“As soon as you get comfortable and confident on it, sell it, because you’re about to get hurt.” I’ve heard that saying in reference to motorcycles before, but I’m starting to think maybe it should apply to bicycles too.
Well that didn’t go as planned. This was the result of not looking far enough ahead. I slid down that flat rock on my back–fun times indeed.
I’m a very confident rider. Not “I can do anything imaginable” confident, but I’ve got enough miles in me to know how my bikes handles and what I can do on it. It’s like the bike is an extension of my body, it just feels so natural. I don’t have to think about what I’m doing, it’s completely second nature. It’s as if I know how each knob on the tire is interacting with the dirt. It’s magical really.
Then I bought a road bike. It is not second nature. Narrow drop style handlebars, really low bottom bracket, narrow high pressure tires with tiny contact patches. It took me a while to get comfortable on it. I ride it to work a few days a week, and so far I’ve put a few hundred miles on it–I was just starting to get comfortable.
Glad it was just surface damage, these things aren’t cheap.
One day on the way home I got caught in the rain. The bike has fenders, so I wasn’t worried about it, I stayed pretty dry. I got all the way into my neighborhood and then made the mistake–I quit thinking about the ride, quit paying attention. I was 45 seconds from the driveway and already thinking about what I needed to get done that night, when all of a sudden the front end washed out on a right handed off-camber turn.
It was that awful feeling, when the world goes into slow motion, you know the front wheel is too far gone to save it, and you’re about to go sliding across the deck. Yep, this is gonna suck. At least I was aware enough to get my hand out of the drop.
Half a second before hitting the ground that’s where I was gripping the bars. Would not have been good to get caught between the bars and pavement.
It really wasn’t a bad crash, I wasn’t going that fast. I only slid a little ways, and only got some minor road rash on my right leg, a little puncture on the left (no idea how that happened, pedal maybe?), and a small spot on my wrist. The bike had worse damage. Scratched up the brake/shifter, wore through the bar tape and scratched the bars, ground down the corner of the rack, and bent the derailleur hanger. Luckily it was just cosmetic damage, except for the derailleur hanger–I had to get it bent back. Why anyone makes a frame with a non-replaceable hanger is beyond me… but that’s another post.
The post-crash hassle of road rash is way worse than the crash itself. It’s almost enough to make me shave my legs. Almost. This was my first crash on pavement in a long time and I had forgotten how efficient asphalt is at removing skin. Crashing in the dirt is way better.
So, I was off the bike for a few days while letting the road rash heal up (tip – cut the hair around the wound, then it wont get matted up in the scab and pulled whenever you move). When I did get back on the bike, it was one of my mountain bikes. A bike I have hundreds of hours on. And the trail was a trail I’ve ridden hundreds of laps around, I know every root, every corner, all the fast lines, and all the slick spots. I was reminded of the crash when I put my shoes on and discovered the rachet buckle on my shoe had been ground down. Now it sticks. That’s annoying.
The first lap was terrible, my confidence was shaken. I didn’t trust the bike like I used to, and I questioned myself. I had to think too much about it, it wasn’t just natural anymore. I had lost my mojo.
But, as the night wore on and the lap count increased my mojo started coming back. By the end of the night, I once again felt at home atop my WTB saddle and knobby 29″ tires. Life was good.
I guess sometimes we have to crash. A blood offering must be made. Or maybe it’s a way of learning a new lesson, or reminding us of a basic skill. In this case, it was simple: pay attention, stay in the moment! That buckle on my shoe will remind me every time I saddle up.
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I like the conclusion: so true! Crashing is a part of the game, especially when mountain biking… but I’d be fine if I went my whole life without crashing on the road! Glad you weren’t too banged up!
I’ve never crashed on the road but then again I can’t remember being caught out in the rain. Glad you weren’t hurt any worse and you were close to home when it happened.
Riding after a crash is definitely an interesting mind game. I read something recently that said people don’t process near-misses the way they should; after all, a near-miss is pretty much the same thing as a crash, just without the pain. People also tend to think of close calls as evidence of skill (I avoided a crash!) instead of seeing that they’re riding dangerously close to the edge of their skills and need to back it down a notch.
Hmm…Lets see
Dusted shoulder with a new “tattoo” of Russia
Dusted forearm with a new “tattoo” of Long Island
Battered fingers
Badly Bruised thigh
“Claw” marks along legs due to pedal rub.
Couple of bruised ribs and sternum
And that’s just this year.
IT happens. Yeah it takes a bit to get back up to speed…
Taking a pedal to the shin SUCKS. Did that a good bit back in my BMX days. It makes you scared of pedals with lots of pins for traction, ’cause they’ll really eat you alive, but of course with those pins the slips are less likely.
I mostly just get bruised and beat up crashing in the dirt. Bruised some ribs earlier this year with a botched (BIG) log hop, lots of other falls that result in multicolored bruises and knots. Don’t lose too much skin on the MTB though.
