101 ways to crash/fall from the bike !

[alphazed1]

damn.. scary incident man.. get well soon and take care..
will keep the QR thing in mind..

[rahul13]

Ugh! That account made me feel queasy. Get well soon man.

[sumitpal]

I hope you get back on the bike soon, Prabuddha.

I had a nasty fall for the same reason last year, two weeks off the bike. In my case it was the rear wheel but I realized later (after avoiding a second crash) that the QR would unlock when I got off the saddle and put my weight on the pedals. So yes, watch the QR.

[bikeyvenky]

ouch, prabuddhadg ! Sounds pretty nasty. Hope you recover soon. Take care.

Ha Ha Anool, its pain redefined. Not just physical. My Gios is also damaged.

On the positive side, have identified another frame.

I would imagine that the bike would be damaged badly as well. Glad you're doing better now and even thinking of another frame. Way to go.

Thanks for taking time to put the warning out here.

I remember once that after fixing a flat on the Bulldog's front tire, I only finger tightened the nuts and forgot to use the wrench to tighten them. It was one of those rides with MC on Siva's road on a rainy day(You might remember it MC). I noticed the sound and realized it only when I got close to home. Lucky that the nuts did not fall off or anything although they were quite loose by the time I noticed almost 15km later. I considered myself very lucky that day.

[Anool]

...On the positive side, have identified another frame.

ah, self-enabled upgraditisis ! Nice.

[prabuddhadg]

I hope you get back on the bike soon, Prabuddha.

I had a nasty fall for the same reason last year, two weeks off the bike. In my case it was the rear wheel but I realized later (after avoiding a second crash) that the QR would unlock when I got off the saddle and put my weight on the pedals. So yes, watch the QR.

Thanks Sumit.

About your QR coming loose, I didn't quite get how this happened. Did your heel hit it or something?

[sumitpal]

The QR just unlocks due to the jerk from the sudden weight put on the pedals, and then the wheel comes out and gets jammed.

[Bent_gate]

Hope you get better soon Prabuddha... Chin accidents, hehe... Had one while climbing alone a couple of months back. After climbing with a bunch of other folks, including Muggy, I parted ways to try some of my favorite climbs.

I was on this climb with pretty good left hand hold on an arete, and smear for feet. At some point, the feet gave way, and I was left holding on the single good hold, and ideally should have let go off the hand as well. But all this happened in split seconds. Next moment, I hit my chin to a protrusion in the boulder, pulled into it by the hand hold, then released my hold, and I fell on my crashpad.

I lay there for a bit, since my head was all shaken up. I was looking at the blue sky, with no thoughts in my head for a few seconds. And then thoughts came rushing in. Glad, I landed on the crash pad. The fall wasn't more than ten feet or so. But I had hit my chin, and wasn't sure, I had damaged my brain:) Or atleast it seemed so for that minute. When recovered from the shock, I could feel one of the lower molars cracked and moving around, held by the tissue. What surprised me later was that, after the initial shock, and pain, and the discomfort from the cracked tooth, I went about climbing for another hour, and got back home. I thought it was pure adrenaline and the heated up body that was delaying the onset of any pain. But it was just so. The cracked tooth came out a couple of days later, partial tooth, cracked in half, and a good amount of enamel as well lost. Some soreness later, I was all set. My dentist just chiselled down the rough edges since I had to travel on business the following day.

Apologies for the side step, but back to cycling accidents. I seem to be always accident prone. Just there statistically, and genetically more inclined, I guess.

My first cycling fall that I can remember was when I was seven or eight. Coming back home, really fast in a township, in Surat, I slid on loose soil. And bham!

Next distinct one, I remember was while coming back home, in Hyderabad, left hand alone on the handle bar, the other one holding a nearly melting Ice candy stick, and then at one of those undulating turns in Adarsh Nagar, the whole handle bar turned, and there, a wasted ice candy.

More recent ones have been on the trails largely, but nothing to write home about. Mostly a turn gone bad on loose soil.

And another one, while commuting back home one night, a cab guy jumped into my lane, coming in the opposite direction, and I braked out of panic, and I went over the handle bar. The bugger just got back in his lane and sped away, as if nothing had happened. Loss that day was substantial in terms of a broken light, and a TNF jacket.

