Conference noted::bicycle

    	I've had two crashes bad enough to hurt the 2 wheeler, both
    in the rain with reduced visability.
    	The first one really doesn't count here since I was on a Suzuki
    X-6.  I was in traffic with a rain smeared face shield. The old
    station wagon in front of me didn't have any brake lights, graunch.
    Rode home slowly with handlebars at 45 deg angle. No motorcycles
    since.
    	Of interest to this file was the Barre Dam/Rt. 62 steel bridge
    disaster.  We were on a hilly metric century just east of the Quabbin.
    It had just started to rain. As I'm zinging down this hill, I see
    that the road turns silvery at it's low point - Brakes! and HARD!
    Just before I hit the silver, which had then resolved into a steel
    bridge with ridges running parrallel to traffic, I released the
    brakes and straightend my track.  Still only got about 10 feet across
    the bridge before I went down. Fortunately, I was on the Avatar,
    so it was a gentle sideways flop, but I was still going fast enough
    that the seat got bent and a deraillure got wiped out.   After licking
    my wounds (bridge scrape is a sub-category of road rash), I tried
    to slow down other cyclists.  I succeeded except for one, who got
    on the bridge at speed but went down even sooner than I did. He
    ended up catching some fingers in the grating and needing over $4K
    of reconstructive surgury.  
    	During the NEAR '83 ride over this bridge, we put cardboard
    over the right edge. Some people have written to the state about
    this bridge: they put up a warning sign for bicyclists.
    	Moral: watch out for the steel bridge on Rt. 62 near Barre Dam!

	I was at Cape Cod for a weekend of biking and windsurfing
at my aunts house when my worst spill happened.  I was out riding on a windless
afternoon having a great time when I noticed a big thunderhead bearing down on
the cape. I started to pick up the pace to see if I could get home before the
rain fell. Riding about a mile away for the house the wind picked up and was
pushing me faster. I was drafting cars really motoring with a big smile on my
face thinking I was going to beat this storm, then boom, rain drops so big they
hurt. I was about 1/2 mile from the house still motoring( I don't know why I
was already soaked). I came up on the turn from main street to a side street I
needed to take going way to fast. Well, there are some that say they remember
it happening in slow motion, but I'll tell you this was fast forward. One
second I was up and a milli-sec later I was making road pizza sliding accross
the road into the dirt shoulder. (Hot tar and rain don't mix well) My feet
never came out of the toe clips, but some how the bike was facing one way with
me the other. My elbow was hamburg as well as my knee and hip. The bike was
fine. I rode the rest of the way home bleeding all over myself. Now my aunt is
one of those neat as a pin, don't sit on the sofa types. The kind that has
towels in the bathroom but makes you use paper towels. Well when she saw me,
she almost didn't let me in the house.

	I learned my lesson. Also after the cut on my elbow healed, I would
find pimples with sand in them for about a year later. YUCH!

	Now if we were talking about motorcycle accidents I could tell you of
my superman impersonation.

Tom 

    Re previous: ouch!
    
    I've had several notable spills in the past ten years, all of them
    avoidable.
    
    1980: I was on a lonely country road, no cars, sunny day. The sun was
    casting a really good shadow of me, and while watching it I cycled off
    the edge of the road onto the grass verge (that really got my attention
    back). When I tried to jump the bike back onto the road, I went head
    over heels. Grazed an elbow (flies started settling on the blood),
    buckled a wheel. Pretty stupid... 
    
    1983: A big photographic print drum in a plastic bag on the handlebars.
    Going round a bend, my knee caught the drum, which flipped the
    handlebars round, which threw me face-first on the road. Broken
    spectacles, taken to hospital in an ambulance, cut on cheek needing
    stitches. Pretty stupid... 
    
    1985: December, first proper frost. Getting on the bike, I noticed, or
    rather didn't notice, that there was black ice on the road. Took the
    usual bend at the usual speed, bike fell over, grazed knee. Pretty
    stupid...
    
    1988: Had noticed that rear tyre was cut and inner tube bulging
    (serious on a 110 psi tyre). However, I put a canvas patch inside the
    tyre and went out anyway. Really motoring with a strong following wind
    on a straight stretch of road, loud bang, rear wheel going everywhere.
    Fortunately there was a wide grass verge I could ditch onto rather than
    risk failing to control the bike and coming off on the road. I did so,
    was unhurt, but the bike wasn't - top tube bent, what a bummer. Pretty
    stupid... 
    
    
    Rod 

    I fell on that stupid bridge in Barre in one of last year's BMB brevets.

    In hindsight, you can probably get across by riding right at the edge
    where it's really rusty - otherwise it's nearly impossible to get
    across it in the rain.

    One of the only other spills I've taken was when my left handlebar
    cracked off and got caught in the front wheel while I was out of the saddle
    sprinting.  Totalled the front fork, and basically the frame.  Probably
    good I had a helmet, but it happened so fast I hardly remember exactly
    *what* transipired...

    Had to hitch home, bleeding from some minor scrapes - a miracle it wasn't
    more serious.

    - Jim

    I've only crashed once.  I know.  By saying it means I'm in for
    a bad one this weekend.
    
    It was probably about 8-10 years ago.  I was doing a bike tour around
    Lake Winnepausaukee.  Total space cadet watching the beautiful scenery.
    I'm coming down a hill, and there's a set of railroad tracks right
    at the bottom.  The whole tour group is sitting in a grassy patch
    eating lunch off to the side of the road right beyond the railroad
    tracks.  I look up and see my group sitting there.  I also see the
    set of railroad tracks.  Neither of these 2 sites registers in my
    brain to make me hit my brakes.  I don't recall *how* I ended up
    in the middle of the road, as in I don't know if I flew over the
    handle bars, or fell over to the side and rolled.   The end results
    were actually more black and blues that scrapes, with the scrapes
    being limited to my knees and elbows, yet black and blues covering
    60% of my body.  The front wheel taught me the definition of a potato
    chip, though I was more concerned about the scratched paint on my
    2 month old bike.  And one of our tour guides was actually kind
    enough to bend my wheel into shape enough so that I could ride the
    10 miles or so into town to buy a new rim. What a helluva nice guy.
    
