Could have broken my neck...

[Kahuna]

Check this out. Yesterday near the end of a blissful training ride, I'm heading home with about 4 miles to go. I'm on the Hana highway, screaming down a hill known as Maliko gulch going close to 40mph when suddenly there's a loud BANG which sends a shock through my arms. The impact briefly knocks the bars out of my hands but I immediately manage to regain control, the bike almost does an end-over-end with the back wheel landing slightly sideways. For some reason the good Lord was looking over me as I somehow mananged to stay upright and not get launched.

It felt like I had hit an enormous pot hole but I didn't see anything. I supposed I could have kept on riding but curious, I stopped and went back to see what the bloody hell I hit.

The images below show the object in question. A 2 inch square piece of steel was lying perpendicular across the shoulder of the road! Like a trap! After tossing the 20 pound object off to the side, I went back with my truck later that day to retrieve it, hence the photos.

How this thing wound up on the shoulder is anyone's guess, but bikes travel down that road all the time and it could have killed someone. I suppose it could have fallen off the back of a truck, but the thought of some miscreant deliberately placing it there did occur to me. Why didn't I see it? Because the trees alongside the road were casting perpendicular shadows and the bar looked just like another shadow.

My thumb is tweaked pretty bad but my bike seems fine. There's not even the slightest hop in the wheels. I'm going to disassemble the fork and visually inspect the steerer just to make sure but from what I can tell there's no damage. I also think the R3 I was riding somehow contributed to my staying upright. I just feel super lucky that I'm not in the intensive care unit right now hooked up to life support!

[David Kirk]

I did the same exact thing only it was a brick. Sucks hard.

Dave

[William]

You are one luck dude Special K. I'm glad you're ok.

I missed a good sized crack in the road the same way, tree shadows running accross the road, the same direction as the crack. :crap: Didn't see it.



William

[Sandy]

Great photos. I have no idea how you stayed upight at that speed with that obstacle, and with your hands coming off of the handlebars, no matter how briefly. Amazing to me that you didn't go down. You must be one excellent bike handler.

Much more importantly, I genuinely hope that your wife is improving with her health issues. I very often think about her.


Sandy

[chuckred]

Amazing how much abuse today's bikes can take and keep on going! Not even a pinch flat? Great job in riding it out!

Makes me think --- let's just say it was put there on purpose? How is that different than terrorism? A couple years ago, some idiot put tacks on the road before the start of the Triple By Pass. Caused lots of flats - with the potential to cause serious harm to citizens who were doing nothing more than enjoying riding their bikes on a public road.

If the definition of terrorism is : "... a term used to describe violence or other harmful acts committed (or threatened) against civilians", how is this different? You have someone trying to intentionally harm, or at the very least, scare citizens. Seems to me that if you were able to catch someone doing something like this on purpose, they should be treated as a terrorist! Why not?

Oh well, certainly a pipe dream, but no doubt the folks who would do something like this would never visualize themselves as being a terrorist...

[Ginger]

Glad you made it over that alive!

You're right to wonder if it was deliberately placed there. People do stupid things. I used to ride one tour where we were warned yearly about a certain section of lovely downhill that was consistantly strewn with tacks every year during the time of the tour.

Stupid people suck.

And I echo Sandy in my hopes that your wife is doing well.

Ginger

[Ozz]

OUCH! Glad you are OK...that looks nasty.

How are your rims? That looks like it would have given you some pinch flats while putting some serious dents in your wheels!

Take care.

[Elefantino]

Glad you're OK.

I broke my neck once in a losing tangle with a tree branch.

It's not fun.

[regularguy412]

-- happened to me, too. Except my piece of metal was a 6 ft piece of strap aluminum. It, too, was lying across the road in the late afternoon shadows from trees. We were pacelining and the guy in front didn't see it. I was 2nd in line. He ran over it without issue, but somehow it bounced after going under his back wheel and got wrapped around my front wheel. It stuck between the tire and my fork. Both aluminum fork blades broke just below the crown and I went over the bars at 22 mph. Broken left collarbone.

Stuff just happens. I'm glad you weren't injured and your bike wasn't damaged.

Mike in AR

[rwsaunders]

It looks like it paid off have decent equipment and quick reaction. Time to convince the other half that you need a new bike so that you can go even faster.

[gasman]

Wow- what a story-

I'm glad to hear your superior bike handling skills and good fortune kept you upright and out of harms' way. It's hard to believe someone would be so mean spirited as to place that on the road. Glad you're OK and hope your wife is also.

[mcteague]

Years ago, when I did a lot of mt. biking, I was riding down a narrow trail that was new to me. As I did not know the terrain I was going slower than usual and looked up just in time to see a wire tied between two trees right at face level. I dismantled the rig and wondered what kind of sick mind would do such a thing. This kind of trap was surely intentional.

Tim McTeague

[davids]

Something similar happened to me last summer. I was doing a 50 mile out-and-back, from my wife's summer camp (http://www.medomakcamp.com/) to Augusta, ME. I had just reached my turnaround spot, a rotary just east of the Kennebec River. I had slowed down and sat up, and was scanning the road for oncoming traffic so I could make a quick u-turn.

In a single moment, I hit something and flipped over the bars, landing on my left elbow and shoulder. It took me completely by surprise! I was pretty shaken up - I'd had no warning at all, and hit the pavement pretty hard. The culprit was a short length of 2x4. It stopped me dead. I was lucky in two ways - I wasn't going more that 10-12 mph, and there were no cars behind me. The bike came through fine, too - Just messed up the bartape!

