A Giant Off!

[Ming the Merciless]

Just goes to show Giant bikes are no good in cold weather 😂

 

[gbb]

Hope you are all ok
Been there, done that. With hindsight, watch out for those shiny black patches of tarmac where the summer heat has melted it, it forms a very smooth surface and with ice on top, you have no chance. It usually occurs where cars tyres run so i try to avoid that section of the road.
I went down in an instant, all was well on a frosty morning, 1 second later, i'm sliding on the deck.

 

[CXRAndy]

A cycle mate has broken a wrist and double fracture of the pelvis in winter crashes. Not worth the risk to go out when icy.

 

[DCBassman]

Ouch, GWS!

 

[Illaveago]

These pictures were taken on my ride yesterday.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I would like to say that this was an accident which took 3 of us by surprise . Luckily none of us were badly injured.....
Falling off isn't restricted to the winter. I fell off earlier this year when my pedal came off whilst standing up . That was a bad crash at a slow speed . Greasy roads or loose gravel can take a rider out at anytime , so we just have be prepared just in case .

All these hazards are entirely foreseeable. black ice, any kind of drivetrain mechanical failure if ithappens whilst pedalling standing up, slippery surfaces and loose gravel. None of you should have been surprised if you rode on ice and fell off, it's what generally happens.
You are lucky you didn't end up in hospital though, as you'd have been cooped up in a place full of people infected with the coronavirus.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

And black ice you can see at night. Just harder to spot during the day. But you know when you are on ice as it goes all quiet, no tyre noise. Do not steer, do not brake, and hope you exit the patch soon enough.

 

[Illaveago]

All these hazards are entirely foreseeable. black ice, any kind of drivetrain mechanical failure if ithappens whilst pedalling standing up, slippery surfaces and loose gravel. None of you should have been surprised if you rode on ice and fell off, it's what generally happens.
You are lucky you didn't end up in hospital though, as you'd have been cooped up in a place full of people infected with the coronavirus.

Nonsense!
Black ice means that it is invisible, you don't see it . You feel its effects !
Mechanical problems can arise even if well maintained. Warranties are there to cover any manufacturing faults that weren't noticed during manufacture . A chain could break whilst under load whilst standing up and down you go . Similarly if the dogs in the rear freewheel suddenly give up you will get a similar effect .
As for my left-hand pedal. There was no warning of it being loose . I can only assume that the bearing had become stiff and the actual rotation of the crank unscrewed it . There must have been enough thread still in the crank arm as I started climbing but not enough to withstand the force for long .
As for cycling conditions my pictures show how most of the roads were like . There were some patches of ice which I saw and coped with well.
So riding should only be done in absolute ideal conditions . No rain or puddles as they could be hiding spilt diesel or deep potholes.
As for ending up in hospital . I didn't and neither did the others. I could just as easily slip up in my bath and have a serious injury with all the hard surfaces around it and not wearing a helmet .

 

[dodgy]

Nonsense!
Black ice means that it is invisible, you don't see it . You feel its effects !
.

what some of us are trying to get over to you is that though black ice might be hard to see, it is somewhat easier to predict you might encounter it on a ride. It’s on those days that experienced cyclists stay home [yeah yeah, some have studded tyres].

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

what some of us are trying to get over to you is that though black ice might be hard to see, it is somewhat easier to predict you might encounter it on a ride. It’s on those days that experienced cyclists stay home [yeah yeah, some have studded tyres].

Exactly this. You don't need to be able to see black ice to know that is is likely to be out there if the temperatures and road conditions are right. You (and the other two who crashed) all decided to go for a ride irrespective of the conditions and were then surprised when you crashed!.
i didn't ride yesterday, because the temps went below zero overnight and one of my regular routes has a couple of bends in the shade of trees. It's dodgy on four wheels never mind on a bike, so I went for a six mile walk instead. As it happens, by the mid afternoon, that bit of road wasn't icy because I walked on it to test it, so I might have got away with it a couple of hours earlier by bike. But then again I might not.
Coming off and breaking things doesn't appeal to me, nor does riding on studded tyres, so when the conditions are right for ice I avoid riding. There are other ways of getting exercise or getting around that don't need to involve crashing.

 

[cyberknight]

And black ice you can see at night. Just harder to spot during the day. But you know when you are on ice as it goes all quiet, no tyre noise. Do not steer, do not brake, and hope you exit the patch soon enough.

One winter i was riding to work and i turned onto this road only to discover it was a sheet of ice , pedal slip peal slip splat !

 

[Illaveago]

The title of the thread was a play on words . Giant Off meaning that all bikes which went down were made by Giant. It was a simple crash where nobody was badly injured.
Up to the point of the crash we had been riding well. The conditions weren't bad, there was some ice in sheltered places but most of the roads were just a bit damp.
I have been thinking about the crash and analysing it . The first rider must have ridden over the same patch where two of us went down without incident . The second rider covered two thirds of the patch. I must have reacted to seeing a rider going broadside and going down in front of me . Whether it caused me to apply my brakes I don't remember as the next thing I knew was that I was going down . Whether the first rider reacted to the sound of two riders behind crashing I don't know, but he was the last to fall off . The fact that two people came out from the houses nearby seems to suggest that we made a bit of a clatter!
I haven't been out since.
2 offs in a year has made me think that thigh and elbow cushioning of some kind might be a good idea .

 

[Slick]

The title of the thread was a play on words . Giant Off meaning that all bikes which went down were made by Giant. It was a simple crash where nobody was badly injured.
Up to the point of the crash we had been riding well. The conditions weren't bad, there was some ice in sheltered places but most of the roads were just a bit damp.
I have been thinking about the crash and analysing it . The first rider must have ridden over the same patch where two of us went down without incident . The second rider covered two thirds of the patch. I must have reacted to seeing a rider going broadside and going down in front of me . Whether it caused me to apply my brakes I don't remember as the next thing I knew was that I was going down . Whether the first rider reacted to the sound of two riders behind crashing I don't know, but he was the last to fall off . The fact that two people came out from the houses nearby seems to suggest that we made a bit of a clatter!
I haven't been out since.
2 offs in a year has made me think that thigh and elbow cushioning of some kind might be a good idea .

I wouldn't overthink it to be honest, you slid, you fell down and you got up again.

 

[dodgy]

2 offs in a year has made me think that thigh and elbow cushioning of some kind might be a good idea .

PPE is the last resort in any risk assessment.

 

[AuroraSaab]

I admire you guys. I don't even consider riding my bikes in the winter, even though I do about 5 miles max atm. I know it's about confidence and experience, but with too many potholes and bad drivers round here, adding wet and slippy or icy roads would be too much to cope with.