Got my butt kicked today

Joined
Nov 27, 2015
Messages
783
Location
S.E. Idaho USA
The bleeding is almost stopped, almost, probably should get a couple stitches but screw it. Today in a small town 30 miles from my home base, I had a couple crane jobs. With a 2 hour interval between them, so custom made for getting the crane dingy ebike out and run some errands and eat lunch.

My first stop was at a friend's place who lives in his hangar at the airport, and as usual that took a while. Then I rode clear across town to make a bank deposit at the local Wells Fargo. Now time was getting short, but rather then eat a rushed lunch at a fast food joint, I decided to have a good sit down lunch at a good Mexican place I know. After that, it was a balls out dash back across town, at 30+ mph top but mostly mid 20's. Bike is a stock BBSO2 on a Giant 27'5'er. Perfect for zipping around town. City streets, asphalt, but with some ice on the secondary sections and along the sides. See where I'm going here?! What I realized pretty damn quick, that unlike my usual town riding style of hugging the shoulder as much as possible, I could not, due to the ice, so that's when I hit 30 +, just to stay ahead of the few cars on the 25 mph street. Makes sense right?

All went well, and now I'm almost abeam the lot where I left the crane, across the street. The center turn lane is all ice pretty much, but I see that if I turn NOW I can cross over before 3 or 4 approaching cars make me wait. So rather then wait the few seconds for that (plus I had a car behind me I didn't want coming up my ass) I decided to slow down, sub 20, and take the ice at a real oblique angle, as opposed to attempting a right angle turn of course.. I've ridden enough ice this year already to not have a problem with it, but today I failed to note the ice curb about a 1 1/2" high, it wasn't a smooth transition from the asphalt point being. Of course that cocked my front wheel sideways and that was all she wrote. No danger of getting hit or runover anyway, but I started bleeding like a stuck pig from a cut forehead. I instantly got back up, and after I figured out which way the handle bars should face, rode the last 40' to my crane, after telling a nice lady who saw it happen and stopped to see if I was OK, and I told her "Oh yeah, no problem!" I was equal parts pissed off at myself, and embarrassed. By the time I got the bike in the crane box, a 30 second job, a had a pretty impressive pool of blood on the ground, luckily I carry paper towels in the crane so I got things under control while I drove to my 2:00 job, and I made it only 2 minutes late. The building crew was a bit taken aback by my appearance, the blood was still flowing, in my beard, I was mess, but I could run the crane just fine. Badly abraded and bruised knee, forehead gash, bruised left pinkie, and scraped/bruised right ankle, was the final toll. Maybe a black eye in days to come, some major face bruising anyway. The bloodstains on my work jacket just gives me street creds, I work with some rough characters, no big deal there. Oh yeah, NO helmet, sure I wear a helmet, it was home with my two other bikes, I don't carry it in the crane because I don't want to have it there when I need it at home for trail riding! My takeaway from this is, wait for it, to buy ANOTHER helmet, just for the crane, duhhhh!

My second major crash in 2 years of e bike riding, with 2 or 3 more minor but pretty exciting tumbles, and NONE of them involved the e power, ALL were at regular bike speeds, and at the time of the incident, NO power was used. Just straight on regular bike mishaps, and again I am impressed with how these things can beat you up, really kick your ass! Good lesson though, learned a lot and it won't happen again.
 
Ice and two wheels just sucks. I guess bicycle tires with their exceptionally high surface loading work well with studs, but i have not tried em. What part of the country do you do rigging work at?
 
I'm happy you weren't chewed up any worse. Hope the healing is fast.

Last time I rode e-bike without a helmet was 3 years ago.
Forgot helmet, realized I didn't have it with me when I pulled bike out of back of truck at trail head... helmet was still home in the garage.
Figured what the heck, it was going to be a short ride, would be ok without it.
Woke up later that day in the trauma center.
Accident was entirely my fault -- front wheel drive bike, 20" wheels, sharp turn on gravel patch, down I went.

Great idea to treat yourself to a second helmet to keep in the crane!
 
I’d say of course, wear a helmet if you are head prone in crashes. Yet tire studs might be a better investment for your bones in general.

Even with studs, ice riding does require mastering a full set of skills. I kind of like taking a slide in the winter, for I never really hurt myself, nor the bike. Last year I had a nice 150ft slide, slush on ice. I got up wet, but no bruises.
 
Farfle said:
Ice and two wheels just sucks. I guess bicycle tires with their exceptionally high surface loading work well with studs, but i have not tried em. What part of the country do you do rigging work at?

