[KRob]

I had the strangest crash yesterday on my morning ride. I was JRA on a wide power line road/trail, descending at a pretty good clip when I leaned forward a bit to power through the gentle little flatter section and back up the next little swell when all of a sudden I'm end over end. It happened so fast and was so painless it was freakishly surreal. I did a nice tuck and roll only feeling my contact points later when I showered (right shoulder, left hip, knee, and heel.).

My bike was equally unscathed which was surprising because even after I did my roll it took another count or two for my bike to land 30 feet down the trail. It must've got a heck of a bounce after the initial flip. Dang, it flew a long way.

Still not sure what happened.... but I was reading an editorial in Dirt Rider yesterday by Karel Kramer in which he described a similar, but moto, event as being "flicked like a booger". The description seemed to fit.

I guess the ol' HH is getting jealous of my oogling that new Midnight Blue 6.6.

 

[Jisch]

You 2?

I guess the ol' HH is getting jealous of my oogling that new Midnight Blue 6.6.

I have had to swear off the Intense board for fear that I'm going to whip out the credit card and get on line with Wrench Sciences when I see those 6.6s. <sigh> maybe someday!

John

 

[Hollywood]

mystery wrecks

my GF was JRA on a smooth section of trail a few weeks ago, and started speeding up to catch her friend ahead of her.

When she came to, not only did she not know what happened, she didn't know what the hell she was doing in the mountains in the first place! ("how did I get outdoors???"). She broke her new helmet in 6 places from the impact and it had to be trashed. Other than that she had no injuries, just a few scrapes. She was dizzy for a few days, but no concussion.

We've since ridden by the site and there's nothing apparent that would cause a wreck. It must have been a combo of wet leaves/rocks and a slight weight shift - not sure. (cue Twilight Zone theme music)

glad y'all are ok!

 

[wooglin]

Must be the rock *rt* hit last summer. Its on a road trip.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=106133

 

[Dwight Moody]

my GF was JRA on a smooth section of trail a few weeks ago, and started speeding up to catch her friend ahead of her.

When she came to, not only did she not know what happened, she didn't know what the hell she was doing in the mountains in the first place! ("how did I get outdoors???"). She broke her new helmet in 6 places from the impact and it had to be trashed. Other than that she had no minor injuries. She was dizzy for a few days, but no concussion.

We've since ridden by the site and there's nothing apparent that would cause a wreck. It must have been a combo of wet leaves/rocks and a slight weight shift - not sure. (cue Twilight Zone theme music)

glad y'all are ok!

I had a wreck like that, including the smashed helmet but not quite forgetting how I got where I was. I think I crashed because I was shifting my weight as I hit a 1.5 inch lip I'd missed in the dappled light. But I have no idea, I was just going along and then I was picking myself off the ground.

The Twilight Zone moment was that as I started that ride I passed this hippy and his dog hanging out by a stream. He'd asked if I was riding alone, and I said yeah, then he said "Be careful."

 

[hardrockmtn]

flicked like a booger (off a bridge)

I wrecked at the Bump N Grind this summer, as well. Actually, *rt* might have seen me. I was racing the sport mens 18+ class on my brand new Rockhopper, with only 3 rides on it, none of them serious mtn biking. That may have been my first mistake.

Cruising along, desperately working to keep up with the top 5 guys that sandbag at every event in the region (GRRR, go to pro you...mean people!), the quarters got kind of tight in the seven bridges area. Add in the humidity, the soaked trail, and the mess of riders and you get some cramped, rocky, rooty, rutty, nasty muddy singletrack.

Coming up on one of the bridges (which are about 4ft above the ground in the middle), there's a rock garden that just sucks up all your momentum, so i lofted my tire onto the bridge, and everything seemed groovy as I went across. Up until the point that something happened (not sure if one of the expert men bumped my back tire or if it was my error or just lack of traction). Next thing I know I'm following my front wheel---face-first into the muddy creek bed below. Somehow, I managed to tuck under and cushion the blow so that the bike didn't get hurt. Thank god.

