Had my first lay down today: Minor low side with documented pics

[SNsMoto]

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!

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mod edit: the wide photos made the frame too wide to fit text on screen so I linked them--DD

 

[IAmA M0t0r Ridεr]

Looking at the tire and the sand patch, it looks like you locked the front, do you remember doing that?

Wow, hairline fracture on the knee, unlucky for such low speeds. Nice job on checking yourself in the hospital. Get well soon.

 

[GAJ]

Glad you and the bike came out relatively unscathed.

You say you saw the sand/gravel before going down, when you saw the sand/gravel did you use primarily your rear brake?

If not, do you think that might have prevented this particular sudden low side?

Were those regular jeans or kevlar jeans?

 

[SNsMoto]

Looking at the tire and the sand patch, it looks like you locked the front, do you remember doing that?

Wow, hairline fracture on the knee, unlucky for such low speeds. Nice job on checking yourself in the hospital. Get well soon.

I'm not sure. I do just remember skidding and the front just quickly sliding out. I guess it locked up? After a day has passed im thinking. I might have a fractured collar bone as well.

Glad you and the bike came out relatively unscathed.

You say you saw the sand/gravel before going down, when you saw the sand/gravel did you use primarily your rear brake?

If not, do you think that might have prevented this particular sudden low side?

Were those regular jeans or kevlar jeans?

I did not see the gravel prior to going down. I was applying all brake pressure on the front.

Im sure using the rear brake even lightly would have taken some of the load transfer away from the front and could have kept me up. I seldom use the rear brake unless i have a passenger. If i had seen the gravel ahead of time i probably would have instinctually used my rear brake.

Those are regular jeans.

 

[rodr]

Good to see it was not worse!

Did your jacket have elbow armor? Mine does but I worry that it won't stay in place in a crash.

As for the cause of the crash, kinda sounds like complacency. We get accustomed to our skills in common situations and forget to be vigilant for the uncommon. Does that fit?

 

[GAJ]

I did not see the gravel prior to going down.

My mistake, I misread that.

Glad you and your bike are relatively unscathed.

There are detractors of sliders on bikes out there but I have also seen how they can save hundreds of dollars in a spill.

Hope you have a quick and complete recovery from your fracture.

 

[SNsMoto]

After a day has passed, I think I may have fractured my collar bone as well from the impact on my shoulder. Will see how it feels tomorrow. So far, I can extend my arm without issue. Hoping it's just soreness and not anything else, otherwise, back to the hospital.

 

[EastBayDave]

After a day has passed, I think I may have fractured my collar bone as well from the impact on my shoulder. Will see how it feels tomorrow. So far, I can extend my arm without issue. Hoping it's just soreness and not anything else, otherwise, back to the hospital.

This time go w/the hospital your insured with. County hospitals anywhere are for the uninsured, or wait 4-7 hours for service. They SHOULD have seen you sooner knowing it was a bike crash...moroons.

It's clear f/the pics you simply locked the front in the sand/gravel. Think I've -almost- done this several times. Keeps reminding me when pulling off, you should have slowed to a walking pace & dragging your feet, before pulling out of the right side tire track, just in case. If you start to go a quick foot "dab" (ah la dirtbike) can save you too.

Lost count of how many times I've done this and almost bailed. Nowadays I really slow to a crawl before pulling off; suggest you do same. You also have to watch when you get into the dirt/gravel as it's hella slippery too. I once rode a buds ABS Bmw to the side (after a "musical-bikes" session), & dang lucky I had ABS or it would have gone down. Shew! :teeth

Just use ultra-caution anytime your off the "tire-tracks" in the center of road, pulling off, ...or not. Slippy city man...:ride

 

[KazMan]

Welcome to the club :teeth and glad you are for the most part ok.:thumbup Could have hit the curb!

I think the biggest comment I would make is that you were thinking about your friends, your phone, the map app, etc.

You may have missed seeing the big gravel/sand walk way which could have given you a heads up. I typically try to scan anything that is not on the car tracks as something where debris will build up and even more so when I see gravel adjacent to the roadway.

Learned this same lesson long ago...:laughing Again, glad you are ok, and hoping for the best on your collar bone.

 

[danate]

It helps to really put that warning in your brain that when traction looks bad, get off that front brake. +1 for ABS as well.

I was going pretty high speed along highway 1 once and tried to stop pretty fast to make a turn I almost missed. Tons of gravel and sand on the side of the road and I almost aborted, but I felt ABS doing it's thing and just kept braking. Pretty amazing feeling ABS working when you would otherwise have gone down.

 

[SNsMoto]

This time go w/the hospital your insured with. County hospitals anywhere are for the uninsured, or wait 4-7 hours for service. They SHOULD have seen you sooner knowing it was a bike crash...moroons.

It's clear f/the pics you simply locked the front in the sand/gravel. Think I've -almost- done this several times. Keeps reminding me when pulling off, you should have slowed to a walking pace & dragging your feet, before pulling out of the right side tire track, just in case. If you start to go a quick foot "dab" (ah la dirtbike) can save you too.

Lost count of how many times I've done this and almost bailed. Nowadays I really slow to a crawl before pulling off; suggest you do same. You also have to watch when you get into the dirt/gravel as it's hella slippery too. I once rode a buds ABS Bmw to the side (after a "musical-bikes" session), & dang lucky I had ABS or it would have gone down. Shew! :teeth

Just use ultra-caution anytime your off the "tire-tracks" in the center of road, pulling off, ...or not. Slippy city man...:ride

Dragging my feet? Can you explain? I was always under the impression that dragging your feet while the bike is moving is not a good practice to get in to.

