100 Finest crashes

99. Popping out of both of my SPDs simultaneously when riding down a flight of stairs. Both feet slid off the pedals and I would have mangled my arse on the back wheel had I not had the terrible misfortune to snag my testicles on the back of the saddle instead. I consequently rode out the rest of the stairs resting solely on my badly squashed plums before collapsing in a groaning heap.

98 x3 coming up the inside of a taxi in traffic and have it turn left from a standstill without looking.

or indicating

97. Riding in a line down some tight singletrack, a big branch got caught on someone's bars up ahead. They managed to untangle it on the fly, but this just meant that it pinged free and in a devastating display of arboreal kung fu, it took the guy in front of me clean off his bike in this awesome slow-motion scything move. Poor bastard then got run over by me laughing my arse off.

96 Street sweeper in the narrow 2 way abutted cycle lane on tavistock place. I yell 'mind you back' at him he turns to see what is going on and he sticks his broom handle out further into the lane. I swerve to avoid him get round him only to confront a pedestrian crossing the bike lane behind him looking the wrong way, I swerve further but the only thing I can do not to hit the old duffer is hit the abuttment and go over my handlebars.

95. 3 years ago checking out girl crossing the street, totally riding right into the side of a moving car as i run a red light

94. Pulling away on the flat after puffing up a hill, I'm standing up and getting up a bit of speed when the rear gear I am in suddenly gives way, throwing me to the ground and taking the flesh off my knee, a chunk of bone out of my elbow and breaking my left middle finger. It's not amusing in any sense, and no-one else was involved, but it's the only (touch wood touch wood) properly nasty crash I've had.

Knee scar, 13 years later (note entire lack of follicles):

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1354/1106533897_ad2c7d9e95.jpg

BROKED COLLAR BONE, MTBING. SKID OUT IN SOME SAND WENT OVER THE BARS....CUTTY CARRIED ME OUT THE WOODS, VIETNAM/BAND OF BROTHERS STYLE!

i was forrest gump and he was lieutenant dan

WORST PART WAS WE WERE 10 MINS INTO A 12+ MILE RIDE. HAVENT BEEN BACK TO THAT TRAIL SINCE.

http://www.climbonline.org/pdf/rocky_point_black.pdf

I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE.

93. after spending half the race in a breakaway of 6, i knew i was destined to win. the finish was gentle uphill, 100 meters after a 90 degree left. Basically, the first person through that last turn should surely win it. so i made sure i attacked hard in the series of corners before the final lefter and went into the last corner with a one guy 10 meters back, and the rest way back. at 35 mph. 10 mph faster than every other lap.

front wheel never hooked up i think there was oil or something. i just slid 20 meters, on my left side, until my helmet bounced off the opposite curb. i jumped up, watched the breakaway guys go through and win. i then walked it in for 6th. then, off to the hospital. no skin from ankle bone to shoulder blade. not a hard impact, but a looooong slide.

that crash haunts me. more than the ones that ended up in surgery (two so far).

can you talk about those too?

92. jan 1991, riding my mtn bike in a local park. spds had just come on the market really, and it was my first ride in them. but i'd been riding clipless on the road for ages, no worries. going about 15 mph on off camber singletrack i laid it out on a sheet of rock, direct impact on hip. feet stayed in pedals. finally got free, managed to stand up, but then couldn't walk and had to just put my hands behind me and fall to lie down again. eventually 8 overweight rescue guys boarded me out, because it was too windy for a copter (really!). i wasn't in pain, just couldn't move. anyway broken femural neck (like f landis), 4 scrwes, but full recovery, no necrosis.

91. see "iltrmb" thread on ilx where ahole yardsales in front of me off a tabletop in a cx race--broken scapula, separated a/c, separated ribs. surgery on dec 14 for postraumatic arthritic a/c.

90. final sprint of some godforsaken race my second year of racing, still a cat 4. huge bunch, im in 10th, on the wheel of the fastest guy there. looooooong straight, full road from 500 meters. well, a car shows up coming at us with 400 or so to go. CHAOS! i fall, my hand goes into my front wheel and under my fork blade as i fall. it peels my left index and middle fingers like a carrot, and it breaks them, serious road rash to my other elbow. to add insult, its 45 degrees out and im in tights and bibs, and have had to pee soooooo bad for the last hour. i CANT UNTIE MY TIGHTS, IM ABOUT TO CRY, AND JUST FINALLY DECIDE TO WET MY SHORTS. so i did.