    	-Nancy

    
    At crashing I'm something of an expert. First let me deflect some
    of the criticism tword my son. He was about 8. We were riding down
    a sidewalk that had willow trees and a spider or somekind of insect
    was hanging from it and he went off the sidewalk and crashed. When
    I got to him he was STEAMED that the bug was there. We still laugh
    about it.
    
    My worst recent crash was fairly tame by your accounts. My wife
    and I were biking hom efrom the video rental store. I had the movies
    and some other things in a bulging bag and was carrying it in my
    right hand. Well the second right hand turn did it...yup right in
    the front tire. I can still remember the whole bike standing
    (momentarily) on the front tire. 
    
    The front tire was ruined, the fork was mashed but my ego! It was
    worse off than the bike! It was a brand new Schwinn World Sport
    and I was carrying it home. I can still remember the feeling I had
    sad, hurt, embarrased for being such a jerk, steamed that I was
    such a jerk, worried that I was going to have to go to the Bike
    Shop and explain what all the bent stuff was and how it got that
    way, I wanted to be alone, etc. All this for a bike! Good grief
    if it was a car I'd be looking forward to what kind of rental car
    I could use while it was being fixed. My wife (who is truly a Saint)
    tried to consol me but to no avail. I walked home the rest of the
    way. I bought a new fork and wheel. Then I had the old wheel and
    fork fixed...Suprisingly they have procedures for doing that so
    there was no need to feel like the first one this happened to!
    
    Oddly enough that was the last really bad one I've had so like Nancy
    I'll probably auger in this weekend.
    

    I was seven years old and not looking ahead of me (day-dreaming) and
    flying down a steep hill. At the bottom I ran into the back of a parked
    truck and flew into the bed. The owner came out some time later and
    found me passed out in the back bed of the pickup. I never even saw
    the truck coming. I could swear he hit me!
    
    Another time we were playing chicken. Both parties would head down
    opposing hills at each other meeting at the bottom and the guy who 
    steered away first was the whimp. We both collided and my new bike 
    had only 3 spokes left unbroken. 

re -.1:  I think you you change the name to NUTS or CRAZY or maybe
		IDIOTS. :-) :-).


	I have had three crashes other than the usual oops can't get to the
    straps - BIFF!

	I will only mention my most stupid crash here since the others were
    from loosing traction on the road. My girlfriend and I were going for
    a nice ride on the cape code rail trail. We got the bikes off the car
    and together. She immediately heads down the trail a good pace. I am
    still getting on the bike. I get on and start pedaling before strapping
    myself in. After I get some speed I reach down and tighten up my left
    strap. Now, I hadn't been on this trail many times before this but I 
    did know there were these 4-5 inch round steel posts at intersections
    between the trail and crossing roads. Sooo, knowing this I stayed over
    to the right side of the trail. As I was bending down to get the right 
    strap tightened up I passed a pole on my left. I subconciousely (sp?)
    must have thought that was it because I ended up veering to the left.
    Suddenly, I see an orange blurr appear in front of me. I had absolutely
    no time to react and ended up hitting the pole with my handle bars and my
    knee. I don't recall exactly what happened but my girlfriend ,who looked 
    back when she heard the bang, said that I sort of flipped forward and 
    sideways and when I reached full leg extension the straps (which I had so
    thoughtfully tightened well) didn't release. I guess I started to do a half
    gainer then since the straps didn't let go and the bike was behind the
    pole stopped dead and fell stright down. Now I know what a dog feels like
    when it reaches the end of its leash at full stride :-). Fortunately my
    knee is already recked so I was back on the bike in a few weeks.


Mano

    	Back about 1957. Ride a couple of miles to the Boy Scout
    	meeting, which was canceled. Jump on the bike, head away
    	from the building, down the sidewalk. Just before I passed
    	the alley, a car turns in. I hit the right front fender,
    	flew across the hood, and broke the antenna off with my
    	arm. Front wheel was a mess. Inside of left bicep cut from
    	antenna. Friendly police officer throws bike in back of
    	cruiser and takes me home. Mom's outside in the front yard
    	when we pull in. She musta thought I was real hurt. I had
    	bruise on my shin from knee to ankle. Never rode on the
    	sidewalk again.
    
    	Now that I think about it, I probably scared the driver of
    	the car to death, it was that quick.
    
    	Mano:
    
    	Yup, I did the same thing once, although it was a car, and
    	the front tire stuck under the bumper.
    
    	Scott

>    	Mano:
>    
>    	Yup, I did the same thing once, although it was a car, and
>    	the front tire stuck under the bumper.
>    
>    	Scott


I'll join up with the ranks of running into slow or non-moving cars. 
Mine had a little twist:

I was coming home from soccer practice down the 3/4 mile hill from the 
high school to my house. I had a 6' friend sitting on the seat with his 
hands on my shoulders while I stood on the pedals and steered. Well a 
car in front of us stopped short we couldn't because center pull brakes 
are not designed to stop 300+ pounds of kid on steel rims. The front 
wheel was potato chip city. The fork was recked. The head tube was moved 
a little but the bike was ridable. The amazing thing was that I was not 
hurt nor was my friend. When I think back now I still am reminded that I 
was a typical teenager who had little awareness of what clear thinking 
and logic is about. This is because I was angry at the car driver at the 
time and thought he owed me a new bike because he stopped short!