Never mind the fact that I was lying face first in 6 inches of water and muck with a rock in my hip and shoulder, and not just one (oh, no), but BOTH feet still clipped in. Thankfully, one of my buddies that wasn't doing so hot either stopped and jumped down to make sure I was okay, and to get the bike off me.

No sooner had we moved to the side of the creek, then two more fellas did just about the same thing I did, except one guy just lofted his tire completely OFF, while another jumped off mid-bridge for no apparent reason. They landed quite gracefully, to make it worse.

damage:
one 4-inch cut on my right hipbone, which bled throughout the rest of the race
one twisted bar end (yes, TWISTED)
one bruised shoulder
one bruise on left hip
all dignity lost

Good thing is, there were enough DNF's that even with the crash and trying to make up time, I only came in 3 minutes behind the guy in 3rd place.

Gotta love them boogers.

 

[Curious]

Aren't we all JRA when it happens?

I just started a local loop one day when I came across the usual 6" curb drop.
Maybe I didn't take the curb right or my weight was too far forward or
the biking gods frowned upon me that day. But before I could react,
my chest hit the asphault and got the wind knocked out of me. When I got up,
I saw stars and it hurt to breathe. That, and my saddle broke from the fall.
I pedaled back to my car and checked the cycle computer. 0.25 miles,
shortest ride ever. =/

 

[flyingsuperpetis]

Just thinking of how hard it feels hitting the ground at 20mph at an angle, I can't imagine this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051213/ap_on_re_us/skydiver_s_plunge

 

[benwitt11]

I know the feeling. I was coming off of this bike path, (paved,) and going through this little ditch transfer up to a parking lot, (also paved.) There was a small lip on the parking lot. I got the front wheel up to get it over the bump. As it cleared it, my rear wheel hit the lip of this hole that had been mowed over. It kicked the rear end of the bike up over my head, and I face planted on the rough pavement. The front end of the bike hit so hard it threw the front wheel out of the fork, (a rigid chi ti without lawyer tabs.) The front wheel was toast, rim, rotor, tube and all. The ti fork was bent, though it didn't break. My Mary bars were crushed in on one side, with my hand under them, (I had no knuckles, forgot my gloves.) All that, and my face looked like i had just been worked over by a hell's angels in a bar somewhere. My lip was split open on the outside, cut on the inside. My chin was cut, and I cut the top of my nose. The helmet is a great tool for selling them now! It looks like someone hit me on the forehead with a bat. By far, this was my work crash ever. Worst part, it was on the way back to the shop after a ride, not even in the woods!

 

[SHIVER ME TIMBERS]

my.

When she came to, not only did she not know what happened, she didn't know what the hell she was doing in the mountains in the first place! ("how did I get outdoors???"). She broke her new helmet in 6 places from the impact and it had to be trashed. Other than that she had no injuries, just a few scrapes. She was dizzy for a few days, but no concussion.

glad y'all are ok!

good thing she had her helmet

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

Flicked like a booger is an excellent description of what happened to me Saturday. Wish I could say I don't know why it happened, but I do. You know those little warnings you get with the Marzocchi ECC control that not releasing it might lead to injury or maybe death on a downhill? They've got a point there. If it were my original ECC with only one position on my older Z1 I would have thought to release it, but in this case it was the Z150SL with 5 positions and left it somewhere around the 3rd detent, maybe 4th (towards lockout) for the climb just before the downhill. I saw a group come in from the other direction at the top of a nice rocky downhill section and decided I wanted to get ahead of them, but forgot about the ECC, I called out on your left and passed on the left side, not the greatest line, but without returning the fork to full travel on a section that definitely requires it...I crashed hard launching the first little rock on the landing when the fork didn't respond the way I was hoping. Just glad I came out only with bruises and scrapes all over and the bike only turning the bars and messing up the shift indicator window.

 

[KRob]

I have had to swear off the Intense board for fear that I'm going to whip out the credit card and get on line with Wrench Sciences when I see those 6.6s. <sigh> maybe someday!