[deepakkini]

Three significant ones, largely due to inexperience (have begun "proper" cycling just a year ago):

1) On a superb downhill near MRPL, around 35 km from Mangalore and about the same from a hospital was travelling at around 30-35 km/h when I encountered a U-bend with loose stones. I had crappy stock Innova tyres on my Schwinn FS, so on braking, they failed to grip and it was as if my brakes had failed. While trying to avoid falling into a ditch by the road, I purposely flung myself to the left and hit the tarmac with my left arm, just as a truck overtook me from the right. The truck missed my bike by inches, and I had cuts all over my left arm, which I treated with drinking water
Nothing happened to the bike, and I had to pedal all the way to Mangalore without water, for a tetanus shot!
Result: Switched to Bontrager Jones tyres, which did a good job until I sold the FS.

2) Was trying to go down a bunch of stairs, each around 1.5 feet in height, misjudged my position on the bike, and went OTB without a helmet! Thankfully didn't land with my head on the cement, and escaped with a few bruises.

3) Was enjoying bashing around the Trail SL 2 in a construction area in Mangalore. Flew off a partially demolished wall, about 4 feet in height, bike landed on the RS Recon, which did a good job in landing the entire bike in slow motion on my back, but not before I had smashed my face on loose gravel. The first thing I did was check whether all my teeth were in their place, which, thankfully, was so. Swollen upper lip, bad ulceration in the mouth due to the teeth hitting on the inside of the lip, and a badly bruised face.

[anvith3]

Read only a few of the reports here and I had to post mine.
I've had too many falls as a kid both on and off a bike. My knees and elbows are a museum and I have stories for every cut and scar..

My major bike accident took place about 10 years ago when I was in 12th. I used to live in Manipal then. I used to ride a Hero Ranger Swing (yeah we all did!!) till my bus stop and ride the bus to college. That particular day, I was running a little late for the bus so was cranking it full speed on the large rings. The road from my house to the bus stop was a gradual decline and I picked up speed quickly. At one point of time I saw that the road ahead had an inverted speed breaker. The PWD had dug up the road for laying some pipe and had filled it with mud and loose gravel. It had rained overnight and all the mud had eroded and there was a ditch about a foot deep. I saw it about 6-7 feet away and immediately started braking. The mistake I did was trying turn the handle bar to the left to go around the ditch, and braking at the same time. There was loose gravel on the road and my tire turned completely to the left. I started skidding on the gravel, and the front wheel got stuck inside the ditch and vaulted me OTB. I landed about 4-5 feet away on my chin and right shoulder (No helmet back then!! No surprise. wouldn't ahve done any good though). and went skidding on the road for another 4-5 feet. When I stopped, a couple of guys who were going to work came to my aid. One of them got my bag and the other got my watch which had flown a long distance away.
Now the injuries!!
When I got up I saw that my right hand was flailing around as if it had a mind of its own. The guy who got my bag tried to hold the arm but I clearly remember telling him "It's Gone. Leave it" as if I was on some battle field..
Next I noticed his wide eyes staring at my face. I felt some thing fall on foot and noticed a huge blob (not drop) of blood. I realised that my chin must have bust open. Luckily for me a neighbor was heading towards my home on his scooter and he dropped me back. I was going into shock and blacking out on the scooter. I kept telling him to talk to me in Kannada, but he heard other wise and stopped talking altogether. Another of my neighbors immediately took me to KMC Hospital in his car. I was taken to the emergency ward and the last thing I remember before passing out completely is the doctor's around me inserting a bedsheet under the right shoulder.
When I came to at around 4 pm ( the accident took place in the morning at 9) a maxillo facial surgeon was stitching my chin. I woke up and asked him How bad it was. He replied saying Its pretty bad. Next I asked him to get me a mirror So I could check what happened. I passed out again and came to about an hour later.
Damages : Dislocated right shoulder (which I dislocated again promptly after 3 months while playing basketball, and again 3 years later while saying Hi to a friend!!)
8 sticthes under the chin and a chipped molar.
Bent rim which got hammered back to life.
I used to have trouble riding a bike fast or sitting behind a moderately fast rider for quite some time. Used to expect an accident to happen and imagine seeing it. (Scary I tell you!!) Even Now I don't ride really fast until and unless the road is really clear. But the confidence has grown back now.

