at the National Time Trials in Seattle....you know getting ready to go, one foot clipped in, the other on the ground sitting on the top tube. Yes, nothing says "cool" like when you loose your balance, can't unclip, and fall on your side in front of hundreds of people.

Or when I first went to clipless pedals...out riding with the team when we hit a light on our way out of town. We're all doing tracks stands waiting for the light when I start to loose my balance.....can't unclip,....and take down for or five of my team mates domino style. It was a while before anyone would stay next to me at a stop again. :)





William

[gone]

Not an accident (or at least it didn't involve me) but I pulled up at a coffee shop. I stopped at a curb just ahead of a sidewalk entrance to the shop and unclipped both feet. I stood for a moment doing something (fiddling with my bike computer, I think) and then went to swing my left leg over the back wheel to get off the bike. I didn't notice a (rather hot) girl walking toward the coffee shop and kicked her full in the chest, knocking her down. Naturally, I felt like a total a$$ for not looking and apologized profusely. She was actually fairly gracious about it.

[Karin Kirk]

Not an accident (or at least it didn't involve me) but I pulled up at a coffee shop. I stopped at a curb just ahead of a sidewalk entrance to the shop and unclipped both feet. I stood for a moment doing something (fiddling with my bike computer, I think) and then went to swing my left leg over the back wheel to get off the bike. I didn't notice a (rather hot) girl walking toward the coffee shop and kicked her full in the chest, knocking her down. Naturally, I felt like a total a$$ for not looking and apologized profusely. She was actually fairly gracious about it.

:beer: That's hilarious! Thanks for sharing.

Cycle Chic, heal fast, that sucks. I find that intersections and parking lots are by far the most crash-prone parts of group rides. I hope you feel better soon.

[monkeypants]

Approaching a red light I decided, since the road was clear, to circle back and just wait out the lights instead of stopping, unclipping, etc. While making said circle, I toppled over in the middle of the lane, still fully clipped in. I remember lying there on my side for a sec, straddling the bike, and wondering how that just happened.

[MattTuck]

Well, two stupid things come to mind. One, after coming down a pretty steep hill that ended at a red light, I had the idea of doing a u turn before the light, and going back up the hill for a repeat. My wheels washed out and I slid a good ways down the hill on wet pavement. ooops, nothing but road rash.

Another time, I was barreling down a big hill (maybe 500 feet of vertical) over curvy roads that I'd never ridden before. Over cooked a turn, hit the guardrail, flipped ass over tea kettle onto a small flat patch of earth, about 2 feet from a telephone pole. .... hitting my head on the ground first, breaking my helmet. If I had been 5 feet up the road, or down the road, I'd be in the woods, 5-10 feet below the road. The only reason it was a flat area was because of that miraculous telephone pole.

Went to the hospital, bleeding, in a neck brace, with my tattered shorts.... which they cut off me... when I had to go into the x-ray room, they gave me a little lead shield thing to hold over my privates. It was... awesome.

Oh, the best part was, when they discharged me, and I didn't have any pants to wear... they ended up giving me some (what seemed to be women's pants or pants for VERY skinny people, and they would barely tie in the front, and when they did tie, they made the fly pucker, revealing ummmmm more than people wnated to see. So they gave me a gown to wear reverse style also...

I still haven't gone back to that descent, though I'd like to.

[Ahneida Ride]

Hey ... you think I know what I am doing?

[Ti Designs]

There's a very, very long list of stupid things I've done, here are some of the highlights:

While trying to duck down and get under a gate I got my shorts caught and torn off me.

I brought two of the wrong things to races many times. Two left shoes, two left pedals, two front wheels...

I showed up a week early to an event, and waited around for hours.

I once got so lost on a ride that when I stopped to ask for directions the farmer invited me in to stay the night.

I tried riding down a set of stairs on a fixed gear while drunk.

On a full moon s'mores ride I managed to set fire to one of my panniers.

I hit a turkey, a goat and a dear, all in the same month.

I farted loudly on the podium after a race.

[Matt-H]

There's a very, very long list of stupid things I've done, here are some of the highlights:

While trying to duck down and get under a gate I got my shorts caught and torn off me.