John

Yep, I should stay away from those UGI boards. Seems like everytime I start hanging around the manufacturer's boards I want a new bike.... or if I hang around the suspension forum I'm jonesing for a new fork, etc. Coincidence? I think not.

Those 6.6s are sweet. If I was sure what size to get I prolly would've already taken the plunge. Stuck between the M and L.

 

[Jisch]

Climbing?

Yep, I should stay away from those UGI boards. Seems like everytime I start hanging around the manufacturer's boards I want a new bike.... or if I hang around the suspension forum I'm jonesing for a new fork, etc. Coincidence? I think not.

Those 6.6s are sweet. If I was sure what size to get I prolly would've already taken the plunge. Stuck between the M and L.

I guess I'm not as close as you are to getting a new bike! I love how my HH100x climbs, my concern with the 6.6 is the extra weight. I wonder if I'd notice it on the climbs. Can a 6.6" bike climb like this 4" bike can?

John

 

[AndrewTO]

Oh heck ya! I went through EXACTLY that one day earlier this year. When I stopped rolling down the hill (20 ft, but I look like a cartwheel!) I started freaking in my head a little, wondering how many bones I broke?

I was fine. Bike didn't even look like anything happened. I looked at it, it looked fine, I checked the brakes and continued hammering!

Thank god the bike was okay!

 

[okie_calvin]

ok, I'm in on the JRA piledrivers

Warning foul language and graphic pic's:

http://kungfubiking.blogspot.com/2005_11_06_kungfubiking_archive.html

Pic's aren't really that bad.

 

[KRob]

Can a 6.6" bike climb like this 4" bike can?

Nothing climbs like this 4" bike IMHO..... but "they" say the 6.6 climbs really, really well and can be reasonably built around 31-32 pounds. Nah, I'd still be keeping the HH. There's still a bunch of trails I ride for which the Hammerhead is perfect.

How you likin' the new fork? What made you decide on the Marathon over the Revelation?

 

[Jisch]

Shhhhh!!!!

How you likin' the new fork? What made you decide on the Marathon over the Revelation?

SHHHH! Its a Christmas present, I don't even know about it I actually haven't received it yet - should come in today or tomorrow.

Two things influenced me - The cost and questions over reliability. The Revelation was $100 more from that HK based Ebay seller (I had serious reservations about buying it from them from a warranty perspective). I know RS has come a long way with reliability, but I still am concerned enough to have that weigh in a bit.

The real advantage of the Revelation over the Marathon is the on the fly adjustability. Since I'm a set it and forget it kinda guy, that aspect doesn't mean that much to me. I hope I made the right decision,

I'm a relative newbie with regards to forks. I've only really ridden three different ones (Maverick DUC32 - hated it, Fox Float R - loved it and C'dale Headshok - liked it) so I don't have a lot to go on from a personal experience perspective. Much like the HH100x, I used the MTBR reviews as my guiding force - it served me well the first time around!

John

 

[*rt*]

road trippin' rock

Must be the rock *rt* hit last summer. Its on a road trip.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=106133

that explains it. that rock just roams the US looking for cyclists to slam to the ground. or maybe it is in cahoots with the helmet industry. it jumps out in the path of mtb'ers, they crack their helmet, and then they are forced to go buy a new (and of course more expensive) one.

that explains everything.

well, not everything - it doesn't explain the aliens that i am sure live in my couch and feed off human energy thus forcing me to take a nap every time i sit in just the right spot on the couch.....

um, yeah, i took my meds today. why?

rt

 

[*rt*]

ouch!! i feel every bit of your pain. not sure if i saw you since i was riding in my own haze of pain and then DNFed at the end of my 1st lap after my crash.

i've still got some pretty impressive scars from that race.

rt

 

[shastaou812]

Sniper Shot

On a group ride, JRA, reaching back into pocket to make sure things were ok after a previous spill and wham pedal strike on unseen root. Tangle of limbs mixed with top tube all rolling down the trail together. Take inventory and all is ok. As the rider behind pulls up he says "man that was one of the the best sniper shots I have ever seen".