89. Put front wheel wrong riding a narrow bridge, went over bars and chipped a tooth on a rock, also broke big toe twisting out of toeclips while falling. Walked 5 miles home on said toe.

holy shit hunt3r

you are a champion hunt3r. are you going to race 2008?

ive always been totally lucky never had dental damage

my arthritic ass is pretty much done, c. not a champ, mostly a gamer tho.

maybe i'll come back for the 'iltrmb' team at 24 hours of moab next october, right?

ive got an image of ed cleaning the ravine dropoff on his raleigh

we should make kits

Yeah, first aid fucking kits. Ugh shit wow @ Hunt3r.

basis of kit sublimation:

http://www.atf.gov/kids/graphics/art_contest/dsc_554820%25.jpg

(not withstanding the fact that i am his namesake)

At the risk of driving non-parents screaming from the thread, that is a pretty solid picture for a three year old.

UH

whoever that kid who drew it is, he is ilx legend.

everyone loves UH.

Kid can write too, top lad.

90 is the winner so far. Yaow.

89. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qZm4tcZN3w

88. Last night, coming home from a party absolutely shit-housed. I only just remembered it now (5pm the next day) because the whole night is pretty sketchy. Cycling along a perfectly straight, perfectly flat, deserted road, I just lost control of the bike because I was so drunk and went over the handlebars. No injuries. Good times.

maybe i'll come back for the 'iltrmb' team at 24 hours of moab next october, right?

-- Hunt3r, Friday, November 9, 2007 12:21 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

^^^ this

I have dreams about crashing but so far have not done as an adult. Amazing, considering drunk biking.

87. single-track descent in montana, haven't been on a mtb in a while, let alone a dual suspension rig (ie never), handling is bus-like compared to pista. consequently build up too much speed going into a hard left (90 degrees), oversteer and shoot the bike down the very steep and wooded embankment. i manage to bail before it goes over (which would have been a disaster), but still roll and crumple on the rocks. i hadn't really appreciated how much mtb falls could hurt until that point, esp since skiing falls at 2-3 times the speed basically don't hurt at all in comparison. lay on the trail clutching my shin like an italian footballer and wailing. eventually got over it and finished the ride, a bit more slowly.

banged up shin, big gash on same, elbows scraped and battered, but pretty tame altogether

86. on the way TO the bar (NOT drunk) in BZN, mid-winter, snow everywhere, riding track bike on 25s (GOOD IDEA). slowly roll up to stop sign, about to unclip and WHAM my rear wheel washes out and i'm down on my left side, still clipped in. land on my left thumb, and it hurts like a son of a bitch. even though i'm only two blocks from home, i decide to continue on to the bar (it was my last night in town before x-mas break). after arriving, i jerry-rig a splint from two drink straws and a bunch of napkins, which worked A-OK until my roommate showed up with proper kit from my first-aid stash. later determined that it was a greenstick fracture, which meant there was basically nothing to be done. it stopped hurting about two months ago.

thumb injuries are terrible. seems like a lot of mine result from skiing.

85. While at university, cycling with fading lights across town on a dark winter evening to my girlfriend's house, as I pass the hospital a car suddenly pulls out right in front of me. I ride straight into the side of the bonnet and go somersaulting through the air - with the bike attached to me because I was wearing toe clips. I land on the back of my head and my shoulder in the middle of the road and narrowly avoid getting run over by a car coming the other way. Random people come and help me out of the road and ask if I'm OK, while I roll around going "fuck! fuck! fuck!". The driver responsible for the accident comes to help me and turns out to be a nurse who has just finished working her shift so she takes me into casualty while one of the random strangers says she'll look after my (broken) bike for me and tells me an address which I instantly forget. It takes me about a week to find my bike again.

thumb injuries are terrible. seems like a lot of mine result from skiing.

-- Hunt3r, Saturday, November 10, 2007 1:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

84. spring break, senior year of high school. buddies and i commandeer someone's minivan, cram 5 into w/gear and drive to utah, where we get a cheap motel and basically sleep on top of each other. skiing at brighton, on the second to last day, i attempt an ill-advised 360 and land funny on my ski pole, netting myself a textbook "skier's thumb." doctor casts at the base area, and we head back to the motel. i feel terrible for ending my trip early, and worse when it's suggested that we just bag the whole thing and head home. next morning we drive up to alta for t-shirts, run into Gordy Peifer in the parking lot (pro guy that was in mags at the time) and, upon hearing that we're from the midwest, says that he'll take us into the backcountry two days later (!!!). then we hear that a 24" storm is moving in. instead of prompting us to miss a day or two of school and ski fresh backcountry snow with a pro (i promised to tape my pole to my hand), the decision is made to leave even earlier, to prevent getting trapped in SLC by the storm. years later i want to punch everyone, including myself, for passing up the opportunity.