I guess all teenagers lose their minds....


JC

I remember two "kid" crashes, and a bang up one as an adult.

My dad gave me an English 3-speed when I was much to young to ride or maintain
it.  I didn't have a screwdriver or pliers to tighten loose bolts, and things
started falling off.  While riding down the street Clunk the bike pivots around
the front wheel then keeps going, so I ignored it.  Then CLUNK! and the bike
flips over the front wheel.  Turns out the brake lever fell off and got caught
in the front spokes.  I don't think I was hurt.

Later my best friend was riding the same bike and popped a wheelie.  Boy, was
he surprised when the front wheel fell off and rolled away.  The front fork
buried itself in the dirt.  His bloody nose looked pretty bad, but he got over
it.

In 6th grade I liked making long skid marks with my banana bike.  Once, going
down a long, gradual hill, with a tail wind, I decided that all that speed
could make a great skid.  Unfortunately when I locked up the rear brake, the
bike just kinda fell over, and I remember flying through the air, on my hands
and knees, and a flip.

It is amazing any kid lives long enough to get some common sense!

A few years ago I was in P-town visiting some friends and having a rotten time. 
I needed a good excuse to leave early.  While biking thru town at 6:30am I came
over a hill and there was a car parked in the road.  I turned right instead of
left, went into a dirt parking lot and BOOM into a pickup. The front fork bent
so far back that the front tire got nicked by the chain ring.  (I am still
using that tire!)  An ambulance took me back to my friend's cottage and I told
them I was going home.  It wasn't until I got stuck in Rt. 6 traffic that I
realized I had sprained my left ankle and the clutch was killing me.  I learned
to do sloppy shifts using my right foot on the clutch.

I recooperated at my cousin's house with his sister who a week before, on the
very same bike, broke 5 bones in her ankle when she fell over at a stop sign
with her foot half in the toe straps.  If she had left her foot in she would
have just been bruised.  The Univega got the nickname "Christine", the killer
bike, destroyer of ankles.

chris

One (or more) each of the last 11, please. To go, with a bent chainring 
and loose bottom bracket... :-) (<=== why is the idjut still smiling???)

Other than most of the previous sound real familiar, there was riding 
off a sidewalk into the street at a corner where the pavement was flush 
with the sidewalk (real dead-level flush, not like a wheelchair ramp). 
So far, so good. I'm almost across and about to glide onto the sidewalk 
across the street and I look and realize: It's about a 6 inch curb, done 
in beautiful gracefully curved concrete with no edge to even show a 
shadow in the afternoon light..... ooops. Front wheel actually lived 
thru that, but it was new-fork time.

2 x getting hit by motorists, no major damage.

1 x each into parked car, curb at bottom of STEEP/FAST hill when a 
kid...

1 x overlap wheels, go crash onto gravel shoulder (9-point hit), the 
business of finding gravel months later... never mind, I *don't* want to 
remeber that one...

... and lots more minor crunches/misses. This Tarzan not go out in jungle 
without helmet, nooooooooooo........... almost all my best crashes were 
PH, though (PreHelmet).
                                                    ken

    
    
      ABOUT 6:30 P.M. on a training ride through uxbridge approaching
    a long hill on Rt. 16 I was cruising at about 22-23 MPH. As I was
    going by a house with a large hedge in front a cat shot out of the
    hedge and right underneath my front wheel. I went down lie a ton
    of bricks !! When I finaly realized what happen I looked to see
    if I had hurt the cat. It was sitting there looking at me like I
    was some kind of alien. I suddenly felt this unbelievable rage building
    within me and as I reached for that soon to be stuffed cat it must
    have sensed what I wanted to do because it took off like a shot
    and I never saw it again. 
    
       I ended up with the the worst case of road rach I have ever had.
    all the skin on the back of my left Thigh was gone from my hip to
    about 7 inches down the back of my thigh about 4 inches wide. I
    rode about 10 miles to the closest friendly house and the pain hit
    me the second I sat down on a chair. I could'nt wal for 3 days after
    that one.
    
                              JOhn C.
    

    Well, let me see if I can outdumb everyone, it's going to be hard:
    
    First, let me say that I learned to ride as an adult and took years
    to acquire skills that most folksk became adults with.  Whether
    or not I actually learned or have acquired bike related skills may
    be open to question after this, but so it goes.
    
    About 3 years ago I was starting out on a ride.  Started on a hill.
    I was out of the saddle -- then a newly acquired skill being practiced
    -- I noticed that I had not yet started my computer.  I reached
    over to start it (still out of the saddle mind you).  I do not know
    how many folks can do that but I no longer consider it doable.
    
    Then there was the training ride where I wanted to time myself on
    a course which ended on a sharp right hand turn.  I felt that it
    was necessary to stop the computer precisely at the turn.  I no
    longer care whether or not I have a computer on my bike.
    
    Way back I was test riding a short bike that I had just fixed up.
    I was pedaling really fast at the bottom of a hill.  My sneaker
    slid forward on the untoeclipped pedal.  I caught my toe on the
    road.  The bike wobbled, I caught it again, next revolution, full
    gainer, half tuck, 5.8 points.  That's the last time I didn't wear
    a helmet or a shirt.
    
    There were others.  August 18, 1983.  Descending Mt Washington.
    Washboard road surface.  Bike skipping and hopping the bumps.  My
    front wheel had a bump at the rim joint.  The brake locked on it
    while in the air, when it hit ground, street pizza.

