Crash number 2

[Seth Cooper]

"If you can't be a good example, be a horrible warning".

Riding to work on the V in the morning, foggy and semi-dark. Missed seeing the bike path hitch right to go around the start of a ditch that began to run parallel to the path, all of a sudden I am pointed right at a concrete culvert with 2' drop into a pile of big rocks.

Grab the brakes. Carbon rims. Damp from the fog? Not enough help.
There is a 6' section of grass before the ditch. Without thinking I laid the bike down on it and slid to a stop on my side about a foot from the drop.

I laughed at my stupidity in thinking I knew the route and could see well enough to go the speed I was going. The fog was such that I could see shapes that stood up, but not the ground surface very well. I was happy that without thinking I did the only thing I could have done and it worked out.


Seth

 

[DavidCH]

Pleased you can live to tell the tale. I remember practicing going around dusty gritty corners too fast. Similar story with the ditch but fortunately I had a chain mail fence that took my impact so I didn't even fall off. Muddy ditches are not so good for diamond frame bikes. Front wheel gets embedded and stops quickly and the rider gets catapulted onto his head. This just recently happened to a CEO triathlete who was just getting to grips with his new bike - that was in the news. Best not go too fast in adverse conditions. He unfortunately didn't get to tell his tale.

Statistically car drivers should wear helmets as they have a much greater probability of injury (45%). Cyclists are and pedestrians are only 1% likely to injure themselves.

It's just a statistic... if you look deeper you will see that cyclists who travel faster than 20kph have more injuries than cyclists going at 10kph and that is why I wear a helmet. I would be very interested to see what the injury rate is against DF to recumbents for fast riding. Does anyone know?

 

[Seth Cooper]

I can't imagine anyone have any stats (let alone good stats) on DF vs recumbent injury rates. I don't see that there would be enough recumbent injury reports to make it statistically significant.

I agree speed would make a big difference in both crash rates and crash outcomes. FWIW, I am comfortable not wearing a helmet if I'm on a casual bike path / MUP / rail trail ride. I almost always do wear one as a habit, but I feel the risk is low enough to be comparable with other activities I do without a helmet (like walking around the house, or driving a car), recumbent or DF.

 

[Balor]

DF is much higher risk, I've avoided serious injury at least twice on DF by wearing helmet.
I've crashed a few times on a bent, mostly wheel slips followed by a slide on my butt, and you really don't need a helmet for that. Being catapulted over the bars is a very slim possibility on a bent - to low CG.

 

[tiltmaniac]

I can't imagine anyone have any stats (let alone good stats) on DF vs recumbent injury rates. I don't see that there would be enough recumbent injury reports to make it statistically significant.

I agree speed would make a big difference in both crash rates and crash outcomes. FWIW, I am comfortable not wearing a helmet if I'm on a casual bike path / MUP / rail trail ride. I almost always do wear one as a habit, but I feel the risk is low enough to be comparable with other activities I do without a helmet (like walking around the house, or driving a car), recumbent or DF.

Those casual bike paths actually have higher accident rates, FWIW.

 

[Seth Cooper]

Those casual bike paths actually have higher accident rates, FWIW.

I can believe that. Bike paths have a lot of pedestrian / cyclist interaction, and a lot of close pass opportunities, so makes sense if that is the kind of accidents that happen. Doesn't change my feeling on when to wear a helmet. Helmet use for me is a balance of likelihood of a crash and possible severity. Mountain biking (for me) has high likelihood of crashing and high severity (lots of rocks and trees, medium speeds), so helmet is a must. Road biking (for me) has lower likelihood of crashing, but very high severity (high speeds, cars). MUPs have medium likelihood of crashing, but low severity (lower speeds, no cars, no trees).

 

[benphyr]

Don't want to create a pedestal to spout from but I would love to convince you all to wear helmets whenever you bike:

Ever sit on one of those test chairs at the science centre to see what happens without a seat belt? You sit down on a chair it speeds up to only 10km/h which is very slow for biking, then it stops dead to simulate hitting a solid object - wall, parked transport truck, median, etc. You go flying out of the chair. Same thing for your head on the bike only the thing you hit is the biggest immovable object - Earth - and it usually doesn't give much though it might slide or scratch.

Ever drop a watermelon or a pumpkin? Helmets protect the melon. It's not the superficial crack that worries me so much as the scrambling inside that really counts.