But yeah, can’t let it stop you, gotta get back out there. I rode in to work 3 days this week, two of them it was raining when I left the house in the morning. Can’t be scared, it’s just water. I am more careful now though! I think there’s a lot less room for error on the road bike, when the tires slip in a corner, you’re chances of catching are very very small. The MTB is a whole different beast, when I’m really riding hard both tires and sliding all over the place, but it’s a lot easier to catch and keep it upright.
*your, not you’re. Duh.
“I read something recently that said people don’t process near-misses the way they should” it’s funny you say that. I don’t think that I process the actual crash the way I should. I’ve clipped trees and gone flying OTB at full speed. Limped back to the bike and hit the trail at full throttle again…I’ve crashed so much and always ride so close to that “edge” that crashes don’t even phase me much anymore, they just happen. It usually takes some severe damage to slow me down. A sprained rotator cuff knocked me off my game that’s for sure.
I had gone over a year without crashing before this past July. Then when I did crash it was pretty spectacular, but it was only because I wasn’t paying attention and had forgotten some basic skills. Was I far enough back behind the seat? NO. Did I have enough momentum to roll through the rocky section? NO. So what happened? I hit a rock and flew over the handlebars. Fortunately it was mostly just bruises and because of where we were I had no choice but to get back on and ride the rest of a technical trail – which was probably a good thing. Crashing is never fun, but like you said, sometimes it just seems necessary.
Shaky confidence sucks. Every since I broke my collarbone I practically crawl through sections that have two trees close together.
At 48 I can’t afford to hit the ground too hard. I weigh more than I did at 28, and my bones aren’t nearly as flexible. Consequently, I ride a little more cautiously. However, here in Western oregon, the majority of our trails are in thickly wooded areas, so chances are that when you crash, you’ll land on a nice soft bush or some moss, not a rock or cactus. I crash fron time to time, and have a few scars to show for it, but I think you’re right when you say it’s a necessary evil and all part of the game, so I don’t complain too loudly about it. P.S. Please don’t correct my spelling, grammar or syntax. I’m very sensitive about that kind of thing.
Comes with the territory!
In the first pic, I have lost momentum and hit that tree on the uphill side of the trail. A section of trail that I have cleared (and dgaddis also) many times. This past May I did an endo over a log that has been on the trail for years and never caused me any problems. Landed on the a baseball size rock (only one in the area) Ribs hurt really bad. Seems like the more c”comfortable” the obsticale is, the more likely it will bite you.
My big crash about 5 years ago changed my riding forever. I’ve had some crashes since, but nothing that spectacular.
broke the wrist in november after becoming intimate with a oak tree after some very graceful attempts to regain control. it changed my riding, I focus more on technique and control versus balls out, head on fire and arse is catching style. It certainly cost me on the uphill side on new trails sometimes, because i dont always carry momentum i need…but as i gain comfort levels with trails, i’ll let it loose a little more each time. I also find committing to the crash and doing it on my terms is sometimes much better than fighting the crash and ending up in some awkward position with a saddle up my bonch and still wrecking.
Despite breaking a finger on a demo bike at Alafia in Florida, the worst crash I had was at 23mph on my road bike doing a century in stong wind. I had road rash for weeks. However, I recently moved to Colorado and quickly learned that the confidence I developed on smooth but fast, twitchy singletrack (in FL, GA, NC and TN),on my relatively new Niner Jet 9 RDO, was ill conceived. It think it is important to point out that new trails/terrain in diffferent parts of the world require different levels of caution and respect. I found out quickly, and painfully, that the rocks and scree in CO and NM are FAR less forgiving than the tacky dirt in the southeast. I had pain that lasted for 5-6 weeks after a series of nasty falls in a single weekend of otherwise singletrack bliss. Now, at the salient behest of my new riding buddies, I have learned to slow down, pick lines more carefully, and live to ride (relatively pain free) another day. Confidence in your bike is paramount; overconfidence can be perilous.
@klowe8828
I could not agree more!
I hit a jump about a year ago and landed on the extreme left of the trail and was drifting left. Instead of fighting to stay on the trail, I bailed. I landed in a clearing and slid about 10 feet on my back/camelbak. Had I fought to stay on the bike and crashed further down the trail, I would have had my choice of landing on rocks or in a grove of trees.
@jared13 those narrow trees have done more damage to me then just about anything.
My big crash recently was just cruzing down some really nice trail, kinda hauling but seamed pretty reasonable, setting up for the bottom of hill. Then…Don’t know. missing about half a sec between that and my helmet hitting the ground. Almost think I fell asleep. :/ good thing rib cages bounce. to bad it takes a month or more to recover from bouncing, and I did get back on and ride out, but getting back confidence takes time.
Confidence is a funny thing. I crashed early this year on a ladder I had ridden dozens of times. Bruised some ribs pretty bad. Never thought about it any of the other times but now each time I ride im reminded and tend to over think it which just makes riding it more difficult.