I brought two of the wrong things to races many times. Two left shoes, two left pedals, two front wheels...

I showed up a week early to an event, and waited around for hours.

I once got so lost on a ride that when I stopped to ask for directions the farmer invited me in to stay the night.

I tried riding down a set of stairs on a fixed gear while drunk.

On a full moon s'mores ride I managed to set fire to one of my panniers.

I hit a turkey, a goat and a dear, all in the same month.

I farted loudly on the podium after a race.


Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Thanks, Ti, that is certainly a great list.

Most recently for me, I was on my mountain bike riding through my neighborhood to get to the local trails. I hopped up and rode the curb, practicing for the log rides that I rarely have the guts to ride. I hung on for about 50 feet and was going pretty fast, when all of a sudden my concentration was broken when I thought how awesome I was for hanging on for so long :rolleyes: . I must have been fighting to stay on and rather than hop back into the street like normal, scrubbed the front wheel into the curb and went flying into a tree. Shoulder bleeding and the wind knocked out of me, I crawled back onto the bike, never looking around to see if anyone was watching. Later, when I returned home, I was reminded how old I am as I retold the story...

Heal up fast!

[nighthawk]

I've had a bunch of accidents... hit by cars (once slid across someones hood on my stomach and landed like I was doing pushups in the road), run over by a Providence city bus one time (my bike's rear triangle crumpled beneath its rear wheel), but somehow I always manage to come out unscathed. No bone brakes, atleast.

Hope your wing heals fast! Now's a good time to read "The Rider" by Tim Krabbe if you haven't already.

Cheers!

[spiderman]

Was headed to a group ride. Got to the parking lot where there were lots of cars. A driver was about to turn in front of me then stops and waves for me to go. I accelerate too quickly and catch a curb, go down on my left arm.

Ended up snapping off a ligament (and some bone) in my arm.

Please share your stupid bike accidents that were totally your fault so that I can feel better about my life and laugh instead of feeling depressed.

you should probably be in a cast above the elbow, incuding the wrist!

i separated my shoulder leading a group ride over some nasty railroad tracks
after warning the entire group that they were coming up and to be very, very careful!

[kinofaucet]

I hope you didn't expect much sympathy from me. :p

Fair enough but hey, at least I ride with a helmet with no headphones on ;)

[67-59]

I can't compete with most of you, but here are two that come to mind:

1. A common theme - the first time in clipless pedals thing. Riding on the shoulder of a pretty busy highway, coming up to a left turn but couldn't get into the lane to turn, so I had to stop. Didn't unclip quickly enough, and went straight over sideways with lots of drivers in full view.

2. Again on the shoulder, coming down a hill at about 25-30 mph, and getting ready to turn left. Signaled, made sure traffic was clear...and didn't notice the HUGE crack between the shoulder and the road. Went down before I knew what was happening, skidded along on my left side for quite a ways, but fortunately nothing but some bad road rash. Also had some cosmetic scrapes on my left pedal and brifter...but the worst part was the left shoulder of a nearly-new Assos jersey getting totally shredded. Glad I was wearing cheap shorts and gloves that day....

cycle chic -- hope you heal quickly....

[craptacular]

Not an accident (or at least it didn't involve me) but I pulled up at a coffee shop. I stopped at a curb just ahead of a sidewalk entrance to the shop and unclipped both feet. I stood for a moment doing something (fiddling with my bike computer, I think) and then went to swing my left leg over the back wheel to get off the bike. I didn't notice a (rather hot) girl walking toward the coffee shop and kicked her full in the chest, knocking her down. Naturally, I felt like a total a$$ for not looking and apologized profusely. She was actually fairly gracious about it.

That one actually made me laugh out loud. I could definitely see myself doing this.

[Vientomas]

Riding single track alone. Long fast downhill. A wild turkey came running up from the low side, got on the trail right in front of me and was running just ahead of me. First wild turkey I had ever seen. I was watching it instead of the trail and hit a large rock with my front wheel. Over the bars superman style down the low side. Broken wrist. Walked out and the owner of the first house I came across gave me a ride to the hospital. I love eating turkey, bastards!

