fell off my bike:(

[sarahpink]

I had my first bike accident today on my new bike which is barely a week old. I was coming down this narrow lane and their was this landrover coming up so I started to brake but I couldnt break fast enough, lucikly I went into the bush when I got my bike the guy did say that it takes a while for your brakes to brake in. really knocked my confidence I have only been riding about a month, the back wheel of my bike has buckeled, took it in for repair not in the shop I bought it from as the other one was nearer and didn't want to look like an idiot. Im not really hurt few scratches, right hand a bit sore. could have been worse as ive got osteoperosis. always tend to pick dangerous activities lol used to horse ride before. the guy who was driving the landrover was really good, think he was more scared than I was, he said he saw that I was trying to break, he gave me a cup of tea at his house and some cream for my scratches and waited with me. thought he was going to be really angry with me. god i feel so silly, hoping that when i get my bike back will have the confidence to go out in it just going to be careful going down hills.

 

[palinurus]

Looks like everything turned out OK. I've done it too, once*. Twisty downhills on narrow lanes are quite challenging, brake early to control your speed- better to be overcautious. Don't let it knock your confidence too much, it happens sometimes.

Actually you did the right thing by braking in a controlled way and steering into the verge- better than grabbing a load of front brake in a panic and going down onto the tarmac.


*actually quite a lot of times if you include cyclocross races!

 

[ianrauk]

Sorry to hear about your accident. But don't worry, we have all been there. There is no shame in it. Best thing for your confidence is to get back out on your bike as soon as you can.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Don't worry about it too much SP - it can knock your confidence but, as said above, the best thing you can do is get on with riding your bike and you'll soon forget about it. We've (nearly) all fallen off - some more than others

 

[NormanD]

Ah don't worry about it SP like many have said we've all been there scratches and confidence will heal in a short time.

Talk of feeling silly, I was cycling past a long wire mesh fence (to my left hand side)and had a number of riders behind me in a group (some sort of outing) as I wasn't in any hurry I decided to pull over and let them all pass.

Braked! put me left hand out to steady myself on the fence, chose the only place in the whole fence that had an opening, ended up flopping through to the other side(as I didn't unclipped) much to the cheers of the passing riders

believe me you'll soon forget about the whole thing

Happy cycling
Norm

 

[CopperBrompton]

Don't worry about it - as the others said, we've all been there, done that, got the grazes. :-)

 

[rusky]

Glad to hear it wasn't serious.

I came off 4 weeks ago, back wheel didn't want to go up the bump from gravel to tarmac & I went over, not fast but landed such that my elbow ended up in my ribs & the ribs still hurt alot.

 

[buggi]

aw, just get straight back on the bike hun. you'll soon get your confidence back. don't worry about telling the bike shop you fell off, they've all done it too and probably in more comedy circumstances.

 

[rusky]

aw, just get straight back on the bike hun. you'll soon get your confidence back. don't worry about telling the bike shop you fell off, they've all done it too and probably in more comedy circumstances.

Quite! Like my clipless moment in front of 4 lanes of cars at the traffic lights!

 

[accountantpete]

It's all a matter of experience - you have a bit more now!

 

[Crackle]

No shame in that at all, I think most of us have been there. Deep breath, relax, steady as you go and back on wiser and more experienced. Mucho sympathy even so, it shakes you a bit something like that but it also makes you a better rider.

Edit: How's your reach to the levers and how well do you feel you can brake. There's a million and one tips to braking on drop bars which might be worth a separate thread if you're not a hundred percent confident with it.

 

[potsy]

Aww sorry to hear about this Sarah,at least it was your pride that was hurt more than your body
Reminds me of when I 1st started cycling last year,mate of mine was always going on about when my 1st fall would be,he then went on to fall off himself 3 times over the next few weeks,luckily no serious damage done bar a knackered back wheel

 

[rh100]

Glad you're ok. Don't feel silly, everybody does something similar.

As Crackle suggests, it's always worth asking questions on here about technique, there are plenty of knowledgeable people on here who could advise.

 

[skudupnorth]

Hope you recover from the off soon and at least the driver helped you out which is very rare.Had a few good ones in my time and have the scars and the lump where my broken collar bone broke when i tried flying lessons over the bars to prove it.
Devon hills are good for going down but not for going up as i found a couple of weeks ago !

 

[specialized 1]

Fell off my bike

Sorry to hear you came off the bike hope your feeling ok, i remember when i was a lot younger going straight over the top down the tarmac on my side and face i looked like i had been in a war, i was back on the bike within a week, as others have said get back out again as soon as you can, i wish you a speedy recovery from all your bumps and bruises.