    August 6, 1987.  Western slope of the Kancamagus. Riding on the
    paved shoulder I was starting my computer and generally looking
    at the numbers, leaving for Paris in 10 days, CRASH, I hit another
    rider.  I don't know who he was, he had been 50 ft in front and
    decided to stop and cross the street.  Damned computer!
    
    My stoker caught her shoe in the rear wheel somewhere in France.
    
    I hit a car crossing in front of me in June of 84.  They bought
    a new bike and paid a few bucks for my discomfort.
    
    There were seven, count 'em 7, last year.  Derry, NH, slipped while
    stopped behind a car at an intersection (damned cleats).  Townnsend,
    MA, road construction, loose deep gravel in one spot, slipped.  Hollis,
    NH, out on the Ci�cc, feeling good, decided to power up a hill,
    chain slipped out of gear, this one hurt; injured my thumb, it would
    take all season to recover, maybe less if I hadn't done 43 centuries.
    Two days later while riding in a pack, a rider slipped his wheel
    of the road onto the shoulder and fell.  Full gainer, half tuck,
    only 5.7 points, I'm not as good as I used to be.  With the pain
    of two crashes on me, I was lent another bicycle, an Alumninum
    Guerciotti and rode another 110 miles.  Let's see now, 5 was, I
    hit a dog 500km into a 600km event.

Ok, so noone wants to ride with me, so what, can you blame them?
    
    ed

< Note 1047.14 by NOVA::FISHER "Rdb/VMS Dinosaur" >
                             -< Number one dummy? >-

VERY entertaining!  Is that why you ride so much, to get the opportunity to 
tell such funny stories?

Kevin

ps.  And who said no one wants to ride with you.

Ok, ok.  I'll tell my dumbest crash.  August, 1986.  Preparing for my first 
century.  I'm tooling along at 20mph on the flat when I notice the handlebar 
tape on the right end of the bar looking ragged.  I pull on it.  
Unfortunately, I wasn't holding on very tightly with my left hand.  Ever turn 
your wheel 90 degrees going 20mph?  Next thing I knew I was on the ground 
waiting for my girlfriend (who was somewhere close behind me) to run over me.  
I had visions of her sailing gracefully over me doing a face plant on the 
road.  What a shame to wreck such a pretty face!  She avoided me (now she 
wants to be a bike racer 8^) ).  I couldn't wear anything but very loose 
shorts for a week.  Ouch!  

Shortly after that (I do everything shortly) I noticed that my bike no longer
descended as gracefully as it once had.  I found this out doing 45mph down the
hill in Mt Vernon, NH, when the rear wheel started jerking back and forth
violently.  I thought I was gonna die.  Apparently I'd bent the frame in that 
self-inflicted crash!

I no longer care what my handlebar tape looks like 8^)

re. -1, pulling handlebar tape.

I did soemthing very similar.  In my case I noticed that the plug was coming out
of the end of the bar.  So how do you get it back in, well you just give it a 
whack with the heal of your hand.  I never dawned on me that hitting the end
of your handlebars while riding isn't such a smart thing to do!

    re: .14.  I said 7, count 'em.  But then I couldn't remember what
    #6 & 7 were:
    
    #6: I was cruising out 111 going east when a BIG DUMP TRUCK started
    coming out of a side street on the left making a left turn.  I saw
    him in plenty of time, but hell, the shoulder's 5 feet wide, plenty
    of room for both of us cause we're going to be going in the same
    direction but as I got closer I saw that he really intended to use
    the shoulder for his tuen also, so I went over the curb rather
    than hitch a ride on his bumper.  Fortunately the curb was not the
    usual 90� but more like 65�.  I got grass stains out of it.
    
    #7 was up on the Kanc.  I was successfully negotiating the railroad
    tracks when abnother guy went down, I looked over and behind when
    I still had to turn.  Turned wrong. Down. Boo.
    
    The dog bite which occurred later did not involve any contact
    with the pavement.
    
    ---
    The 84 car crash was one where the ladies' husband said something
    like, "Well, this is New Hampshire, bicycles don't have a right
    of way."  That's why I got the $200 for discomfort.
    
    ed

    We shouldn't be too hard on ourselves...  for example, Davis Phinney
    got his hand caught between his rear wheel and the frame while trying
    to adjust his rear brake during a descent:  broken wrist (or collorbone,
    I don't remember.)  There have been similar stories about many of the
    pro racers.

   - Jim

Well, my first one goes back a few years, back when I was about nine
years old!  As a kid I liked to take anything and everything mechanical 
apart to see how it worked (I got hooked on electronics when I took 
one of my parents radios apart & 1) couldn't figure out how it worked, 
and 2), couldn't get it working again!).   One day I decided to take 
my coaster brake apart on my one speed.  I didn't get it back together 
right so it didn't "coast".  I took it out for a spin anyway with some other 
kids and we went tearing down the road.  I went to "put on the brakes" 
and when I extended the leg, up, up and away I went over the handlebars.  
There's nothing like getting run over by your own bike......

#2 happened many years later.  I was riding down the street when I was 
overtaken by a cement truck in the same lane.  I tried to jump the 
curb but didn't get the front wheel up high enough. I went over the 
handle bars and landed on my hands and knees on the cement.  It was 
months before I could ride a bike again.