Cheers
Anvith

[alphazed1]

anvith inspires me to share a school time incident with ya all..
class V.. my 1st bike... Hero ranger.. mountain terrain bike.. (yeah.. tht was the USp.. the full name).. was learning how to ride.. could balance it but didnt know how to get on and off.. home had these stairs in the gallery.. would mount the bike by standing on one of the stairs and start pedalling quickly.. open the main gate of the home and go straight out on the road.. ride to the extreme left of service road, take a U turn come back and dismount on the same stair...
now my turning radius was like 3 mtr diameter almost..
this particular day a taanga (horse pulled cart) comes towards me just as i take the U turn.. the fella thought i ll get out of his way and continued to gallop.. i being the nervous wreck due to this sudden turn of incidents couldnt move left or right and went straight in the wheel (the huge wooden wheel).. next thing i know.. on the ground.. taanga went over my bike.. and am lying flat.. immediate concern was for the bike.. rear brake went loose.. THATS ALL..
for me.. the left eyebrow was wiped out completely.. the left eye glass on the black goggles that i was wearing (had conjuctivitis) were missing.. HILARIOUS at its best.. had a tough time at home from keeping myself grounded for next few days..

recent one -- while on a trail saw this real steep gorge kinda thing and knew i just had to do it.. slipped behind the saddle and went ahead.. the bottom of it had another small half a feet deep pothole thingie and was covered with some leaves etc.. the moment i hit it started going OTB (bike started going tangential to ground s plane).. somehow pushed the cycle and the RST did a good job of bouncing it back on ground.. lost foothold of the right pedal and the left crank went down at top speeds owing to entire weight being on it alone.. right crank blasted the spikes on the platforms into my shin.. 6 punctures all around.. clean and deep.. bloody indeed.. the trail continues..

[Bhargava G]

Did the crow survive the crash? In my case, it did not- even I almost did not, but that is a different matter. It hit me in the face, from the left, and felt like a sack of cement. And we both fell to the road. Unfortunately for the poor fella, I fell on it.

super lol

[SexJihaad9/11]

Unfortunately for the poor fella, I fell on it

I've been giggling at this like a little girl.


Also,

[RidingOnEmotions]

The road was hardly lit at all and it was a very decent slope. Fully residential area and no traffic around. A place where you would like to let your bike go and straighten your back(leave the handle) and then out of no f*****where a small cemented speedbreaker came and I fell flat face on the road.
My bike looks lil messy and I need to get it repaired today FOR THE RECORD OF MY FIRST FALL I HAVE SOME GOOD NUMBER OF BRUISES HERE AND THERE BUT I WAS LUCKY THAT I WAS WEARING GLOVES AND HELMET. Looks like my gloves had rough sex with the Indian roads. Hahhh and I have exam today

[peddler]

Did the crow survive the crash? In my case, it did not- even I almost did not, but that is a different matter. It hit me in the face, from the left, and felt like a sack of cement. And we both fell to the road. Unfortunately for the poor fella, I fell on it.

I guess the bugger was lucky or I did something to not damage his life or my frame. He hit his chest first on my leg and hung. I shook it away. Don't think there was any fatality. But had the impact been a microsecond early or later my wheels would have been a sorry sight.

Ohh man you head butted a crow to death?

Schadenfreude

[peddler]

Ridingonemotions, I am not presuming anything but I've realized that it's no fun to hit speed-breakers and potholes at high speed in the night Got myself a simple BSA headlight yesterday.

For the record, if this isn't covered, the 102nd way to crash/fall is to ride with brakes reversed (i.e., left lever pulling the front clamp) and to forget this fact time & again!

[Nautanki]

Did you forget to wear this outfit and sing like this?

[RidingOnEmotions]

Ridingonemotions, I am not presuming anything but I've realized that it's no fun to hit speed-breakers and potholes at high speed in the night Got myself a simple BSA headlight yesterday.

For the record, if this isn't covered, the 102nd way to crash/fall is to ride with brakes reversed (i.e., left lever pulling the front clamp) and to forget this fact time & again!

but it is interesting to read(Sorry for the word interesting) that how many of us have been targeted with those well placed speed bumps.

