zixaq
Well-known member
Every crash seems to be a confluence of several things going wrong at once. In this case, all (maybe sans one slick spot) of those things were my fault. Lesson learned.
Heading home from SFMC movie night on Saturday, I was goofing off a bit and was braking at what I thought was hard but reasonable rate on Dolores. I was down to about 35-40 mph coming up to a stop sign when the front lost traction and immediately went wobbly. Next thing I know I'm tumbling/sliding into the curb. Here's everything I think I did wrong:
1) Riding too fast and braking too aggressively for conditions. The roads were still wet and my tires were probably still cold. Actin like I had normal traction was a mistake.
2) Not expecting some kind of slick spot to show up. Happens rarely, but does happen, and I wasn't ready.
3) Putting weight on the bars. If I had been light on the bars, could have eased off the brakes and saved it no fuss, but I wasn't. I'm going to change my bar setup to reduce the temptation to lean on them and be more conscientious of this.
4) Not wearing riding pants. Lost most of the skin on my right knee for no reason. The rest of my gear did a pretty good job. Denim is completely useless as protection.
I'm paying for my mistakes with a broken thumb and some cracked ribs, and assorted minor bruises and road rash. Helmet did a great job and I've already ordered another one (Bell RS-1). The bike survived without any major mechanical problems, although all the plastic was shattered and needs replaced, so once I can use my stupid thumb again I'll be off to P&C to get that mended.
Heading home from SFMC movie night on Saturday, I was goofing off a bit and was braking at what I thought was hard but reasonable rate on Dolores. I was down to about 35-40 mph coming up to a stop sign when the front lost traction and immediately went wobbly. Next thing I know I'm tumbling/sliding into the curb. Here's everything I think I did wrong:
1) Riding too fast and braking too aggressively for conditions. The roads were still wet and my tires were probably still cold. Actin like I had normal traction was a mistake.
2) Not expecting some kind of slick spot to show up. Happens rarely, but does happen, and I wasn't ready.
3) Putting weight on the bars. If I had been light on the bars, could have eased off the brakes and saved it no fuss, but I wasn't. I'm going to change my bar setup to reduce the temptation to lean on them and be more conscientious of this.
4) Not wearing riding pants. Lost most of the skin on my right knee for no reason. The rest of my gear did a pretty good job. Denim is completely useless as protection.
I'm paying for my mistakes with a broken thumb and some cracked ribs, and assorted minor bruises and road rash. Helmet did a great job and I've already ordered another one (Bell RS-1). The bike survived without any major mechanical problems, although all the plastic was shattered and needs replaced, so once I can use my stupid thumb again I'll be off to P&C to get that mended.