    My worst crash wasn't my most painfull.  Two years ago I was
    riding my bike to work when I came upon a road crew preparing to
    tar a road I needed to travel on to get to work on time.  I convinced
    the flagman at the detour that taking a detour would make me late
    for work.  He allowed me to walk my bike the 1/2 mile or so down
    to where the trucks were taring.  They were taking a break as I
    walked my bike by the parked truck.  Since the tar applicator bar
    stuck out over the road side I had to walk on an embancment while
    trying to keep my bike on the pavement.  Wouldn't you know that
    I slipped on the embancment shoving my bottombracket into the valve
    that controled the tar spray.  Yep....instantly tarred and feathered
    bike from the bottom bracket back including my shoes....new deraileur, 
    rim and spokes and a lot of elbow greese getting the tar off.  My
    pride was damaged more than any fall I have ever taken including
    a few headers.
    						Jerry
    

I have only had two bad crashes in about 45 years of recreational biking.
    The first happened exactly 39 years ago today. Skipped out of school
    early to enjoy the bike ride home on the first really warm springlike
    day of the (brrrrrrrr) Syracuse, NY winter.
    About two blocks from home, on a downhill , riding "no handed",
    I coasted across an intersection and met a policeman driving across
    the intersection. result? No damage to the bike....I saved it. My
    knee was shattered by the front bumper, tho.
    
    Then two years ago, I was on my Counterpoint tandem, and we decided
    to stop for some rest. Betty, my first wife, got off the front,
    and I was still strapped into the rat traps....OOOOOOpppppssssss,
    watch out for that telephone pole, right ther.....too late....broken
    shoulder. VERY embarrasing...painful too. 
    
    Both injuries still give me more than my share of pain. Thank God
    for Bristol Meyers. I'd never be able to endure it.
    
    My first wife still laughs at the thought of seeing me slowly keel
    over, like I was a comedy sketch on Laugh-In. Come to think of it,
    it must have looked pretty funny, at that.
    
    =-=-=-=-=-=-=g=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

    My family has this habit of showing old movies after holiday dinners.
    So yesterday, after Easter Dinner, we set the old projector up,
    and all setlle down for some hilarious entertainment from years
    gone by.  About the 3rd feature film we got to see was a movie of
    Nancy trying to ride her bike without training wheels for the first
    time.  4 pedals down the driveway, then fall to the right, continuing
    to pedal as I go down.  Get up and smile pretty for the camera.
    Repeat scene.
    
    Apparently I lied afew replies back when I said I had only fallen
    once.
    
    	-Nancy

>                     -< 1st time without training wheels >-

Never did try training wheels as a kid, so I had plenty o' crashes then. 
Got a 26" bike when I was 7 (?) -- remember that's how they used to 
measure 'em --- actually 26" wheels and a maybe 20" frame (?). Was way 
too big for me, though I can comfortably ride a 26" FRAME bike now! 
Anyway between the HUGE frame for a 7 yr. old and well-meaning friends 
who suggested I steer AWAY from the direction I felt like falling 
(wrong...) I crashed that bike on plenty of training missions, as well 
as some major crunches, covered earlier.....
                                                 ken

Worst crash was definately the one in Bethel, VT on the AMC weekend, 
about to go up Rochester Mountain after a 95 mile day.  It was 
October, many novices were out on bikes to see the foliage.  I 
was passing a bicycling teenager on the left when he took a sudden 
left turn (from the right side of the road) without a look or a 
signal.  I hit the road very hard, whole left side of my body was 
impacted.

Four broken ribs, broken Collar bone.  Would have had broken foot or
ankle, but the pedal and crank (now so bent it wouldn't rotate)
shielded my foot in the toe clip.  Helmet kept me from concussion. 

Technically it probably was not my fault, but I now shout "on your 
left" routinely as a preventative measure before I overtake anyone.


In some ways my "best" accident never quite happened.  Was riding 
home from work (in the Mill in those days) going east on Rt 117.
Was about to cross the narrow bridge over the Sudbury River when a 
trailor truck forced me off the road (trucks are illegal on that 
stretch).  I was not hurt, physically.  But it was that close call 
which prompted me to buy and always wear a helmut.  That happened 
before the accident in Vermont (fortunately).

	~Mike

Last year on May 14th I was doing the "B" race at the BRC training series in
Newton. We were all setting up for the field sprint, we were doing about 35
mph, when someone went down right in front of me. Thats all I remember till I
woke up 30 minutes later as they were placing me in the ambulance. They had
strapped me onto a board and immobilized my neck.

I have no recollection of the ride to the hospital because I passed out again.
I woke up in the emergency room where they started repairing me.

First thing they did was take xrays of my head. Nothing really damaged there,
just a bad concussion. My helmet saved my life! I had road rash big time on my
legs arms and shoulders. I took the skin off right to the bone on my right
ankle. My face was a mess and they called in a plastic surgeon to put that back
together for me. He worked for 3 hrs putting 200 stitches in my face. 
                                                     
They sent me home with some pain killers but needless to say I did not get any
sleep for the next few days. 

I was in therapy for my body burns for two weeks.They would put me into a full
body tank for 20 min. Therapy for the ankle took much longer, 3 months.  


Two weeks later I was riding my indoor trainer. Three weeks later I was back
out on the roads.

This was not a fun part of my cycling career.

                         

Charlie Schnare

    Re .25
    
    Reading this sent chills up and down my spine.
    
    Ugh.

    Re .25
    
    	Yep....this will keep me out of the Tour De Lowell for
    yet another year.......yikes!
    
    					Jerry
    

    How about an entry for most recent:

    As I was reading this the telephone rang.  My SO had been riding
    om Charles Street (Boston) when another bike pulled out from
    behind a parked truck and headed the wrong way on the one way
    street.  He also rode on the left side of the road.

    There was 1/2 second of weaving left-right-left and a collision.

    The damage was minor: a punctured front tire and some scratches on
    the new helmet, but the accident should have never happened.

    Why don't the police enforce the traffic laws for bikes?

    -Jeff
    

    	Jeff,
    
    	They (the Police) don't/can't even enforce the traffic
    	laws for automobiles.
    
    	If I see an idiot riding the wrong way, I usually yell
    	at them.
    