A PRO SKIER NAMED GORDY, PERFECT!!!!!

I think if I am going to continue to bike when drunk I should get a helmet. I just made the mistake of telling my friend about 88 and she got really, really angry with me. I thought it was kinda cool.

MY BEST CRASHES HAVE BEEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE.

MY WORST CRASHES HAVE BEEN BECAUSE PEDS ARE STUPID!!

Drunk cycling is so unutterably dangerous if there's any traffic at all. I know I always hate fun but caek, I kind of agree with your friend.

Wow. You must get invited to all the good parties.

like laurel i have not had a really big one as an adult, touch wood. absolute worst bike injury tho was when i was... three? foot got caught and mangled in back wheel of mother's bike while she was riding around with me in seat on the back. foot in plaster for weeks!

83. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf-tUBLN7uw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ou3p6okTw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLami3rKMSg

: (

I started watching that, it looks pretty sad. A guy that used to post on another bike forum I was on had a similar injury, hugely depressing. Hope Murray keeps on fighting.

What number are we on?

Crossing a railroad track (the kind where the road is paved level with the top of the rail) at a funny angle, my front wheel got LODGED in the crack and sent me into what was a probably awesome to watch forward flip that ended with my bike on my back with one leg caught in the frame. haha. I'm okay though. Just got some gnarly stigmata palm wounds and had to realign my handlebar.

Went through a very orange light turning right through a big, busy intersection, an oncoming car anticipated their green light and t-boned me, I was flung about 6 metres (car was going abt 60km/h). A lot of skin off cheek, badly broken thumb (had a pin put in), knees and elbows were bad. And of course it happened on one of the few times I wasn't wearing gloves. Still got scars all over my knuckles. My aluminium Bianchi was about 25 metres down the road, totally destroyed. I dented the shit out the front of the RAV 4. I still even have a bit of a scar on my calf from the car's grill.

those both sound scary. ive yet to be seriously hit by a car, i know im due.

I've been hit by a car 2 other times, both were relatively minor and unremarkable.

Although I think my right elbow is a bit permanently fucked up from one of the incidents. The bone's a bit more like swollen than my left one. But movement is fine.

this thread is really hard to read.

maybe i'm just really squeamish.

82. En route to alleycat in July (start point on the beach in South Boston). Big thunderstorm starts, and Day Blvd, right on the water, starts flooding out. I hit a water-filled pothole and go flying (luckily I had a helmet on) - over the bars, headfirst into curb, shoulder totally fucked up.

Partially torn pectoral muscle, which luckily healed on its own - somehow I managed to fix my flat and get about 8-10 miles into the race before I decided I needed to go to the hospital.

81. Riding to work a couple years ago. Car runs red light, narrowly misses pedestrian with walk signal, smashes into me - I fly up and hit my head on their windshield. Wake up lying on the sidewalk a few minutes later. Grade 3 concussion and dislocated jaw.

A friend of mine has a pretty genius story about getting sideswiped by the Scorpions' tour bus a couple months ago.

Key post-crash quote from a concerned Scorpion: "Look, my band is playing a show in Boston; you can come check us out and we can talk about what to do next."

ha!

Also, torn pec = YAOW

I was following this thread because it was kind of hilarious to read at the beginning but the last three (not incl scorpions bus) are pretty terrifying

(NB: friend who got hit by Scorpions was cuet girl, natch.)

xp - there's also the obligatory "first time trying to trackstand in SPDs" and "forgot to tighten front axle bolts after changing flat" stories. They don't all end in Percocet.

"FORGOT TO TIGHTEN" IS LIKE MY WORST NIGHTMARE

I kind of want to start a parody thread of this on another board where everybody pretends to be an old test pilot/astronaut/cosmonaut from the sixties

incl cameo by Ham, the first orbiting American

oh wait sorry that was Enos

2 teammates (riding on the left and right wings) narrowly escaped this CAT4 carnage just about 300m from the finish. really, you owe it to yourself to just press play and watch the whole slideshow.... insanity:

http://hcphoto.smugmug.com/DBC-My-Home-Team/Bariani-Road-Race/2010-Bariani-RR-Elite-4-Crash/11571149_7pk3X

That is mental. Just as you think it MUST be over someone else goes down (I particularly like the dude on the left who thinks he's got away with it and then basically his entire front wheel disappears into a hole). Were there any bad injuries?

