Fell off my Agattu - Tough Bike!

[Jennykins]

Fell of my Agattu this afternoon.

Freewheeling down a railway bridge behind my partner, approx. 25 mph with power off, my hat started to blow off and I took one hand off the handlebars to stop it.

Next thing I was sliding along the road.

(Thoughts -
1. My new Bike! - Hope its OK!
2. My watch! (Ladies Omega Seamaster) - Hope its not been scraped!
3. Hope my partner doesn't see me and then fall off their bike in shock! (they are fairly recent bike converts and I don't want to put them off)
4. Owww!)

Injuries -

Me - Big gash/hole in my left elbow, Couple of big holes in my left palm, skinned left knee, big bump on whole of my left thigh which is going to be well bruised in the morning and hurts quite a bit. Also my Sandal was torn off my foot and the metal ring on it that a velcroed strap went thru was torn completely off.

Hat was fine.

Bike - Right brake lever scraped a bit on the hood and the brake lever next to the hood, also had been knocked/rotated downwards slightly but just needs rotating back. The grey plastic cover on the Nexus gearshift had come partly unclipped at the front but just needs unscrewing and then clipping back in. Right hand side pedal a bit scraped. Bikehut pannier a bit scraped.

A nice lady with a pushchair gave me a baby-wipe to wipe my bleeding elbow and hand. Bizzarely she said that people fall off their bikes there all the time, but I think she may have been trying to make feel better or at least less embarrassed.

Put the power on to get back home, was only 2 miles away, and everything seems fine.

Going to wear a helmet in future.



Jen.

 

[poppy]

Fell of my Agattu this afternoon.

Freewheeling down a railway bridge behind my partner, approx. 25 mph with power off, my hat started to blow off and I took one hand on the handlebars to stop it.

Next thing I was sliding along the road.

(Thoughts -
1. My new Bike! - Hope its OK!
2. My watch! (Ladies Omega Seamaster) - Hope its not been scraped!
3. Hope my partner doesn't see me and then fall off their bike in shock! (they are fairly recent bike converts and I don't want to put them off)
4. Owww!)

Injuries -

Me - Big gash/hole in my left elbow, Couple of big holes in my left palm, skinned left knee, big bump on whole of my left thigh which is going to be well bruised in the morning and hurts quite a bit. Also my Sandal was torn off my foot and the metal ring on it that a velcroed strap went thru was torn completely off.

Hat was fine.

Bike - Right brake lever scraped a bit on the hood and the brake lever next to the hood, also had been knocked/rotated downwards slightly but just needs rotating back. The grey plastic cover on the Nexus gearshift had come partly unclipped at the front but just needs unscrewing and then clipping back in. Right hand side pedal a bit scraped. Bikehut pannier a bit scraped.

A nice lady with a pushchair gave me a baby-wipe to wipe my bleeding elbow and hand. Bizzarely she said that people fall off their bikes there all the time, but I think she may have been trying to make feel better or at least less embarrassed.

Put the power on to get back home, was only 2 miles away, and everything seems fine.

Going to wear a helmet in future.



Jen.

You´ve been lucky, bearing in mind that you were rolling at 25 mph. English for 35 kmh here in Spain. I, too, took a tumble due to gravel on a bend (and not paying attention), ended up with all those deep scratches plus a pretty hard blow on my shoulder (cuasi tendinitis)- all of which left me stranded almost 2 months. I was crusing at no more than 15 kmh....

 

[frank9755]

Going to wear a helmet in future.

Sorry to hear of your fall.

I won't advise you either to wear a helmet or not to wear one, but I would advise you to wear gloves! I think they're the single most useful piece of protective clothing. I came off a few months ago I got a bleeding elbow and hip but a very flimsy pair of fingerless mitts saved me from a hand injury, which would have been far more inconvenient as well as painful.

Hope it doesn't put you off!

 

[Rad]

I'm also sorry to hear about your fall.

I had a spectacular one on my mountain bike a few years back. Was getting monstered by a van that couldn't overtake me. I was going flat out (no idea of mph or kmh) took a right at a junction flat out and took it too fast and too low. Bike went out from underneath me I landed with full impact on my right knee and elbow. Skinned both, knee quite badly.

Luckily, and this is why I wrote all of the above, I was wearing fingerless cycling gloves. The type with the gel panels on the palm. The palms of the gloves were scraped to hell, but at least my hands were okay.

Get back on your bike as soon as you can.

 

[Encantador]

Going to wear a helmet in future.



Jen.

Now you`ve gone and done it..........

 

[Blew it]

It's as easy as falling off yer bike!!

Hi Jenny,

Welcome to the world of the "unseated". And what a wonderfully old fashioned description for a parting of the company that is.

The first time this happened to me, was when I discovered a tiptoe touchdown was not suitable for rural track riding. Stopping to have a gawp at something, I put my foot down, into fresh air. The bike had stopped on a ridge with a steeply sloping loose gravel surface. Before I could slide off the saddle my foot slid down the surface. When the centre of balance thingy went beyond the critical, I performed a rather artistic backward, over the shoulder roll into a bed of STINGING NETTLES. No real damage, but the house smelt like a fish 'n' chip shop with the vinegar used to stop the irritation of a thousand stings!.

Slightly more spectacular, Riding through a rather gloomy green tunnel in the bottom of a deep cut, with shaded riding specs still down, I failed to spot a large fallen branch jutting out across the path. It caught my arm in the crook of my elbow and yanked my hand off the handlebars, and the bike threw itself, and me, flat onto the mud. I half expected to see a lot of white cards pop up, 6.2 6.8 6.1 6.9.

Have you ever noticed, on cold mornings, kids pedalling along at a fair rate of knots, with both hands in their pockets?!. The reason they can do this, is simply because all bikes are capable of steering themselves, if only the rider has the confidence to allow them to. This self steering is a result of the castor action provided by the forward angle of the front forks, the "lead".

Might I suggest Jenny, when you ride again, try holding the handlebars less tightly, allow your weight to be carried on the saddle rather than the bars, and feel how the bike can steer itself. Experiment with taking one hand off the bars, as you will need to do this when giving hand signals, or keeping your hat on!!. I'm sure you will soon learn those subtle body movements needed to keep the machine on the straight and narrow, whilst steering with one hand.

The reason your machine had so little damage is of course because it's very light, even at 15 MPH it will quickly slither to a halt. Unlike the Human body, even the petit female form, which is considerably heavier and therefore slides a lot further on the "sandpaper", hence the amount of damage to yourself compared to that of your machine.

I suspect Jenny, in a short while, you'll be having a giggle about the day your hat was more important than keeping the shiny side up. So take heart, your certainly not alone in the "loosing it" game. Just keep a good supply of sticky plasters and Savlon in the cabinet, because you see Jenny, it really is ...."As simple as falling off yer bike".

From one tumbler to another

Best wishes

Bob