    	Scott

While doing my usual training run about 1/4 mi. from my house last Sept.,
I fell off my bike while still secured into my Shimano clipless pedals. It
was probably when I stood up to climb a small hill. I might have swerved
the front wheel while trying to exert, hit a small rut, and went down on my
right side.
    
Apparently, (w/o help of any clear memory of the event), I fell and hit my
head (good helmet). I walked to my home the 1/4 mi. in my cleated biking
shoes to my house. Yes, it was dinnertime and I could smell the food
cooking. Well, I walked dazed and slightly confused into the house (so my
wife says) with my cleated shoes on and said to my wife, "It had to happen
to me sometime." She thought I meant a flat tire. 
    
    I then showed her the scrapes and cuts on my ankle and shoulder that
    were bleeding. Then we looked at the helmet. The inner styrofoam lining
    of the Bell V1-Pro was cracked in the spot that corresponded to the
    small red mark on my forehead. After this accident, I cannot see how
    anyone can choose to NOT protect themselves with adequate headgear of 
    some sort. 

Mentally, for the next few hours, I was on a different goofy street than
the one I usually am. I couldn't remember things in short term memory for
too long. I kept asking every 5 min. or so what day it was. After 2 hours,
I was normal again, much to the chagrin of my wife. She was hoping for my
bad jokes to go away! You can't win, I guess.

As a professional rehab nurse, my wife treated head-injured patients for a 
living (lucky for me). She felt quite fortunate that she did not have
to come home each night, thereafter, and have her work waiting for her!

I recovered without any apparent permanent damage. I consider myself quite
fortunate to be with it mentally right now. I did see a chiropractor and an
acupuncturist for treatment after the fall to help realign and straighten
me out (kind of like a car frame-straightening shop, I guess). 

After the accident, my memory did come back pretty well. I was not unconscious
right after, as far as I know. My only difficulty was occasionally for
about a week after the fall, I had to search for a word or two that I just
couldn't grab. On those few occasions, I knew what the object was but I
couldn't get the word out.

There was a possibility that the fall did affect one of my cranial nerves
because only two months later I came down with an illness that consisted of
an inflammation to one of the cranial nerves. This illness is called Bell's
Palsy. I totally recovered from that in a month with the assistance of the
acupuncturist.

That's the REST of the story (as Paul Harvey would say).
    
				Russ
    
                                    

    Mine was almost identical to .0, except:
    
    	a) It was dark
    	b) There was a powercut, so no street lights
    	c) There was a couple in the front seat of the car
    	d) I smashed the rear screen with my head
    	e) The driver of the parked car tried to sue me for damage.
    
    Since he was parked in an unlit road with no lights, I was not judged
    to be at fault. Strictly speaking, I should have seen the car -- but my
    front light only picked up the reflectors moments before I hit it. I
    don't know who was more surprised -- me, or the occupants of the car.
    Anyway, it put a non-fixable bend in the top tube and a few bits
    of glass in my face (though he was more worried about the bits of glass
    on his shiny paintwork).
    
    Richard

    At this rate, I'll easily surpass Ed Fisher's record.  Some distinction!
    
    Last 2km of a 68km road race.  Flat, straight road, beautiful weather.
    ~40km/h.  The guy in front of me runs up the wheel of the guy in
    front of him.  Six of us go down.  
    
    Most of us were able to get up and finish with various degrees of
    road rash.  The bright red patches of mine nicely complement the
    purple bruises left by last week's crash....
    
    MATT

Riding on an unknown (unknown to me) paved road through the woods, I came upon
a downhill stretch. Taking advantage, I began to speed up. The downhill became
steeper. The road began to curve back and forth, descending through high banks
on either side. Soon there was no point in pedaling, since I'd run out the
gears. Just as well, since all my concentration was devoted to getting around
the corners at this speed. 

As I came around another corner, I saw (to my everlasting suprise) that the
pavement ended about 20' ahead with a substantial drop to the unpaved road. The
un-pavement was rutted, with 3 - 6" rocks strewn about the surface. There  was
no chance of stopping, so I just slowed as best I could. I dodged my way  among
the rocks, knowing the traction would give out sooner or later. When it  did I
leaned in to take the fall on my side, rather than over that bars. Good thing I
had all that practice ditching bikes as a kid. I was surveying my injuries
when I saw the house at the end of the road, and the large dog who was 
about to give chase ...

Then there was the time I stuck my hand down to wipe some glass from the front
tire. Unfortunately I was distracted and my hand came down behind the fork 
rather than in front of it. Imagine stopping your bike cold using the front
"hand" brake at 20 mph... yes Martha, bicycles do fly ... 

    I recognise some of the crashes from previous discussions re the
    merits of helmets. I posted this tale of woe before under some helmet
    note.
    
    Back about 1979 I was out training with a friend. He had, as usual
    (then not now!), dropped me , so I was really hammering to get back
    up to him. The rest is a blank. 
    
    I woke up in hospital about two hours later with a doctor putting
    stitches in my face. It was difficult that week to tell where the
    cuts were behind the clotted blood that they left on my face. I
    spent 8 days in hospital. I could eventually eat after 5 as my
    swolen mouth (15 stitches in there somewhere) eased down. So it
    was not until day 5 then that I noticed that my front four teeth
    were no longer there whereas I had long since realised that my nose
    was a funny shape! My memory took quite a while to come
    back after the accident. I could recognise my family about 1 hour
    after I woke up, but as in a previous note could not get the words
    to say the things I wanted to say. This lasted only a few hours
    thankfully.
    
    When I got out of hospital I had a look at the bike. It was a write
    off. A stay on the front mudguard (fender) had come loose and engaged
    the spokes . Instant stop for the bike ... instant flight 
    for me.
    