You can believe I will now always use ultra caution when coming off the tire tracks! :thumbup

Welcome to the club :teeth and glad you are for the most part ok.:thumbup Could have hit the curb!

I think the biggest comment I would make is that you were thinking about your friends, your phone, the map app, etc.

You may have missed seeing the big gravel/sand walk way which could have given you a heads up. I typically try to scan anything that is not on the car tracks as something where debris will build up and even more so when I see gravel adjacent to the roadway.

Learned this same lesson long ago...:laughing Again, glad you are ok, and hoping for the best on your collar bone.

Sounds right. I definitely was not as alert as I normally was. I'm sure it played a huge part in my lack of concentration. I was so hungry lol.

 

[EastBayDave]

Dragging my feet? Can you explain? I was always under the impression that dragging your feet while the bike is moving is not a good practice to get in to.

You can believe I will now always use ultra caution when coming off the tire tracks! :thumbup

Sounds right. I definitely was not as alert as I normally was. I'm sure it played a huge part in my lack of concentration. I was so hungry lol.

well w/me this is an old habit dating back to my dirt riding days of the mid-late 60's, & early 70's on crap tires on streetbikes. If/when you get into a slippery situation, dragging a foot can save you from lowsiding if you do a "dab" w/your foot when the front tire starts to slide out.

All dirt riders use this, but many new street riders never have tried it. Take a look at any flat-track race, & everyone's doing it at speed. They vary the amount of bike slide by amount of weight put on the foot. This is not very relevant to street riding, but maybe others can help me be descriptive here.

Dragging your foot coming off the road onto the dirt/gravel is always a way to keep you from crashing. That's it, nothing special about it. Tire slides out, you stick your INSIDE foot out & apply pressure to keep from falling the rest of the way over. That's it...same as dragging your knee at speed, but this is at extremely slow speed...

Maybe others can help me describe this. I'm on me first cup of jo' :teeth

 

[billswim]

If that small amount of sand caused you to lose the front, you were WAY too hard on the brakes. Threshold braking is all well and good for practice, race track and emergency situations but not a good idea simply coming to a stop on the side of the road.

 

[fawndog]

The biggest red flag to me is that big ass stretch of sand, where there should be a sidewalk. Be observant to environmental conditions like that, and tree lined twisty roads, these situations should tell a rider "it may be slippery on the side of the road".
:thumbup

 

[SNsMoto]

4 or 5 month bump?

Well guess to update: My rotator cuff is still healing. Much better than before. Almost back to full lifting at the gym.

If that small amount of sand caused you to lose the front, you were WAY too hard on the brakes. Threshold braking is all well and good for practice, race track and emergency situations but not a good idea simply coming to a stop on the side of the road.

I don't think I was going too hard on the brakes. I was planning my braking without the knowledge of the sand being there. The sand and my fast speed obviously changed that after the fact-- making the brake pressure too much for those two variables. I agree.

 

[pt65]

collarbone

As to the accident:

That amount of sand, in close traffic, while holding the front brake in order to stop, is enough to lock up the front wheel and tuck your front.

If you have not been riding long, as you gain experience you will be better able to avoid this kind of outcome even in exactly the same situation: You will see the sand before you roll over it, you will feel the front going and release the brake before you tuck it.

If you have been riding for a few years, maybe you've just been lucky and really need to start concentrating more on what youre doing.

As to the injury:

By all means, get the collar bone checked, but in my far too many years experience in rugby, if you fractured your collar bone, you would be in extreme pain, especially when lying down and getting up. You might not even be able to get dressed on your own.

A full break would have you in extreme pain as well as your shoulder / arm movement pretty much fully immobilized.

More likely is a sprain type injury or even a "mild" shoulder separation. All that holds the bones in your shoulder together is ligaments and muscles. The shoulder is by far most articulatable joint in the body = the most complicated as well.

The following is a roadside / fieldside injury test:

Standing, with your back straight, lift your arm forward, holding it straight and palm facing downwards, as far as you can.

Do the same but lift the arm out sideways as far as you can.

If you can lift the hand all the way straight up over your head, you most likely havent torn any ligaments or broken any bones in the shoulder or collar bone. Even if you have some pain or discomfort.

If you can lift your hand only to about shoulder height or slightly above, and there is a fair amount of pain, most likely you have just sprained / stretched some of the ligaments. This would be a "mild" separation.

Both of these types of injuries can be healed relatively quickly. After resting the joint for a few weeks to a month or so, swimming or swim type resistance excerises 2 to 3 times a week will have the joint healed up and probably not only back to strength but stronger than before.

However, if you cant even lift your hand half way to shoulder height, you have probably seriously damaged at least some ligaments and should definitely seek medical assistance.

And, as a rule, when you actually tear a ligament, fingers, shoulders, knees, you actually dont feel any pain initially. Its when you've pulled, strained, stretched a ligament that you feel pain.

Torn finger ligaments are easy to see: your finger feels straight, but where the ligament is torn, its just bent. Torn finger ligaments are the easiest to fix: splint them straight for 6 weeks and your ready to go again. But, the bigger the ligament, the longer it takes to heal. Knee MCL's for example take 8 to 12 weeks just to get mostly healed. Full healing takes up to 16 weeks. Over that time, full use can gradually and incrementally be restored.

Anyway, a good luck and good that it was all only minor damage.