On Wednesday I was banging along a cycle path (luckily) at around 20mph. I braked for a couple walking ahead who were 'socially distancing', leaving no room to pass safely. The next moment i was flying over the handlebars and fending off my bike as it landed on top of me. Nothing seemed to be broken - on me or the bike - although it's going to take a good few days before we're moving properly again.
I assumed that i had braked too hard on the front but was mystified as i hadn't intended to brake particularly sharply and i'm very used to the brakes on my bike. (They are Kool-Stop pads and pretty sharp.) However, as i rode gingerly away i noticed that the rear brake had suddenly developed a large amount of travel and the lever was virtually touching the handlebar grips before having any effect.
Today, i ordered a new set of cables and overhauled the front pro-tem. The pad was binding on one side, and was much closer to the rim than the other. After rebuilding and adjusting the spring tensioner it all seems to work well. The rear seems to work OK albeit with too much travel on the cable and i'll have a go at that tomorrow.
My question is whether anyone with experience can please suggest what exactly is likely to have happened and what i should do to ensure it doesn't happen again. I'm 68 years old and these sort of excursions take too long to recover from these days!
I assumed that i had braked too hard on the front but was mystified as i hadn't intended to brake particularly sharply and i'm very used to the brakes on my bike. (They are Kool-Stop pads and pretty sharp.) However, as i rode gingerly away i noticed that the rear brake had suddenly developed a large amount of travel and the lever was virtually touching the handlebar grips before having any effect.
Today, i ordered a new set of cables and overhauled the front pro-tem. The pad was binding on one side, and was much closer to the rim than the other. After rebuilding and adjusting the spring tensioner it all seems to work well. The rear seems to work OK albeit with too much travel on the cable and i'll have a go at that tomorrow.
My question is whether anyone with experience can please suggest what exactly is likely to have happened and what i should do to ensure it doesn't happen again. I'm 68 years old and these sort of excursions take too long to recover from these days!