    Never could stand those helmets. I wear one on occasions now.
    
    That was the worst accident. Only ended up in hospital one other
    time !
    
    John                                                  

    I was riding along a strip of rocky,dusty road on my ATB. Everything
    was fine. The weather was warm. The wind was at my back. 
    Up ahead was a mountain pass which gave me about forty feet on each
    side to get through. It was a downhill stretch so I picked up speed.
    It felt really good after pedalling over the rough road in the sun.
    I got through the pass and felt the cool air in the shadows. It
    was a good feeling. Before I had the chance to respond, I felt the
    road get bumpy in an odd way. To my surprise, it was train tracks.
    My first instinct was to look left, which I did. All I remember
    was the front of a train coming right at me.Needless to say, I was
    dumbfounded, when all of a sudden it hit me.
    
    I spent the next couple of days waiting for bike repairs before
    I could get back to my tour.
    
    All in all, it was worth it. 
    
    
    P.S.  Don't try this at home!

    RE:-1
    
    All the train hurt was your bike????????
    
    Musta been the luckiest day of your life!!!!
    
    Albert

    My best (oops, worst) crash was in the Montreal Grand Prix in '78.
    We ran the '76 Olympic Road Race course backwards, which meant we
    got to go down the 1.5 mile climb they had to go up.  The only problem
    was that it was raining.  The water mixed with the road residue
    to make the course unbelievably slick.
    
    The promoters were cautious enough to run a "pre-race" lap for the
    field, where I was forced onto a steel manhole cover in a turn,
    and went down.  I got up, and since the race hadn't really started
    yet, one of the following vehicles told me to grab a door handle,
    so they could tow me back up to the field.  Hanging on and coasting
    at 35-40mph on Montreal streets really got the adrenaline pumping.
    
    I reached the field just as the race started, so instead of doing
    the descent at the front, I had to do it behind everyone else. 
    Pretty scary, watching everyone try to go as fast as they can, but
    slipping all over the place.  
    
    The field broke up into half a dozen groups, with me at the back.
    There was a long climb before the descent, so on each lap I attacked
    to make sure I took the descent either at the front of my group
    or by myself.  
    
    By the seventh lap, I had leapfrogged up to the third group, and
    the sun had come out, drying off the roads.  I attacked in the usual
    spot, left the other members of the third group, and started down.
    The second group was in sight, and I was hoping to catch them by
    the bottom.
    
    I cut across a corner where an overlooking bluff shaded the left
    side of the road.  As soon as I hit the shadow, both wheels went
    out from under me.  I hadn't considered that in the shade, the road
    would still be wet.  There wasn't much impact, but my momentum caused
    me to slide from the left gutter all the way to the right (6 lanes!).
    I figured I was going at least 40mph when I started to slide.
    
    Needless to say, there wasn't much skin left on my left side, and
    what was left of my shorts was held together by a few threads!

    	One hot summer day at the Cape. I thought a nice time trial run
    up the bike path to P-town would be fun. I was going about 24m/hr
    on a nice flat smooth bike trail. Not thinking that there would
    a big pot hole in the middle of the trail. I was putting my water
    bottle back. Before I knew it I was going head over heels. I was
    lucky to have my helment on, because that was the first thing that
    hit. I riped my short very badly. It looked like I was moonning
    everybody. I had blood all over my body. A good case of road rash.
    I bent my frame I warped my front tire. I had to open my brakes
    to make it back home. I only had one gear that would work. That
    was my first crash. I have raced in about twenty or more races without
    a crash. Thats what happen with you don't pay close attention at
    all time. The rest of my vaction was getting myself back together.
    
    Love my Trek     
    Mike Norton

    RE: .1 (Chris) and .4 (Jim):  That steel grate bridge near Barre Dam on
    Rt 62 is now paved over.
    
    Too bad it took some fingers and such before it got rebuilt.
    
    ed

    I added to my history of hitting the ground on Tuesday, with quite a
    nasty fall.
    
    On the way home, I was coming into Reading town centre, following a bus
    and going quite fast. I was looking at the bus so I wouldn't get too
    close, reaching down to change, when I hit a badly repaired hole in the
    road. Since I had just one hand on the bars I couldn't control the bike
    and was pitched off, landing on my side and sliding several metres in
    that position. Result: badly grazed right ankle, knee, thigh, hip,
    hand, elbow; torn shorts, top and rucksack, scratched handlebars and
    brake levers and a bent front brake caliper. Ouch.
    
    I'm going to try and get some recompense from Berks County Council for
    failing to keep the road in good repair. Lessons to be learned: cycle
    more cautiously?
    
    
    Rod

	I went for a boys ride Saturday.  There was twelve or so at the 
beginning.  It was a typical ride that started mellow and very quickly turned 
fast.  	The weather started out a little cool, 55 or so, but quickly moved into 
the 70's.

	Anyway, we regrouped at a bakery after 40 or so miles.....talked about 
how tough we were...and then headed back to the start for some "high profiling" 
past Stanford.  We were running a mellow double paceline (maybe 25 or so) 
through some rolling stretches.  I happened to be at the front with another guy 
and John Pollard, when we heard a scream from behind.  We immediately turned 
around and say a pile of bikes behind us.  Everyone except one guy was getting 
up.  By the time we got back to this guy and laid our bikes down (probably 30 
seconds) he face and chest were covered with blood.  I pulled open his jersey 
and couldn't find anything wrong around his neck or chest.  His right eye was
swollen shut, various cuts, and blood everywhere.  He was gurgling (sp?) from
the blood and kept wanting to sit up.  We tried to keep him calm and on his
back to keep him from going into shock.  About this time, I was really worried
that he was going to drown in his own blood. 

