SNsMoto
Don't be that guy.
It happened yesterday afternoon at around Noon. I was on my way to meet two friends for brunch in downtown Willow Glen (San Jose). I realize I made a wrong turn so I decide to pull over and stop to check my phone for directions. I slow down and make my way to the sidewalk next to a park. BAM. It happened so fast. I had no idea what happened. I'm thinking I was going around 10-15mph when I went down.
I remembered hitting my helmet and skidding a little bit. When I collect myself, my bike is on top of my right leg, but I'm able to get it free. There were very nice people that came by from the park to assist. All offered amazing help and a few were pepper-haired riders offering me to drive their car and they would ride my bike somewhere safe. AMAZING people. :thumbup
I look around and see a patch of sand that I hit and immediately get upset with myself. I've been riding long enough to know better.
What could I have done differently? Been more alert and scanning ahead. I wasn't going at reckless speeds by any means, but I might've been a little more spirited so that made me apply more brake pressure as well to slow down in a shorter distance. If I had been scanning ahead and saw the gravel, I could have decided to pass through the gravel then applying the brake pressure after. Just a stupid lackadaisical decision on my part.
Gear: It saved me HUGE amounts of grief. 10-15 mph tore my jeans up like butter. You can see where my boots, jacket, gloves, and helmet took the impact. Of course, the only real injury I had was to my knee, which had no armor. I'm so thankful for the other gear which did their job PERFECTLY.
Why do I not wear leg armor? After riding a few years years, it's just a conscience decision I make of practicality vs comfort when I go out. It's my decision and I'm okay with it. Might start thinking differently about that. I do have slip on leg armor.
You can even see that even with armor, my forearm and shoulders got abrasions.
The frame sliders on my bike did a MARVELOUS job taking 95% of the damage. The only known visible damage on the actual bike would be the left bar end and small scuffs next to the left headlight.
All in all, a very slow speed crash does cause quite a bit of grief. So glad I wear majority of my gear even during this heat. I could have been in horrible shape.
I wound up riding off and checked myself in to the hospital. Learn from me, do NOT ever go to the county hospital. If you have insurance, go to a private hospital. The county hospital was packed and I was there for almost 5 hours just to get cleaned up and x-rays (small hairline fracture in my knee).
Anyway, ride safe out there!
http://i.imgur.com/Dd4qizY.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tcYz2hp.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QDSqmzQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tRHFJ5K.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EpRN6tS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/altVtcn.jpg
mod edit: the wide photos made the frame too wide to fit text on screen so I linked them--DD
I remembered hitting my helmet and skidding a little bit. When I collect myself, my bike is on top of my right leg, but I'm able to get it free. There were very nice people that came by from the park to assist. All offered amazing help and a few were pepper-haired riders offering me to drive their car and they would ride my bike somewhere safe. AMAZING people. :thumbup
I look around and see a patch of sand that I hit and immediately get upset with myself. I've been riding long enough to know better.
What could I have done differently? Been more alert and scanning ahead. I wasn't going at reckless speeds by any means, but I might've been a little more spirited so that made me apply more brake pressure as well to slow down in a shorter distance. If I had been scanning ahead and saw the gravel, I could have decided to pass through the gravel then applying the brake pressure after. Just a stupid lackadaisical decision on my part.
Gear: It saved me HUGE amounts of grief. 10-15 mph tore my jeans up like butter. You can see where my boots, jacket, gloves, and helmet took the impact. Of course, the only real injury I had was to my knee, which had no armor. I'm so thankful for the other gear which did their job PERFECTLY.
Why do I not wear leg armor? After riding a few years years, it's just a conscience decision I make of practicality vs comfort when I go out. It's my decision and I'm okay with it. Might start thinking differently about that. I do have slip on leg armor.
You can even see that even with armor, my forearm and shoulders got abrasions.
The frame sliders on my bike did a MARVELOUS job taking 95% of the damage. The only known visible damage on the actual bike would be the left bar end and small scuffs next to the left headlight.
All in all, a very slow speed crash does cause quite a bit of grief. So glad I wear majority of my gear even during this heat. I could have been in horrible shape.
I wound up riding off and checked myself in to the hospital. Learn from me, do NOT ever go to the county hospital. If you have insurance, go to a private hospital. The county hospital was packed and I was there for almost 5 hours just to get cleaned up and x-rays (small hairline fracture in my knee).
Anyway, ride safe out there!
http://i.imgur.com/Dd4qizY.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tcYz2hp.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QDSqmzQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tRHFJ5K.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EpRN6tS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/altVtcn.jpg
mod edit: the wide photos made the frame too wide to fit text on screen so I linked them--DD
Last edited: