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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 8, 2018 - 03:04pm PT
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Now that I have retired, I can go for my long exercise rides any day of the week, not just on the weekend. And since I'm old and retired, my rides are pretty mellow, right?
Wrong!
Oh, sure, I can't maintain the speed I once could, but apparently I can still go fast enough to put on quite a performance for the spectators. In fact the nice woman that helped sponge off the blood said my cartwheel was really spectacular.
As far as I can tell, I didn't break any bones, but everything in my upper back, shoulders, and neck hurts like hell, and I know, I just know, it's going to be much, much worse tomorrow.
And my bike? Total write-off. This is an old chrome-moly lugged frame that could take on a Sherman tank with no trouble, but check out the new curvaceous shape of the down tube...
I was blasting along a bike path, and saw that the path ahead, where it crossed a driveway, was blocked by a big cherry picker, with a guy up high pruning branches away from a power line. But no problem, cuz the driveway offered access to a big parking lot for a Subway sandwich place and a gas station. Hardly any cars in the lot, and I knew there was another driveway just ahead that would put me back on the bike path.
Not even any need to slow down. Yeah, except for the concrete divider I didn't notice until I was about two inches from it. I tried to get my front wheel up, but it was far too late and I was suddenly in the air, doing a perfect cartwheel. Well, perfect except for the fact that I only completed about two thirds of it before landing on my head and shoulder. Thank god for helmets.
Here's the bike, standing against the divider. It was about six inches high, and maybe six feet across. I was going fast enough that my front flip completely cleared it, and I landed about three feet past the far side.
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snakefoot
climber
Nor Cal
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Ouch! does the front tire rub now and is that frame bend new?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 8, 2018 - 03:20pm PT
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Ouch! does the front tire rub now and is that frame bend new?
Yeah, the frame bend is new. Hit that concrete edge so hard I bent the down tube. Didn't think that was even possible.
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Gorgeous George
Trad climber
Los Angeles, California
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It's not really a stunt unless you can repeat it.
I once had a car pass me to turn right into a parking lot, causing me to hit the rear passenger quarter panel, fly over the trunk, and land on my feet and butt on the other side.
Witnesses commented it was a great trick, they thought I just knew how to land athletically.
jg
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Todd Eastman
Social climber
Putney, VT
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More of a crit frame now...
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Interesting...usually the fork bends in that sort of encounter before the down tube. Glad you weren't more seriously hurt.
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WBraun
climber
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You could have been seriously hurt.
Good thing that didn't happen as there is always danger at every step.
Why was this slab there to begin with?
Are you short? Like 5 foot 5 inches?
Because the seat on the bicycle is so low?
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Ghost,
Glad you are more or less ok. Could have been a lot worse.
We rented a house in Santa Barbara our last year in school, and we used to commute about 10 miles to UCSB each way. We would usually ride as a group of 5 and do a pace line on the bike path. After class we would meet in IV at Seranitos, and down $1.50 pitchers of crap beer while feasting on the free appetizers for dinner. After that we would pace line back to SB.
One night we got to the terminus of the bike path and noticed we were only 4. We waited and then backtracked to find Matt with a similar new bend in his down tube, a sheared off top tube, and a grass stain that that went from his chin to his toes. Seems 'ol Matt had gotten cornfused in the dark, after being dropped, and taken a concrete drain that ended in a 24" high culvert instead of the bike path. He never saw it. All he remembers is flying like SuperMan for about 20' and making a nice belly landing on a patch of grass. His victory slide stopped just short of the street.
He was riding a Schwinn Continental (a tank in it's own right). He stripped the frame for parts in hung it our house as an art piece.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Doh! Pain is temporary, glory lasts forever, and chicks dig scars.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Glad you didn’t dent your melon!
DMT
Ha! Good one!
Glad you're okay David!
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Whoa. So yer okay? Damn. Bikes are cheep. Injury not so much. On a similar vein, I plowed into a car as a kid--long steep hill, rain, crappy rim brakes on shiny rims= no braking--and flipped over the top and landed on my feet on the other side. Only a few bruises. Kids and drunks, eh?
BAd
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jbaker
Trad climber
Redwood City, CA
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Ouch! I did the same thing years ago, also running into a concrete block. The frame looked almost the same, and was toast.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Better to be lucky than good, eh?
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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I had a “gazing accident “once ,not saying you did,it definitely gave me something.
Hope you are all good.
IPAT
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 8, 2018 - 07:23pm PT
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Hope you are all good
Well, no, I'm not. But I may be less bad. Which ain't nothing. Upper back is calming down, but if any of you out there has a spare neck you can send me, I'd sure appreciate it.
But all that sh#t aside -- I'll recover -- big thanks to Steve Grossman. I managed to get him on the phone once I had my sh#t vaguely together after the crash, and he came to the accident scene and threw me and my bike into his van (I got a seat) and took me home.
Frame is trash. Still, it's seen me through almost forty years of road riding, so, rather than complain, I'll raise a glass in toast to it tonight. And, speaking of toasts, thank god for a fridge full of beer and a cellar full of wine. If I had some Vicodin stashed away, I'd be seriously into it now, but... Yeah, no Vicodin, but the alcohol is working its magic.
And Werner, thanks for your concern. Much appreciated. While I am hardly tall, I'm not a complete shrimp. 5'8". Or, at least I was 5'8" before I got old. But, whatever height, that bike was perfect. An extension of my body.
And not just thanks to Werner, but to all of you. I'll report back in the morning.
D
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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Thanks Steve , man.
They will make more bikes.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Maybe someone can chime in with some more specific advice.
You mean like talk to a good lawyer? I see a lot of mental anguish in this.
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