[threeonethree]

Years ago a good friend of mine with whom i had shared many laughs with did not attend the class for a few days. Later found out he had taken his bicycle out for a ride and got hit by a truck and died. Could not go to his house again as did not want to see his mother like that.

[anandsatish]

The two crashes I've had were't very serious, but could have been easily avoided I suppose. Both happened during my night rides, and thankfully both times I was lucky enough not to be anywhere near oncoming traffic.

1) The first one happened when I tried to hit a sidewalk from the road. I was riding pretty fast and almost parallel to the sidewalk. Suddenly on a whim, to avoid a traffic light in front of me, I decided to take a quick left turn onto a relatively free side-walk. It was a combination of bad decision-making, improper judgement of my own speed and height of sidewalk which made me do a very convincing impression of Superman over the bar .

2) The second one happened when I was returning from work. This was on a poorly lit road where I was paying more attention to my cadence and trying to maintain my RPM than to the road. And before I knew it, I was already doing the Superman Sequel. Later on I found out that it happened because at one point the width of the road just drastically decreased, and the way it was tarred, there was a huge height distance between the tarred road and the kucca area. Learnt the importance of paying attention to cycling. I also learnt that its not only important to get lights for your bike, but its even more important to ensure they're BRIGHT (and not the cheap ones you get for Rs.100)

Lessons Learnt
-Cycling needs your full attention. However safe you feel with the however much experience you've had, do not take things for granted.
-Don't try whimsical stunts on the road.
-Get bright lights. I mean seriously bright lights.

Cheers,

[threeonethree]

-Don't try whimsical stunts on the road.

amen..

[peddler]

One of my front brake-pads got stuck underneath the rim and jammed the front-wheel when I was riding in the middle of the road....And when I fell on the road, the bus approaching me from behind stopped just in time (thank goodness).
Still wondering how or why this happened.

One clue could be that I had set the brake-pads a significant distance away from the rim and therefore had to pull the brake-levers a bit harder.

[threeonethree]

So this is one of the falls i had on my crappy hero ranger swing BSO in school days..

The bike could on its own develop punctures after every couple of days even if i did not ride it. The brakes would also come loose to the point of failure. One day took the bike to the bike repair shop. He fixed the tires but for some reason i do not remember , he told me to come later for the brakes. I started riding home very slowly in the small lanes. Since i was on a climb i did not need brakes at all. Soon i reached plain road and started speeding a little bit. Then i had to take a right turn in a narrow lane and tried to apply the brakes, only to realize i did not have any! Went into the turn as i had no other choice. Executed it perfectly!! But alas , Some one had put building material (slabs of marble) on half of the street and i was heading towards it without brakes! I thought "Im gonna die!" and braced myself for the collision. Went OTB..

Total damage: Bent front RIM and i escaped unhurt somehow. Did not ride this bike again.Some stupid guy bought it from me for 1500.

[peddler]

Actually, my incident happened a couple of weeks ago and the bike's perfectly alright. You know, I was hoping that somebody could perhaps shed some light how a brake-pad could get stuck underneath a rim JLT. Let me describe what happened in a bit more detail -
When I applied the brakes, I was actually jumping from one section of the road to another (both of which were supposed to be at the same level but, weren't). One road section was about an inch higher than another and therefore perhaps, my front wheel twisted slightly while changing lanes. That and the hard application of the brakes probably did me in. But, I didn't fall from losing my balance or from some simple cause. As I mentioned before, one of the front brake-pads stuck underneath the rim and locked it completely. The locking was so tight that afterwards, I couldn't pull the brake-pad out by hand but had to use an allen key for the same. Anybody has had a similar experience?

[peddler]

I had to search hard but finally found my problem mentioned somewhere at least

http://sheldonbrown.com/rim-brakes.html

Shoe Adjustment
Brake shoes can be adjusted in 5 different directions:
Height
This is the most critical adjustment. The shoe should contact the rim fully, but not overlap it. If the shoe is set too high, it will rub on the tire, destroying it very quickly. If the shoe is set too low, it can "dive" under the rim and get caught in the spokes, causing dangerous wheel lockup.

I have adjusted the brake shoes properly since the incident.