Offs

[david1701]

My lowest point....

trailquest in the mid 90's. New to me s/h Pace elastomer suspension forks on MTB. No 'lawyer tabs' on the fork drop out. QR not done up properly and must have come undone, strangely disconcerting handling as we whooped downhill after bagging a 60 pointer, hit drop off, got air, saw front wheel part company. KER-ASSSSH. Forks bent to buggery. Frame downtube creased. Concussion. Face covered in cuts and I bit through my lower lip, claret everywhere, ship open to the bone. Bike not insured. Total loss. Walked back, helped by my team mate, with bike in over shoulder and wheel in hand constantly asking "Are you sure I can't ride it?" for 45 minute. Got back within time limit! Made lady at control scream. Team mate has pictures somewhere!

points for making her scream

 

[Baggy]

I've fallen off my bike while it was on a turbo trainer - that really was stupid. The phone rang, so I twisted round and slid to the back of the saddle to answer it...couldn't reach, stretched just a little bit further...straight off the back!

 

[MacB]

I've fallen off my bike while it was on a turbo trainer - that really was stupid. The phone rang, so I twisted round and slid to the back of the saddle to answer it...couldn't reach, stretched just a little bit further...straight off the back!

Now it's this level of 'sharing' that impresses me about online forums

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I answered the landline whilst on a turbo trainer in the spare room and the body of the phone came off the table and jumped into the back wheel.

 

[Hip Priest]

When I was a kid, I tried to impress the girl next door by going 'look, no hands' on my BMX. Whilst looking in her direction I hit a raised gate at the bottom of our street, the wheel got wedged under it, and I got flung over it, landing on the rear windscreen of my neighbours car.

\w/

 

[Old Plodder]

Never fallen off a turbo, but have seen people fly off rollers, usually comical to watch, & no they don't tend to hurt themselves, but you should see their embarassed faces.

 

[IanT]

When I was a kid, I could ride my Raleigh Racer for some considerable distance with no hands on the bars.

As time went by, I got cockier and cockier - to the point where, one day, I elected to not only take my hands off the bars but also tuck them nonchalantly into the pockets of my green bomber jacket. Whilst progressing down a slight downhill, the bike started to get a bit of a weave on. In my panic to get my hands out of my pockets, I may as well have been wearing a straight jacket.

I landed inelegantly on my backside (hands still wedged in pockets), whilst my lovely bike bounced merrily down the road.

 

[CopperCyclist]

make it?

Yep. Bike did well - no snow tyres just knobblies. Couple of minor moments but nothing to write home about. 20 min commute took more than an hour though!

 

[HLaB]

I've fallen off my bike while it was on a turbo trainer - that really was stupid. The phone rang, so I twisted round and slid to the back of the saddle to answer it...couldn't reach, stretched just a little bit further...straight off the back!

I answered the landline whilst on a turbo trainer in the spare room and the body of the phone came off the table and jumped into the back wheel.

Thank goodness my Turbo is in the garage and I cant hear the phone!

 

[boydj]

Ended up in the hospital when I was sixteen after my school satchel found its way into my front wheel. First I remember is wondering why bike would not move and why the girl standing next to me was having hysterics. The fork was bent completely the wrong way and the wheel was jammed against the frame. I'd also taken a lot of skin off the side of my face (superficial, fortunately) and there was a lot of blood about.

I managed to crash the rebuilt bike the first time I took it out after the getting it back when I hit gravel on a fast, downhill corner. Hopefully I've calmed down a bit now.

 

[david1701]

I used to love doing bike sideways rear wheel skidding stops on my mtb, looks deeply cool until one time you hit something and it stops the wheel skidding sideways flicking the bike over the other way

 

[tyred]

Does riding head first into a hawthorn hedge while looking back trying to check the brightness of your light count as stupidity?

Or about 20 years ago while going to visit a sick friend on my Raleight 20, I had a bag with a bottle of lucozade hung on the bars and it swung into the spokes of the front wheel It's why even today when I see someone cycling with shopping hanging on the bars, I thinking "you farking idiot."

 

[jim55]

fell off my road bike when i first got it,,theres a wee cycle path /short cut through the park and on entrance to the park theres a bit of a steep slope up,,,now i knew this was there as i cycled it before but always built up a fair head of steam before it (slightly downhill)and it doesnt seem so bad ,,cycled towards it going quite fast ,,got half way up the slope and i was losing momentum,,no prob i thought ,,just change down and spin up and out prop onto the main path ,,now the bike i had before this had the gear shifters kinda on the bars (coyote viking thing ),,reached for them and there was nothing atop the bars ,,i forgot the bike i was on had sti shifters!!!cue panic and on realising i was very quickly stopping and fighting gravity would see the bike at the bottom of the slope ,,i tried to get a foot down ,,i pulled both brakes on at the same time to stop me rolling back ,,bike reared up like some kinda wild stallion ,,i had a foot down and was trying in vain to stabilise things,,,my other foot was stuck in the clips got and over i went ,,at the side of the path is grass and it falls away from the road (its a kinda elevated section )fell to the side (feet still in toeclips )and in the struggle the bike came freeand i rolled head over heels all the way to the bottom of the grass slope while the bike lay on the path about 20 ft above me ,,cue ripped tights (pedal on calf ,,lots of blood and skin removed )but otherwise ok ,,got myself together ,,had a look around (to make sure nobody was laughing ,,530am so not a soul)dusted myself off,,picked bike up and carried on rather sheepishly

could have been a lot worse ,,main damage was me looking like a total knob

 

[Holdsworth]

Does riding head first into a hawthorn hedge while looking back trying to check the brightness of your light count as stupidity?

Or about 20 years ago while going to visit a sick friend on my Raleight 20, I had a bag with a bottle of lucozade hung on the bars and it swung into the spokes of the front wheel It's why even today when I see someone cycling with shopping hanging on the bars, I thinking "you ****ing idiot."

I am a lot more careful now after I let a bag of shopping wedge itself between the wheel and the fork, didn't go over the handlebars but half of my shopping self-destructed on the spokes. A few days later whilst on holiday in Wales riding a beat-up MTB I had a spill when a jumper I was carrying on the handlebars went into the wheel and flipped me over, that definitely smarted but no real damage done aside from a lovely multi-coloured bruise on my thigh. I still do carry shopping occasionally on my bars if I fail to plan ahead but I ensure that bags are clear of the wheel!

 

[Edwards80]

My 1st off on the road bike was on my 2nd ride, just after I'd got it for Christmas :S I'd cycled to my parents to show it to my old man (he used to love riding) - upon departing, I exited the driveway, turned onto the main road and promptly hit the deck as soon as I pushed the pedal. My rear tyre was on black ice

My mum was watching out of the window and came running out (not at all embarassing for a 27 yr old), 2 chaps in their car asked if I was ok, then the old woman driving up behind stopped to see if I was ok and after I'd said I was fine she said "Oh good, it was very funny! Hahahaha"

Can blame that one on stupidity, 2nd ever ride on a road bike and I took it out on icy roads.