[moose8]

Because i was so slow on the uphills, and scared of wiping out on some of the downhills, I thought I could make up time on the flat section of dirt road along the river that is part of the d2r2 100k course. I missed a very slight curve in the road, hit a soft shoulder and flew headfirst into the dirt/moss slope (thankfully it wasn't on the river side of the road, but basically into a hill). Once I realized I was more or less ok, I rapidly picked myself up and got out of the way because I was so embarrassed I didn't want anyone to see me. Later in the day a very nice woman expressed concern as to why my shoulder was bleeding through my shirt and why there was dirt in my helmet. It was a truly stupid and totally preventable fall.

[slowgoing]

Nothing on a bike but this happened skiing.

Wiped out on a less frequented run, landed on my back with my skis flat under me, my knees pointing upwards, with my poles trapped under my skis. I was trapped. Couldn’t roll left or right because the trapped poles were strapped to my wrists. Had to call out until ski patrol happened by, which was quite a while later.

[Joel]

College years. Thru campus. Being cool. Showing off. Going fast. Into a turn. Overcooked it. Bike on one corner. Left shoe on another corner. Right shoe on the third corner. Me in the middle of the street. Broken wrist. Laughing co-eds. Was not a good day...

[Liv2RideHard]

Did you do this on campus? I had more than a few mishaps on campus when I was up there in school. Too many to list actually most involving tasty adult beverages. I was just up in G'ville a few weeks ago for the TdG. Nasty day it was. Lots of rain, bombing across campus linking up all the singletarck across town. Totally was waiting to go down but luckily never did.

Heal fast. Cheers.

[tuxbailey]

The one bad one that is etched in my memory is from my teenage years when I was inside a park and I was riding down a hill (off road.) I went down pretty fast but forgot that at the bottom of the hill there was a 3 feet drop to a concrete pathway.

I remember seeing stars and I was fortunate that I only lost a layer of skin on my elbow. And this was before helmet wearing days.

[cycle_chic]

Did you do this on campus? I had more than a few mishaps on campus when I was up there in school. Too many to list actually most involving tasty adult beverages.


Nope, I was in Haile going to the start of a group ride. Totally sober, too.:rolleyes:

[biker72]

Almost ten years ago I was in a pacline and my front wheel overlapped the rear wheel of the guy in front of me. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but he swerved a little to miss a pot hole so I went down.

I fractured the carpel bone in my right hand and my right wrist started swelling quite a bit. Later I wondered why my ribs felt so sore. A couple of guys I was riding with confessed to running over me because everything happened too quickly to avoid hitting me.

Went to the emergency room and had a cast put on my right hand/arm. It was a little challenging but I rode the next day. I couldn't bend my wrist.

To this day I don't remember them running over me.

[jchasse]

A couple of weeks ago, I was riding some singletrack with a group of friends in Sedona… going uphill…

I had just cleaned a couple of fairly tough (for me) technical sections of the climb, the last of which caused me to pull my left cleat out of the pedal. I was still climbing, trying to catch my breath and made a conscious effort to weight my foot and clip back in, when I hit some little…something. My front wheel immediately turned 90 degrees and I went down so fast I didn’t know what happened. Then I heard a really loud BANG.

One end of my bars landed on a big flat rock. The other end, pointing straight up, broke off my 2 front teeth and loosened a 3rd. The bang was some combo of the teeth breaking and a bone fracturing in my upper jaw. Big bummer! Now I'm in the midst of a couple of root canals and 3 crowns…

If I kept my mouth closed you couldn't see a scratch on me anywhere. My ODI bar end plug has a perfect dental imprint in it.

[rwsaunders]

Plenty of black ice "slides for life" but I've been fortunate enough not to end up in a sling or a cast. Get well soon for sure.

[palincss]

Well, there was the time I wrecked at the most notorious spot in Santa Barbara, "The Romero Canyon Corner of Death". Sure, it's a dangerous spot with an off-camber turn over a polished concrete water crossing at the bottom of a twisty descent. I know this, that's why I always remind my riding partners of the danger at this location.


Is this the place where somebody on a large group ride got killed in the past year or so?