Pocatello/Idaho Falls area

Now that I think about it....this is my first winter of TOWN riding, though I have ridden my fattie quite a bit in snow and on my 3 mile gravel road/ice mix to my rural mailbox. But riding in town with ice caught me by surprise a bit. The main factor being the lack of my ability to ride clear over on the shoulder like usual due to the ice there....but being forced to ride smack dab in the traffic lane, which made me feel rushed and to ride faster then normal. Even though the spill took place after I was going a sane speed, if I hadn't been in such a damn hurry, and had a clear shoulder to wait for the oncoming cars to pass, it wouldn't have happened. I don't yet feel the need for full blown studded tires, there was plenty of clear asphalt and just a little ice, easy enough to ride around or at least cross over safely IF I pay attention better and don't rush things. Helmet for the crane ordered!

The next few days will be fun, as I come up with various explanations when asked how I got banged up, just to mess with people : "badger attack, plane crash, got beat up, jealous husband", etc.
 
Good luck on your healing; you're not the Lone Ranger when it comes to infrequent tumbles. Over the bars from a front flat a couple of months ago and my shoulder is just beginning to feel good. BTW, three helmets, one in garage, one in car and one in friends car for when we ride together.
 
Glad you're OK. That extra helmet sounds like a great idea. I'd like to find one that isn't full of cooling vents for riding in the cold weather.

Back when I lived in Utah, ice was a problem, but where I live now, it's about once every 20 years.
 
Heal up! Happy you're here to tell the story.

Times like this, I'm terrified to take on the ice. Maybe some studded tires in the future for me...
 
As to the winter helmet concept: any welding supply store has fleece lined skull cap type hard hat liners, that's my plan as of now.

I was on a crane job today, and had a delay arise, and rather then ride 4 miles back to my car at the crane yard while the delay got resolved, I asked for a ride. It was 22 degrees for one thing, plus while I was dressed OK for standing around outside, I would have froze riding. A snowboarder, I'm going to use my old GoreTex pants and parka as winter bike riding gear. Light, keeps the wind out, paid for..... also in the crane at all times. I missed riding today, because I was unprepared, having my own transport carried on the crane is a real plus for my customers, I'll happily ride off and leave the crane on the job site for a few hours if need be, I'm not stuck there. So it's good business for me to gear up a bit for cold weather riding. I find I'm more attuned to other bike riders out in the cold, a fair amount of them actually, I had never noticed before!

Scars are earned, tatts are bought.
 
Hope you are doing better. Living in Co Cal. we don't have ice, but we do get rain and mixed with oil on the road it can be very bad. I really enjoy E-biking and I've had it happen to me were I lost traction. I ended up skidding up a drive way and took a tumble. Because I wear an 40 year old Bell Magnum motorcycle helmet, knee pads, and jacket I did not get hurt. So I don't ride when it looks like rain, I don't ride. On top of that driver visibility is often impaired. The extra weight of e-bike conversion on a slick surface when even using good tire can be rather chancy.
 
I'm doing fine, the big lump I had on my forehead has gone down, like a golf ball sliced in half, that big! Best of all, I closely inspected the bike and it is unscathed, other then the BBSHD display, which got knocked sideways a bit, due to the funky way and place I had to mount it. NOT on the handlebars....as these handlebars need to be free of encumbrances as they fold in order to fit in the crane box. Now that I think about, a more traditional mount ( more solid that is) may have trashed it, not having the give my pipe wrap taped to the handlebar stem installation did. It's always nice when something you thought half ass turns out to be the better way to do it!
 
Gotta live life on the edge sometimes, get the thrills you seek but be safe.
Shit happens, get back up and dust yourself off and get back at 'errrr

Scrapes n bruises are talking points

I was doing 45-50kph on the side of the residential boulevard, between the road and the fence, on the dirt path, dark patches where the street light couldnt lit, and no light from the other direction neither. Good ole rush! Sometimes I do show off to strangers that are out n about, twist the throttle a little more with my leg off the pedal :twisted:
 
It's been a bit dicey the past 10 days or so on the steep hills surrounding me, going up them has been okay but a few days ago I climbed up to the top of the hill and turned down the street to my kid's school, pretty steep hill. Got up to about 10 mph and feathered the back brake to test traction.......not happening, uh huh it's real black ice there alright. Managed to find a bit of gravel on the side of the road so I didn't continue gaining speed for the 1/4 mile slide down to the school, the bottom of the hill is another 1/8th mile after the school entrance, the kid's would have had a good laugh watching some old fool sliding past at breakneck speed trying to keep a long tail cargo bike upright.

Nutcase helmet with thin socking cap underneath, been wearing the leather vest with the fuzzy stuff inside underneath Gortex shell, got a pair of "Kinco" work gloves a while back at the farm store, I like them, look similar to my Troy Lee MTB gloves but thicker, warmer and cheaper.
 
