Originally posted by lischoux
If you have not crashed, you're not a cyclist yet !
Please share your crash story with the rest of us.
... Mine will follow !
Got me a Trek 5200 and took it on it's maiden voyage... don't know what happened exactly but physics and logical reasoning let me to deduce the following events:
After a 10% descent there is a dip in the road between Prevost and Echo Lake (here in Quebec), just before you get to a small bridge and another uphill section... Last July I took my 5200 there and did the descent at a rather decent 50 km/h before going out of the saddle and sprinting the short uphill section... Well I dunno if I hit anything but I may have hit the handlebar with my knee...
Since I've been riding my Trek 1200 a lot before, I think that the ultra-light carbon 5200 was reacting much more nervously than the heavier 1200 (aluminum) and I either over- or underreacted.... The ride became unstable and I basically did a rodeo of the right side towards the ground. I may have sommersaulted over the handlebar but I have no recollection of this. The thing I clearly remember is my position much further right of where the bike was … and my vision of my right arm extending, the black-gloved hand spreading out and the road surface in the background of the hand coming closer and closer…
I hit the road with my hand first, scraping over the asphalt, then the right lower arm, the elbow and at the same time my right hip and my right shoulder slamming the road. Finally my right knee and foot also hit (and scraped) the surface. I was convinced that I was finally on the ground… When my head hit. And it hit hard. Actually I was surprised at how hard it hit that it startled me.
The entire fall probably took no more that a second or so… to me it seemed MUCH MUCH longer.
Conclusion:
Hip - bruised
Glove - trash
Arm and elbow - scraped (took 3 weks to heal and left nice "tatoos"
Shoulder - Hurt like hell for about 3 weeks, then hurt a bit for another 3 weeks...
Bike - basically ok, saddle scraped and the brakehandles need replacement.
Looks like I bore the brunt of the crash (and I heal nicely)