This was part of a weekend stage event (Saturday am TT, Sat pm Crit, Sunday Road Race)... Sunday attendance was down (as to be expected after that madness) but one racer said that quite a few people showed up to the Sunday race with blood on their kits and when asked about their injuries they casually mentioned that the blood was not their own!!! D:

this thread makes me want to stop riding already (only been on a bike since jan 1).

13 yrs old, bmx. big air off speed bump. bike parallel to ground, bars turned, landed on face. whole side of my right eyebrow was gone. more unfortunate is the hair

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/118/l_ca7ddc1edbbd4fe19d9c99dd4dc12caf.jpg

the race linked above was super flat and fast which is why you see such a huge crowd at the finish. normally there's more wind and weather involved (according to dudes who raced the last few years), like last year the 4s came down to a sprint of six (after showers, huge gusts of wind and even a little hail for good measure).

dudes said they were coming into that dip at around 32mph which is why you see such delays in crashes (esp on the fringe), dudes were probably still going 20+ into those gullies, gravel and the poor guy who launched into the barbed wire fence!

D:

http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=90c2bedc-0921-43b1-911f-89ba0487322e.html#bicycle+breaks+crash

It's made slightly more amusing by the shot of Shelley Evans walking away with "ouch" written on her jersey. Also here bike is a BMC which leads me to question the wisdom of buying a carbon one.

weird, the initial weighted impact on the front end of the bike is obviously pretty severe but the impact that seems to cause the separation of the frame would seem to be much more slight-- basically just the weight of the bike- 15 lbs?- tumbling forward.

just done a quick calculation, assuming the wheel that hit got 2m in the air and was stationery (it wasn't it was moving forward) this means it hit the ground at about 6.5 m/s. Let say it decelerates in the deflection of the tyre, wheel and elastic deformation of the frame, say 30mm. This works out as a deceleration of about 650 m s^-2 which translates to about 4.3 kN. Not going to work it though to the strain on the joints at the frame but a 4.3kN shock load on the frame in a direction it wasn't designed for just after the first crash had given it another one would probably do it.

http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/20102828-128093.jpg

ouch

tbh i'd take the grassy shoulder over the cobbles imo

not safe for... the weak of constitution?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvJBNiEVSug

is it as bad as that description makes it sound?!

basically helmet cam pov (+sound) of a car failing to yield and dude faceplanting on the pavement, camera recording everything (incl. trickle of blood from head/face to pavement).

http://www.steephill.tv/2010/tour-de-suisse/photos/stage-04/

is this the cav crash? i heard baout it on the radio this morning, not sure i want to watch after their "skin off everywhere" description!

http://estaticos01.marca.com/albumes/2010/06/15/vuelta_suiza/1276624581_extras_albumes_0.jpg

crabon fribe rims: ultimate stiffness

mmm tacos...

not that stiff, I'm surprised by how elastic it is.

That picture is incredible

wha'happened

Cav' touched wheels with haussler rocking the bike in the sprint and fell bringing down the peleton. Petacchi got round for the win, pretty much everyone else got held up. The sequence of Boonen trying to avoid riding over Cav's head is priceless.

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/PIC118668234.jpg

vid here, Cav pretty all over the place, not holding his line. if you pull this shit in a novice race you will get reprimanded in a major way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=-RNAYR3KPIg

okay, he was fined and will be disciplined, and his fellow riders are not pleased... i'll post on the pro/tour thread.

80. Left turn, hit wet trolley tracks at speed, front wheel slips, gets stuck in tracks, I go down in slow mo. Some road rash, handle bars don't look so good. Encouraged by number of cyclists and motorists who stopped to ask if I was ok.

xp guilty lol at the guy who goes over the bars at 1:22. If you watch him from 1:15 he's all "tum te tum te tum te la de da de diddly dee OH SHIT!"

oh yeah there he is in the pic above, 173.

fuck Cav imo. sore loser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nqQpe_Yytc

shiiiii- that looked bad

I can't watch vids like that unless I know that actually no-one was seriously hurt. Please reassure me.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jixm7CmfKDc/TCmJ2vwVIeI/AAAAAAAAADI/kljWOPFlvPE/s1600/ouch+1_2_1.jpg

the aftermath = lolwut
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jixm7CmfKDc/TCmCm1qXs7I/AAAAAAAAACg/gfKeBS3yvW4/s1600/IMG_6658_3_1.JPG

bumping for the am crew.

doing it all wrong imo