When was the last time you......fell off your bike ?

[davidphilips]

Knocked of my bike by a club member last week, really can not decide if its safer to cycle solo or in a club/group?

Lots of the slower cyclists are great but what i have found is that all the faster cyclists (in the clubs i have cycled with) are safe to cycle with but some of the worst offenders are in the slower club runs and have been cycling for many years so really should know better.

Think if every one in the club run/group you cycle with is an experienced/careful cyclist then cycling in the club/group is safer but only takes one to do something silly and they can take everyone down with them,know certain cyclists that stop pedaling without even knowing every time they go to stand on the pedals usually on a hill and if the cyclist behind is to close then they either hit them or brake and a ripple effect goes all the way back.

Then theres the group cyclist that says clear when at the front when its not. Then theres the cyclist that does not pay attention when they are in the middle of the group and just cycles into the cyclist in front of them when the group slows.

The cyclist that hit me last week cycled straight into me when i was stopped at a tee junction waiting to turn. If they had not hit me they would have just cycled straight out of the junction without looking, up until they done that i always said i would rather be at the front or at the back of a group but now unless i know all the cyclists in a group i think the back is the safest place but with changes its impossible to join in a club run and avoid the sillys.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

So basically - to summarise

the important thing is not how - or why or even the injuries

but who saw or might have seen


soooooo

when I went round a corner and my front wheel hit a patch of wet leaves on top of wet mud and hence decided to move quickly to the left without warning
on a narrow tarmac path on a sharp right hand bend with trees on each side
with 2 teenage girls walking towards me totally concentring on their phones that may - or may not - have been in the way
what I should have done was not tell my wife that I had fallen off and my arm was rather hurty
but maybe called a taxi and made up an excuse for leaving the house
such as maybe - I dunno - seeing a - I dunno -'friend'
and maybe suddenly developed a desire to wear long sleves (I always roll my sleeves up) to disguise a cast for a broken arm

because - at the end of the day - if no-one see it then it is all OK

maybe I need a phantom mistress to allow for the next time I fall off

a real one would be far to much trouble


and effort

 

[slowmotion]

The time before last was on Charing Cross Road, on my way back from a map shop in Covent Garden. There was a red light, I stopped, put my left foot down, expecting to find the kerb, and missed it before slowly crashing on to the pavement. Three young ladies rushed to the aid of a helpless elderly person but one that I knew to be a highly tuned super-athlete.

God Bless them.

 

[grldtnr]

February 2020, going through the centre of Utrecht at rush hour at about 20 mph. Woman on a dual carriageway bike path was all the way over on the left hand side; just before a junction she put her left hand out so I decided to undertake her on the right. Next thing I know I was summersaulting over the handlebars. Picked myself up and the woman said, "Sorry, I changed my mind". Cycled 15 miles to the local hospital where I was diagnosed with a broken collar bone, cracked shoulder blade and broken arm.

Mega ouch!

 

[taximan]

I fell off my new rollers only yesterday if that counts😓

 

[Drago]

2011.

I was acting as safety officer on a course being run by another instructor, muffed it up on a technical descent and very slowly and gracefully went AoT.

Haven't had an off on the road since my ill fated attempt at the sound barrier in 1976,.when my Bell X-1 Raleigh Chopper developed serious transonic buffeting about about 25mph and spat me off.

 

[fossyant]

2011.

I was acting as safety officer on a course being run by another instructor, muffed it up on a technical descent and very slowly and gracefully went AoT.

Haven't had an off on the road since my ill fated attempt at the sound barrier in 1976,.when my Bell X-1 Raleigh Chopper developed serious transonic buffeting about about 25mph and spat me off.

10 years, definitely not trying enough !

 

[Dogtrousers]

Just days before the first lockdown. I hit a pothole and next thing I know I'm being hit on the back of the head by my saddle, my face is in the tarmac and all I can think is "Oh no! I've got my good glasses on, I hope they don't get broken".

My glasses were OK. My bike wasn't. Several broken spokes and not very wheel-shaped front wheel. Handlebars bent. Contents of rack bag strewn all over the place. Bike was un-wheelable but the nearest train station was only a couple of miles away. They were a long couple of miles though as I was a bit unsteady on my feet.

Then came lockdown and I was a turbo-only rider for several months while I got my bike sorted out.

 

[Howard_Moon]

2 weeks ago, took a wrong turn and ended up skidding along an old wooden pier on my arse and elbow. More embarrassed that owt and a lovely lovebite from the wooden sleepers.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I forgot about this event, but when I replied, I was thinking more in the terms of an 'accidental' fall, rather than equipment failure

Plus, not a fall, more of a slither, which could have been nasty
It's happened there a few times
Jct 31/M62
One of my regular routes takes me out over this 'dog-bone', that passes under the M62
Barring being squeezed onto the west-bound 'on slip-road' a couple of times, most problems are with the homeward run

If you open the link & look at the map;
- I approach from Whitwood Common, (north-east)
- to the north-west (yellow road to r/bout) there's a truckstop, where a lot of drivers fill up
- I want the central lane around the r'bout (not a problem to me, I've never been cut up on it!)
- I'll generally ride 'on' the white-line between lanes 1 & 2, so traffic can pass to both sides
However, when both wheels find the over-flow from brimmed diesel tanks & start sliding slightly together, it gets serious
Especially with 44 tons of artic to my near-side

All good fun!!

(as I go under the M62, I'm still in the middle lane, as there's a filter-lane that I need)
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2508403

https://www.instantstreetview.com/@53.709742,-1.393623,195.88h,2.6p,1z,CFcMbiHKS4rsf-GD2rl5kA

 

[vickster]

There was a red light, I stopped, put my left foot down, expecting to find the kerb, and missed it before slowly crashing on to the pavement.

Been there, done that

 

[Sterlo]

Last time I fell off was about 5 years ago. Trundling along a little country lane when suddenly a pheasant flew out of the hedge and came straight at me. I jumped, lost control of my bike and fell rather ungracefully onto the grass verge. I was more concerned for my bike than for myself.

Strange but when I came off and did my elbow, while I was waiting for the ambulance in agony, that was my thinking.

 

[bitsandbobs]

About 2 months ago - snagged by the tram tracks in Ghent. Landed on my side and bruised my ribs, but the wine bottle I was holding in one hand survived intact.

I was luckier than the guy that got caught out in a similar way a week later and died of the injuries he sustained. There are something like 500 people a year in Ghent that require medical assistance following a tram track-related bike fall.

 

[lazybloke]

Think my last fall was 5 years ago. Landed in the road very heavily on my greater trochanter. Didn't stop me cycling, but it was sore/bruised for a good couple of months.
I must be due another fall!

...fortunately only had 10 miles to ride after an almost complete immersion (last December).

That was getting seriously close to hypothermia, I measured 32 deg. C under the tongue.

If an accurate measure, I think that WAS hypothermia! Sounds hideous.

 

[cyberknight]

4 years ago when someone ran into my rear wheel