[rnhood]

When I decided to fit myself on the bike a few years back, I went to a shopping center parking lot and rode by the large plate glass windows along the store fronts while I looked at my position in the window reflection.....and promptly slammed head on into a curb and went over the handlebars. Fortunately it was early in the morning and no one saw me. I had some bruises and a sprain, and a broken wheel, handlebars and brifters. I had to walk (limp) home and come back in the car to pick up the bike. No broken bones but it took a while before I healed up. Very embarrassing. Cost a few hundred dollars to fix the bike. It was stupid.

[Fixed]

i hope you mend and feel better fast
cheers

[jet sanchez]

I was riding two bikes at once down a hill, hit a bump, lost control and hit the pavement. It must have been quite spectacular, I wish I could have seen it.

[William]

Well, there was the time I was playing the drum at Oktoberfest....never mind,I don't want to talk about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b_BEz_7-kY&feature=related




:)

William

[tsarpepe]

I was riding in Brooklyn one day, on a busy avenue (7th), with not too much speed (~16mph), when the bike came suddenly to a full stop, while my body kept going through the air, then splat on the asphalt. No car ran me over, thank God, but the pain was there, all over my face. When I lifted the said face, I saw my bike still standing on the street, UPRIGHT betwixt the traffic! I had hit one of the drainage covers, the front wheel got stuck between the grates, and this whole spectacle was observed by the usual afternoon crowd on 7th ave. It happened right in front of the hospital, so a concerned doctor on a smoke break approached me immediately to ask me if I needed help. My face whispered yes, but my humbled ego said loudly "No!"

[Elefantino]

I once was chatting during a group ride, didn't see a tree branch, went endo, broke my neck and was paralyzed.

I got better.

What really pissed me off was that the EMT cut off my favorite jersey.

[Mike748]

You guys are making me feel better about my MTB "off" yesterday. Down a steep little incline with a center chute and a raised side berm. I started down the chute and then changed my mind and steered up onto the berm. Unfortunately the rear wheel didn't follow and the bike ended up cross-ways to the "fall line". Fortunately got off with a very sore wrist and a few bruises. Finished my ride, albeit very cautiously.

[stien]

I was riding two bikes at once down a hill, hit a bump, lost control and hit the pavement. It must have been quite spectacular, I wish I could have seen it.

I ride two bikes often, keep both hands on the brakes down hills!

Was headed to a group ride. Got to the parking lot where there were lots of cars. A driver was about to turn in front of me then stops and waves for me to go. I accelerate too quickly and catch a curb, go down on my left arm.

Ended up snapping off a ligament (and some bone) in my arm.

Please share your stupid bike accidents that were totally your fault so that I can feel better about my life and laugh instead of feeling depressed.

Sorry to hear that, heal fast.

I busted my olcranon process (the tip of my elbow) OFF in an accident in which I was going around a rotary in NJ with my brother next to me. I thought we were going right, he thought we were going left and we went right together. My brother almost broke his RD hanger and I bent my front wheel up pretty well. Without the use of my left tricep (the bit of bone that broke off was one of its connecting points on my arm) I couldn't use my left brake anyway, but I had to ride 10-12 miles back over the George Washington Bridge from NJ into NYC.


Had pins and wires in my arm for a while and PT got nowhere (couldn't twist my arm at all and it was killing me even though it was healed) so the doc re X-rayed to find that the pins were interfering with my elbow joint. Second surgery to get the pins and wires out 6 weeks after getting them in. Fun fun. Hope you don't need that.

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu321/cleverbastid/IMAG0069.jpg
http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu321/cleverbastid/IMAG0083.jpg

I built a lot of bikes during the healing time with one arm. I'm still getting back into riding after so long off the bike. Might not train/race seriously again.

[giverdada]

i'm a teacher.

leaving school one day for the commute home, i pull up to a stop sign, a good 19 years into my career of clipless pedals. of course, i hit a small bump, lose my momentum, go down. i have a habit of turning and doing a slow push-up to avoid a full womp.

from the car next to me: "sir! SIR! are you okay???"

me: "yep. thanks."

ugghhhh.

mountain biking takes the cake though - i was cranking up a steep kicker hill, slipped out the rear wheel on a dust-covered root, and fell up the hill with my front wheel rolling back down the hill underneath me. right over the bars. beautiful and utterly unwitnessed.

hope you heal quickly.