	Meanwhile, on of the riders stopped the first car and told them to
call an ambulance.  A few cars later, a BMW came along with a car phone and
called it in.  Luckily, a nurse was out for a bike ride and she stopped to
help.  Within ten minutes (which felt like 30), the police, a firetruck and an
ambulance came. They cleaned him up, put him on a breathing machine of some
type, and took him away. 

	It turns out, that this guy was fairly lucky.  He only fractured his 
jaw, so he didn't have to get it wired.  The plastic surgeons went to work on 
him right away to repair as much damage as possible.  He lost a front tooth and 
moved around a few others.  No cheek bones were broken.  And the other spots on 
his body were mostly road rash type of stuff.  He had a cat scan and things 
looked good...other than a mild concusion.  The accident happened about three 
miles from Stanford Hospital.  We had been riding in the mountains earlier, and 
if it had happened out there, it could have taken 30 or more minutes to get 
help.

	His name is Jeff Slaney.  He works for DEC in the Mt. View plant.

	There were some wierd things about this crash.  We don't think he hit 
anyone's tire.  There was a small block of wood on the road that could have 
thrown him off a little.  He was wearing a helmet, but it wasn't even
scratched.  The top of his handle bar tape was scraped across the entire top
of the bar. The only way to accomplish this is to completely flip the bike
straight over the front wheel.  He landed directly on his face. 

	John Pollard and I are ready for shuffle board season.

We were MTN biking and the other 2 riders built a good lead on me 
going up one hill.  I wanted to catch them on the down side of the 
hill, so I knew I'd be rolling along pretty good.  The trail had a 
little "S" motion going down the hill, but everybody knows the 
shortest distance is a straight line, so I decided I could go straight 
down the hill.  

I did ok until I got a little airborne off a hump.  When I came down, 
my front tire wasn't getting any traction and was bouncing around.  I 
quit trying to turn so I could steady the bike, but ran out of trail.  
I smacked a pine tree about 10" in diameter dead center at the bottom 
of the hill.  When I knew I was going to hit, I jumped and ended up 
going over the handlebars just as the bike was hitting the tree, 
did a shoulder roll and slid on my back for about 10 feet where the 
trail was.

I laid there for a minute waiting for the bolts of pain to start 
shooting through me, but they never came (thank God).  I got up and 
all the appendages seemed to be in working order - there wasn't even 
any blood since I was on dirt.  I went back to the bike to check it 
out.  The front tire was ok as was the rim, but I noticed that the 
handlebars seemed to be rotated around 180 degrees.  I tried turning 
them around, then realized that I'd bent the forks so that the front 
wheel was about an inch from the frame.  I thought "No problem, I'll 
just bend it back out and ride to the bridge," but when I couldn't 
budge the forks I realized how hard I'd hit the tree.  That spooked me 
pretty bad.  I was just sitting on the bridge when Doug and Kim came 
back to see what happened.  They said I had the strangest look on my 
face.... �8^O)

Scott

    	Looks like I finally came in first on something.  To bad
    it had to be first *worst* crash in 1990.  This was not my
    most serious crash in terms of injury, but the fact that I
    was riding my new bike, trying out my new Time pedals (Thanks
    Norm).  Even a scratch would have been traumatic, let alone
    a full 1/2 gainer over the curb landing on my shoulder/back
    in front of at least 10 cars waiting for the lights to change.
    (Worse than wiping out below the chair lifts when your skiing)
    
    	I'm fortunate that the warm weather left the dirt on the other
    side of the curb very soft for my digger and unfortunate that the curb 
    put a mean ding in my rim which took the brunt of the impact.  The
    only damage to the frame was a ding from the Chorus front brake
    bouncing off the down tube.  Wow...just two rides and I almost 
    got to try out Cannondale's frame trade in policy twice in the
    same year....make that the same month.  
    						_Jerry

    Justin may have a new story for us some day.  From what I hear,
    he's gone down big time, plate in hip, pin in femur.
    
    Justin Crocker
    Porter Medical Center
    Middlebury, Vermont 05753
    
    ed

    	I just talked to David Faatz, who originally (I believe)
    	talked to Ed Fisher about Justin. He gave me Justin's
    	address (could be his mother's address) in Middlebury:
    
    	Justin Crocker
    	5 Chipman Heights
    	Middlebury, VT  05753
    
    	I'm not sure where Justin is at the moment. For sure, he'll
    	be home soon. He'd probably appreciate a card or 15.
    
    	Coincidentally, I stayed up to midnight:30 this morning watching
    	a total hip replacement for an older gentleman with arthritis.
    
    	The things that modern medicine can do. The program showed the
    	entire procedure (in living color) from start to finish.
    	Interesting, to say the least.
    
    	Scott

    Hello,                    
    
    As a friend of Justin's I'd like to share what I know.
    
    He's currently at the Burlington Hospital in Vermont,
    any cards should be sent to his temporary address which
    I'll forward per request (CSSE32::Faucher).
    
    I called the hospital and he appears to be in good 
    spirit.  His hip was diagnosed as broken, been operated 
    on and is recovering.  He is determined he'll be back 
    to normal for next season (6 months) :-)
    
    He had a lot more to tell but I'll let him share the gory
    details when he returns...                                         
    

    
    My crash in note 900.38.  I don't really knows whos 'fault' it was,
    not that I even care at this point.  I will probably ALWAYS lead from
    now on though...
    
    My finger was diagnosed as a Capsular tear and Sagital [sp] band
    tear.  I had surgery and am now in therapy, 3 months later.  What
    a depressing Summer :(  I hope to be able to hold a ski pole soon.
    
    /mjf