When I was in high school I biked out to the end of the driveway and our dog used to run with me to the neighbours' or wherever. The afternoon in question I was only halfway down the driveway so maybe 40-50' of riding to get up to speed (not fast as a 100lbs wimp) and the dog decided for whatever reason to go left. Well, at the time he was just to the right of my front wheel so when he turned left my front wheel turned left with him. Needless to say he was surprised and so was I. Thankfully he was not hurt and my injuries were minor. I did a full forward somersault in the air with some kind of twist, landed on my back and proceeded to do a couple backwards somersaults and ended with the back of my head stopped within millimeters of a pointy rock sticking up from the driveway. Not very much speed but plenty to give a very bad crack of the skull considering how much momentum was in my puny little body but it confirmed to me that helmets are worth it even when it seems all is completely under control and the speeds are slow.

To put it another way, ever walk into a wall or door that you forget is there or forget is closed? That is at walking speed (5km/h or 3mph) and it hurts and it was probably a glancing blow and you probably started to react subconsciously before you hit it just like your eyes blink if some dirt flies up in a baseball game. If you drop your head from riding height it will be going much faster before you even factor in any bicycling speed. Ignoring things like friction and objects in your way such as the rest of your body, and only falling from 1m on a Cruzbike that would put your head hitting the ground in 0.45 seconds at a speed of 16km/h (10mph). Seems like a more than fair comparison to travelling on a path at any speed which would increase the force and your body/bike absorbing some of the impact with the ground balancing some of that speed.

Just some thoughts hoping to convince you all to keep your heads.

 

[super slim]

Don't want to create a pedestal to spout from but I would love to convince you all to wear helmets whenever you bike:

Ever sit on one of those test chairs at the science centre to see what happens without a seat belt? You sit down on a chair it speeds up to only 10km/h which is very slow for biking, then it stops dead to simulate hitting a solid object - wall, parked transport truck, median, etc. You go flying out of the chair. Same thing for your head on the bike only the thing you hit is the biggest immovable object - Earth - and it usually doesn't give much though it might slide or scratch.

Ever drop a watermelon or a pumpkin? Helmets protect the melon. It's not the superficial crack that worries me so much as the scrambling inside that really counts.

When I was in high school I biked out to the end of the driveway and our dog used to run with me to the neighbours' or wherever. The afternoon in question I was only halfway down the driveway so maybe 40-50' of riding to get up to speed (not fast as a 100lbs wimp) and the dog decided for whatever reason to go left. Well, at the time he was just to the right of my front wheel so when he turned left my front wheel turned left with him. Needless to say he was surprised and so was I. Thankfully he was not hurt and my injuries were minor. I did a full forward somersault in the air with some kind of twist, landed on my back and proceeded to do a couple backwards somersaults and ended with the back of my head stopped within millimeters of a pointy rock sticking up from the driveway. Not very much speed but plenty to give a very bad crack of the skull considering how much momentum was in my puny little body but it confirmed to me that helmets are worth it even when it seems all is completely under control and the speeds are slow.

To put it another way, ever walk into a wall or door that you forget is there or forget is closed? That is at walking speed (5km/h or 3mph) and it hurts and it was probably a glancing blow and you probably started to react subconsciously before you hit it just like your eyes blink if some dirt flies up in a baseball game. If you drop your head from riding height it will be going much faster before you even factor in any bicycling speed. Ignoring things like friction and objects in your way such as the rest of your body, and only falling from 1m on a Cruzbike that would put your head hitting the ground in 0.45 seconds at a speed of 16km/h (10mph). Seems like a more than fair comparison to travelling on a path at any speed which would increase the force and your body/bike absorbing some of the impact with the ground balancing some of that speed.

Just some thoughts hoping to convince you all to keep your heads.

I agree completely, as a helmet has saved me twice, when only doing 10 kph, with my helmet hitting a rock each time, that put a BIG hole in the helmet, but not my delicate head!!!

 

[Seth Cooper]

Thanks for the concern. I mean it. And I do wear a helmet a lot. In the last 8000 miles, probably 100 were without a helmet. I hit a tree with my head mountain biking two years ago. Cracked the helmet I was wearing, and still gave me a concussion bad enough that I don't remember the trip to the hospital. I am of course glad I had a helmet then.

That said, it is a risk I feel comfortable taking in the right situations. I run at 10 kph. I don't wear a helmet when I am running. Could a cyclist on a MUP hit me and knock me down and I hit my head on the ground? Absolutely. But I still am not wearing a helmet while I am running. The risk of that happening is low. Same with riding on some MUPs. Low risk of the type of accident that causes a traumatic injury.

 

[super slim]

Seth, my accidents were at 10 kph (6 mph) in the dark with poor lighting, with the front wheel hitting a steeper curb than the driveway I was aiming for, and the second, a large branch.
Both accidents within 6 months, so two new helmets, and two new powerful headlights with one on my helmet, and most importantly, a spare set of batteries!

Your stability running is much greater than riding a bike, especially if the front wheel slides sideways!