[CNY rider]

Cycling vacation in northern Vermont.
Did a ride of about 80 miles from Waterbury.
Last part of the ride is climbing
Smugglers Notch (big long climb) then descending into Waterbury. Home of the Ben and Jerry's factory.
It was really effin hot out.
All I could think about during the climb up the Notch was how good that ice cream was going to taste.
Finally made it there. Brain and body completely fried.
Turn in the driveway. Small uphill to a worker directing parking traffic.
So fried I forget to unclip.
Slow-mo roll onto my side, then over like a turtle on my back with the bike still attached, up over me.
At least 100 zillion tourists all around me in the driveway, the parking lots, the lawn, just gaping and then laughing their asses off.
Totally humiliating.
But boy was that ice cream good.:)

[martinrjensen]

Well actually not having a rear brake should not be too big a thing anyways as all your braking really comes off your front wheel, and you don't carry a patch kit with half a dozen patches in it? I do carry a spare tube but always use my patch kit first unless it's raining outi had replaced the brake pads and on the first group with the new pads i crunched down on the rears only to discover that i had put the pad holders in reverse, the holder's opening facing the direction of wheel travel. the right pad comes flying out, can't stop, plow into the rear cassette of the rider in front of me, blow out front tire, go down. Then as i'm changing the tube and bleeding i discover that i only brought one tube with me. this was at mile 2 of a planned 60 mile saturday group ride. it was a long day for me. no rear brakes, didn't find the pad.

[chuckroast]

Back in the '80's, I was two miles from home one day when I noticed the front wheel QR lever was loose.

So I reached down to close it, while in motion.

It almost worked.

I still have a scar on my left hand from where it got tangled in the spokes.

Oh yeah, and I went over the bars and broke a helmet and dislocated my shoulder yada yada.

[wc1934]

Another failure to unclip story - new to riding - thought I was so cool with my new bike, kit etc - was riding along on a busy main street - cars passing me - then a major slow down - traffic was being stopped by a cop who was in the cross walk - church services just ended and he stopped traffic to allow the parishioners to cross - of course I could not unclip, but could not keep my balance (can't track stand) and just toppled over - old ladies came over to check on me etc - I left as quickly as possible - bruised ego and 2 broken ribs as I fell on my elbow.

[fiamme red]

After reading this thread, I've been considering selling my bicycles and taking up a safe sport, like bocce. ;)

[DavidR]

Riding single track alone. Long fast downhill. A wild turkey came running up from the low side, got on the trail right in front of me and was running just ahead of me. First wild turkey I had ever seen. I was watching it instead of the trail and hit a large rock with my front wheel. Over the bars superman style down the low side. Broken wrist. Walked out and the owner of the first house I came across gave me a ride to the hospital. I love eating turkey, bastards!

Been there and done that. Mine was watching the deer!

[parris]

Many years ago while on a small Sunday club ride in the middle of nowhere a little dog came out to jog beside us. I was paying attention to the dog and not the road that curved left. I made it to the bottom a a long sketchy hill only to get brought down by the only bush visible. I did some frame damage, a lot of ego damage, I provided better than a season's worth of humor to my fellow concerned riders, and the best part is the dog ran over wanting to play with his new friend!

I hope you get well soon.

[schwa86]

I recently was coming down a fairly sizeable hill that required me to make a hard left turn (midway down the hill) onto another access road. I'd only ridden the route once before, no problem, following a friend who knew it. This time, I was in the lead showing it to someone else and didn't slow much. As I turned, I realized that about 20 feet or so in there was one of those big metal yellow gates across the road. I hit the brakes hard, still managed to slam into the gate (just high enough so bike went underneath but rider did not). Biceps were bruised, but at least I bent the gate!

[Ti Designs]

When I decided to fit myself on the bike a few years back...