I had one guy pop out of a side greenway onto the sidewalk of the boulevard. Friday night last week, and I was full throttle. I ride a bit on the grass of the boulevard away from greenway pathways when I am sidewalk blasting.
 
craneplaneguy said:
As to the winter helmet concept: any welding supply store has fleece lined skull cap type hard hat liners, that's my plan as of now.

It doesn't get really cold here, but it did drop to 40F a few weeks back. I just put the helmet on over the hoodie that comes with my jacket. It's a sweatshirt like material. That works pretty well for 40F and feels like it would be good down to around freezing or so.
 
craneplaneguy said:
What I realized pretty damn quick, that unlike my usual town riding style of hugging the shoulder as much as possible, I could not, due to the ice, so that's when I hit 30 +, just to stay ahead of the few cars on the 25 mph street. Makes sense right?
Actually... no.

When riding city streets I take-the-lane, yielding ONLY when it's safe to do so. It's not only safer, but Idaho Statutes says I can.

Some years back, a gifted female artist was cycling the fog line on Hwy 30 just west of Burley. By riding the fog line, she was inviting passing cagers to squeeze between her and on-coming traffic - eliminating the safe lateral distance between her and 50 mph passing motorist. Well... Unfortunately.. Her luck expired when she briefly looked back and habitually drifted a scant 5" to the left of the fog line.. and was hit and killed. Court records revealed that the driver admitted to, "attempting to squeeze" between her and the approaching traffic...

The helmet is your choice, but so is a rear view mirror.
 
You mean take up the lane, forcing any car traffic to slow to my speed? Not my style, when I can stay the hell off to the side enough to let traffic go by, I'll do so. BUT, with ice on the shoulder, everything changes! But the icy shoulder wasn't my problem, it was my foolish decision to zip across the ice covered median without slowing and taking it at a right angle! I take 100% of the blame for my screwup, I just was having too much fun...., until I wasn't. My one knee is still pretty sore, and it appears I will have a permanent dandy scar above my left eye, it's a good thing I don't care much how I look, in fact the scar just adds character, and I saved a few hundred bucks (no doubt, maybe $500.00 or so) by not going to the emergency room and getting 3 or 4 stitches, a fair trade off!

I have two helmets now, one at home and one ALWAYS in the crane (OK, for business tax purposes it will be a "hard hat", close enough). I look forward to doing some more winter town riding while on crane jobs, due to the weather I have not had a chance to ride in a a couple weeks and I MISS it.
 
-35C which at these temps are equal in F roughly being -32F
Hoodies wont fit over my big melon with a helmet on, actually no helmet fits my noggin. Only wiped inside an ice rink, hidden corner ice which hurt a bit, then a irrigation cover covered by pow which didnt hurt.

Now the rinks have been flooded and I see people skating, so time to tear up their ice :twisted:
 
Very cold in the east too. -28 this morning. Montreal is an island, humidity does boost the cold as much as the wind. Short rides, on bad streets because melting agents don’t work in that cold. No crashes yet this winter, no studs on my (new mud) tires but missed them at times. Speeding more than 3 minutes is Fre-e-e-aaaakin burning cold for any skin exposed. I looked like a bank robber when I saw myself in a shop door window.

My neighbour got hit by a car on his pedal bike 2 blocks away. The street was narrow with snow and parked cars each side. He went to hospital for his knee, shoulder and hand. I have his bike here, needing a wheel and handlebar.

Happy hollidays
May you riders survive another year
 
I'm sorry to hear about your accident, CPG, sounds like you need a a fatty for getting around town in winter. But you ain't getting your Trail Viper back! I'm having too much fun on it! ;)
 
Good to hear!

Well, the fattie won't fit in the crane compartment, though I do have a rack for it that plugs in the crane's bumper hitch. But I don't carry the fattie there unless I know for sure I'm craning somewhere I want to ride later. The beauty of my setup now, and all it took was building up THREE bikes (I'm a slacker compared to some here, ONLY three....) I have the Montague always ready to go flying, plus the fattie for the rough trails, and now the Giant always in the crane (and secure and out of sight/out of the way, unlike the fattie on the bumper hitch), as I never know when I may need it. I'm ashamed to say it, but getting the fattie up onto the high bed of the crane would take, a crane. It's just too heavy and awkward to lift up there more then once!

I rode the 3 mile round trip to my mail box yesterday on the fattie, the gravel road is partial snow, some ice, some mud, we've had a bit of a thaw. No hurry and I paid attention, unlike my town crash where I combined haste with inattention. :twisted:
 
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