Farily spectacular crash today.

[thefollen]

Hi all,

Thought I'd share an incident, and perhaps hope it may prevent someone doing the same :-)

This was all me, no other vehicles or pedestrians involved.

Foolishly took at 90 degree right turn at around 20mph (Silverthorne Road going into Queenstown Road, London) and during the corner (reckon I leaned too much) my tires lost traction sending my bike collapsing and skidding sideways across the road with me just behind it. Luckily it was a clean breakaway from the bike and there wasn't any traffic behind me. Bike went into the crash barrier and I kinda slid on one side before jumping to my feet. Escaped with only a few scrapes/bruises at various places along my right leg and right elbow. Bike is absolutely fine; it's a Giant Sports Hybrid with puncture resistant tires that have a decent tread on them. To be fair the bike took it really well and was able to continue the journey!

Basically I was traveling far too quickly for the corner. As a relatively experienced cyclist (cycle the Tooting Bec Common - Central London Commute most work days) usually I have a decent perception of speed and the road conditions but enjoy going quickly where appropriate (survived cycling in the snow and icy roads without any issues). Far too excited by the rare green light at the end of the road!

Anyway, sure this is obvious to most of you but watch your speed when cornering, doesn't have to be slick or icy for the bike to go!

[attachment=1770:Photo 35.jpg][attachment=1770:Photo 35.jpg][attachment=1770:Photo 35.jpg]

 

[ianrauk]

Ouch Ouch Ouch.. gonna be some nice scabs for picking.

You just overcooked it, just one of those things. A little to fast for the conditions maybe.
Any way, not too much damage thankfully and a lesson learned.

I did the same on the last Whitstable FNRttC.

 

[- Baz -]

Nasty. Glad you're OK, though - and the bike, of course!

Having had a spill, you should change your name to 'thefallen'

 

[fossyant]

Nice rash........my arm looked like that after one of the 'CC track' sessions earlier in the year.... any 'holes' in your kit.....?

Possibly diesel that had you off ?

I usually ease off in the damp and wet for those reasons.

 

[thefollen]

Haha yep, lesson learned and I might just have to change my name to 'thefallen' ! Funnily enough my top, although relatively thin material, didn't rip; it does sport some impressive road marks all down the arm however. Fortunately I was on the 'way there' of the 14 mile round trip to collect my newly repaired Mac from the Apple Store. Would have been a little more costly had it been in the backpack!

At least the injuries although a bit uncomfortable are ultimately only aesthetic. An unexpected pot hole sent me careering into a crash barrier last summer which cracked a rib and I couldn't do sit ups or any strenuous upper body workouts properly for 6 weeks!

Gotta love the cycling though :-D

 

[Amheirchion]

Had a similar off when I was younger, was doing my paper round in the rain when I went whizzing down a big hill. Needless to say I was going far too fast (and no hands but that's only relevant in that it added to my speed with no braking) so when I go to the bottom and went to turn the 90 degree right, despite braking somewhat I was still going far too fast.
My bike went from under me and I skidded a few metres on my arm and hip. Got up, looked around, no-one was about to see my balls up, excellent. Got my bike back up had a look at my arm and saw a couple of nice grazes on my elbow, similar to the OP's but on either side of my elbow and with a bit more gravel in them. Didn't think anything of it so I carried on.
By the time I'd got to the next house however, a mere 30m down the road I couldn't see any skin on my forearm due to blood. "Bugger", thought I so I delivered the paper then cycled on to my nearest friends house, further down the same road. Needless to say she was shocked that I was at her doorstep, as I'd never called around before, then her face went as white as mine when I explained why I was there and showed her my arm. Luckily it turned out her mom is a nurse, who looked at my arm and gave it a quick clean up before applying a bandage, saying I'd need to get it looked at properly.
I finished my round, then did the only thing a 15 year old lad could do, I called my nan, asking her to bring some fresh bandages over. She took one look at it however and took me straight to A&E.
Then came the worst bit, the nurse cleaned the wound out with a saline solution, along with the digging out of gravel this stung like a very stingy thing. I was a big boy though, and didn't cry. At the end of the cleaning I was left with 2 holes about 10-15mm deep, they had been packed with gravel from the road. I've still got the scars 12 years on.

Needless to say, I'm more cautious on wet corners now.

 

[fossyant]

Good road rash/road scars = points...


Should look great next summer - big pink bits......

 

[Origamist]

Hope you feel better. If you want better scars, keeping picking the scabs.

The light rain yesterday night made the roads greasy and the the black residue was all over my bike last night and this morning.

What time are you commuting? I'd be surprised if our paths have not crossed before...

 

[Alembicbassman]

Nothing like a good low sider. It's more spectacular on Moto GP though

I got the back end of my roadie bike sliding on a dirty corner the other day, luckily it gripped just in time, but nearly chucked me off in the opposite direction.

 

[BentMikey]

I came very close to a crash on Saturday, braking and lost the front wheel, luckily only momentarily. Curses.

 

[BlackPanther]

It's nice to see someone admit to making a mistake. Admitting error clears the score and proves you wiser than before.


That said, when I came off the motorbike it was 'cos of diesel on the road.

 

[thefollen]

Certainly have to watch it in these conditions!

The longer of the scrapes now almost resembles a Fender Telecastor. That'll be a cool scar eh?

Hi Origamist, I'd usually leave at around 7:50-8am from Hillbury Road SW17 and do the return journey at around 6pm. Off for Christmas now however :-)

Unsure whether this will work but here's my route on Endomondo as I occasionally GPS it. (Traffic and lights usually put the kosh on any decent times, but always good for reference.)

<iframe src="http://www.endomondo.com/embed/workouts?w=hkSOlMEZMIs&width=950&height=600" width="950" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

 

[thefollen]

Nope, it didn't work- here's the link:

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/hkSOlMEZMIs

 

[Tynan]

isn't someone going to explain the value of tread on a tyre when cornering?

 

[Origamist]

@thefollen. It looks like you live a couple of hundred of metres from me. I'll keep an eye out for you as our routes intersect for a mile or two.