I forgot about the time I tried to fit my own cleats. I have my own set of R.A.D. pedals which tell you which way the cleat is pointing and which way your feet point, and I was trying to do the adjustment myself. The problem is the cleats can't be tight on the bottom of the shoe 'cause you have to be able to move them around. So, I got the angle set on one, took it out of the pedal, lifted my foot over the top tube and tried to tighten down the screws. Sitting on a bike seat with one foot crossed over the top tube while you're trying to torque down screws isn't as easy as it might sound. I lost my balance and wound up crashing down off the bike, putting a dent in my laundry machines.

[HenryA]

I did a pretty massive face plant on the 401 trail in Crested Butte last summer. For a few moments I was 19 again - but that didn't work out so well, because apparently my body forgot how to be 19. And gravity always wins. Chipped a bunch of teeth, busted my helmet, wrenched my neck, 2 slightly black eyes. Just enough stuff so I knew I'd had a good time.

Anyway, I think casts on chicks are hot.
Feel better now?

[bismo37]

Jeez, you've got more metal in that joint than a 1950s Buick! Yeeouch!



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/6961450368_15dd9ce3b3_b.jpg

[AgilisMerlin]

I get dumbest crash of the year award.

my prize 60to90 stitches in my mouth. gums,lip,bone, muscle. for some reason, my teeth were left in place.

and i do know how to ride a bicycle.

go figure :eek:

sometimes i jump over the line into stupid land'

[ahsere]

On the last few miles of a hilly century my brother and I were overtaken by a fast group, we were riding together with no intention of joining a group so we moved to the right and let them pass by. Turns out the group wasn´t so fast after all, so we ended up wheelsucking and hoping for them to accelerate and go away. On a little curvy descent, nothing really dangerous at all, I was riding on the right edge of the road (trying to stay out of the way for the remaining people to pass me) and I went off road stupidly, hit a little rock fence and ended up in somebody´s backyard, with a broken collarbone and, perhaps more importantly, a totaled Legend Ti and a permanently bruised ego.

[Bob Loblaw]

heal fast, CC. Here are two for your amusement.

1.
Heading towards a traffic light on my old beater cross bike, the light goes from green to yellow. I sprint like crazy. As I enter the intersection (two lanes each direction at all four points of the intersection), THE spoke breaks on the front wheel, and it folds like a potato chip. I sailed across the intersection tumbling to a stop right in front of a car as the light turns green. With one foot still strapped in, I scrambled to the center divider, dragging my bike by the pedal.

The car was full of a bunch of kids from my high school who already thought I was a dork for shaving my legs and talking about everything in kilometers and kilograms. I never lived it down.

2.
A few years later, I am in college. I like to consider myself an outlaw because I ride my single speed bike all over campus, flouting the rule that forbids it, and out-riding any bike cop who tries to chase me down, down staircases, through buildings. I am a badass, I think. This is obviously before I reached the point in life where realized I didn't really know anything and started actually learning.

On this day I am heading back to my apartment outside the campus, downhill, carrying some speed. There's a gorgeous girl walking towards me on the sidewalk outside my building. In an effort to dazzle her in my own dorktastic style, I perform a massive bunny hop up the curb onto the grass strip between the sidewalk and curb.

While in mid-air, I see a huge hole in my path, but it's too late to avoid it. The front wheel stops dead an instant after landing, launching me spectacularly into the air. The girl has to sidestep to avoid my body hurtling through space.

I find myself on my back looking up. The girl's head enters the circle of my field of vision. She is trying not to laugh as she asks if I am okay. "Just my ego, but it's mostly scar tissue at t his point anyway."

BL

[rounder]

Could not remember ever crashing before.

Last year i was out for a Sunday ride before an afternoon flight. I lost air but it semed like a slow leak, so i put in CO2 air and thought i could nurse the bike home (rather than just changing the flat). A while longer, i noticed that i had lost more air...so added more air with my second cartridge. I was going down a big hill and watched the tire peel off my rim...lost control and crashed. I was about 10 miles from home, bleeding, standing on the side of the road trying to call home with no reception. A husband and wife stopped, picked me up and drove me home (many thanks!!). I ended up going to the local clinic and they soaked my elbow and gave me antibiotics. I know i should have fixed the flat to avoid all that stuff, but was lucky and still caught the plane.