After about 10 minutes, I felt sufficiently composed to get back on the bike and head towards camp. I took the first couple of miles pretty slowly, but got back up to speed before long. I pulled into the camp looking pretty nasty, but aside from the cuts & bruises I was fine.

Glad you're OK, Kahuna. Let's all be careful out there!

[Climb01742]

gary, glad you're ok. dappled light and shadows are a b!tch to ride in. hope your guardian angel keeps up the good work. :D

[soulspinner]

way to keep it upright. ya may have used up one of yer nine lives though... :p

[Kahuna]

Thanks everyone. I suppose years and years of full contact cycling experience (i.e. packfill in the cat 3 peloton) may have helped hone my bike handling skills, but racing doesn't always help. One time I hit a speed bump on a training ride that wasn't there before and wound up with a broken collarbone, 2 broken ribs, broken helmet w/ concussion, 14 stitches in my head, road rash all over the place, and a pretzeled wheel. I was going much slower but it was probably my worst crash!

Yesterdays steel bar thing was very scary and brought back memories of the speed bump incident. Whether I didbn't go down due to bike handling skills, divine intervention, or a little of both, I'm just very lucky and grateful. I didn't let it ruin my day either! :)

[Sandy]

Thanks everyone. I suppose years and years of full contact cycling experience (i.e. packfill in the cat 3 peloton) may have helped hone my bike handling skills, but racing doesn't always help. One time I hit a speed bump on a training ride that wasn't there before and wound up with a broken collarbone, 2 broken ribs, broken helmet w/ concussion, 14 stitches in my head, road rash all over the place, and a pretzeled wheel. I was going much slower but it was probably my worst crash!

Yesterdays steel bar thing was very scary and brought back memories of the speed bump incident. Whether I didbn't go down due to bike handling skills, divine intervention, or a little of both, I'm just very lucky and grateful. I didn't let it ruin my day either! :)

I have heard that accidents at higher speeds often cause less serious injury, as one tends to slide along the ground (more road rash, but that isn't so bad). At slower speeds the body takes more of the impact as I guess the impact is more than direct.


Sandy

[vaxn8r]

Kahuna, I wouldn't be so humble. 40mph hitting that bar...impressive! I'm so glad you're OK.

[Kevan]

or seems like shade in this case. Damn I hate that part of cycling... the strong contrasts of bright sun and deep shape on the road up ahead. Second guessing that something up there just doesn't look right, take the corrective action only to find nothing is there, is unnerving at times.

No where near your experience Kahuna, but I plowed into a deep pot hole coasting fast downhill, enjoying the slipstream of a tandem just ahead of me. There was no seeing the hole due to the dark shade we just rolled into. Plow! Their rear wheel blew and almost instantly my front end shook and my rear tire gave way with an equally resounding PLOW!

I think what helps here is a well made bike that survives a strike naturally (physics-wise) likes to stay upright, that all too often it's the rider's actions trying to over compensate or trying to deal with his own imbalance that causes the ultimate crash. Definitely, cool heads prevail if you allow the bike to find its way.

Man, you is one lucky-freakin'-dude-man. I'd be dustin' that thing for fingerprints.

[tbushnel]

gives me the shivers just sitting at my desk. Glad you are ok.
By the way, what kind of wheels were you using?
ted.

[benb]

If you haven't hit things like this before and/or don't mountain bike don't be surprised you survived this.. that's very ridable size item to hit. And your wheels were probably tested to withstand that kind of a hit if they're good.

The real issue is hitting it in the first place.. if I hit something like that on a solo ride myself I'd assess it as rider error for not seeing it and avoiding it. I can't say I have, but I have rode over a log that fell out of a truck on my motorcycle. Same thing, I was following too close. That one was truly shocking to me.. as it was not much of an event at all. Stand up out of the saddle, up and over, no drama.

The major problem with the way we road riders travel is our love of unsafe following distances. (IE drafting) It's unfortunate but if we were truly concerned with safety we would never draft, we'd adopt safety rules like motorcycling.. 5 second minimum following distance and 10-12 second visibility requirements. It would unfortunately just about ruin road cycling. If only I had a dollar for every time I got a sore butt from hitting a pothole in a tight pack.

[Archibald]

Sucks hard.

Dave
But isn't that a good thing? :banana:

[Archibald]

Stupid people suck.


Ginger
Yes, but I don't hold it against them. I find it's one of their more endearing attributes.

:beer: :beer: :beer:

[Kevin]

Glad you are ok.

Kevin

[Ahneida Ride]

Big K

I am most grateful that you in one piece. Honest !!!!

Please ... Take care out there. ;)

[Saxon]

Scary, but way to ride it out! Glad to hear you're OK, Kahuna!

[Kahuna]

DT Swiss RR 1.1 rims (28 hole) w/ Sapim C-Xray spokes on White Industries hubs. They're hand-built by Mike Garcia of Florida. I'm very impressed with how these lightweight clinchers are holding up.

I need to give credit to crossjunkie for steering me towards this particular wheel design and especially the builder. The wheels are one of the best bike purchases I've ever made and I couldn't be happier with them!

gives me the shivers just sitting at my desk. Glad you are ok.
By the way, what kind of wheels were you using?
ted.

[bshell]

Early February, I too found a 10" piece of 2X4 on the home stretch at dusk at 24 or 25mph. The road is perfect and I've ridden it many hundreds of times, relaxed.

Then suddenly I hit something(?) that felt like the mother of all potholes and lost my hands. I knew immediately that I was done. Thankfully, a driver stopped in the lane to prevent anyone from running over me. I couldn't ride for 8 weeks.

Can't imagine your experience at 40mph...glad you made it. Consider yourself quite lucky!