I bought a used bike I need for work. I’ve only biked for about 3 months of my adult life 7 years ago.
Within 5 minutes of biking home, I crashed. I heard someone about to pass me, thought they were on my right so I turned to check, they were on my left and with my turn I had swerved into them and fell hard. Some big bruises but otherwise ok.
A week ago I was biking home during pretty heavy rain, probably going too fast, and tried to get up on the sidewalk from the bike lane shown in the picture (the bike lane is on the sidewalk after the turn). I fell and got a concussion (was wearing a helmet) and some bad scrapes. I don’t understand why I couldn’t make that tiny curb.
I feel like an idiot and am super embarrassed. I am an extremely cautious person and am a little weary of biking in the first place. I don’t want to really hurt myself (already a week off of work from the last accident) but clearly millions of people use biking exclusively to get places. What are not obvious things to be careful about? How to get over the fear?
Thanks.
by sharpwarbler
12 Comments
Once, I crashed 2 times in one morning ride going to work because of black ice. It’s not a big deal, just wear your helmet and your gloves
I’m glad you’re ok and made it out with “only” a concussion and a few bruises.
Keeping straight while looking over your shoulder is difficult, though that skill will improve with time and getting accustomed to your new bike.
Wet curbs can be a b…, the tire flanks will tend to slide on the wet concrete which can lead to loss of control and accident. I usually go a little to the left first and then turn right sharply as to encounter the curb as perpendicular as possible.
What bike are you riding? Maybe you are on a bike that is totally unsuitable for a beginner to be riding on the street without realising that is the case (have seen this before) so without knowing anything there it’s difficult to give solid advice
But it sounds like you are pushing your current level of cycling ability past where it is safe and getting hurt as a result. You are clearly still learning basics (which is not surprising after only 3 months of riding a bike) and doing so on the street in traffic and bad weather is maybe not the way to do so if you don’t want to get hurt.
Like swerving in the direction you look over your shoulder is 100% normal for a beginner cyclist, it takes a small amount of practice to not do this, and it’s something you ideally should learn before heading out into traffic. Hard braking is another thing that beginners often neglect to practice in safe conditions and then end up face planting concrete when they have to brake for real because they have zero experience with it.
My advice would be to do some skills practice in an empty car park to get more confident on the bike and more aware of its limits. So stuff like looking over your shoulder without swerving, riding slowly without wobbling from side to side, hard braking with both brakes.
Chin up
It seems like you need to
1) improve your skill level
2) improve your decision making.
When riding and being passed your generally not going to want to do a shoulder check, just maintain your course. That curb should be mountable on the bikes I ride, but slowly, especially if it’s at a shallow angle.
I would suggest worrying less about the people around you, as hard as that can be, and focus on your path ahead and taking your time. It’s like a new skier that falls because someone else is skiing near them, it’s their job to avoid you, help them out by maintaining course.
I cycled my whole childhood, and I’ve been an active cyclist for the past 5-6 years or so. Last year I did some 5000km.
I wipe out bad about once a year, it’s just part of the game. The more you ride, the better you will get, and the more crashes you will have.
Don’t be discouraged. Go at your pace, pay attention to your surroundings and wear your helmet. Ride more. It’ll hurt but at least you were riding and enjoying yourself.
In cases like this it actually worse for the painted bike lanes to be there. Cars assume that as lomnng as they don’t cross the line they are good whereas if there were no line they’d be much more likely to give you a wide berth.
First, if you haven’t already, bring your bike to a shop and make sure there is nothing mechanically wrong with the bike. The first fall could have knocked something loose, or if could be that there is a mechanical issue (steering, gears, what have you).
If everything is good, look at fit.
If all that is good, it is experience and balance, quickness of movement. The only time I fell for no reason on a glorious spring morning was, I’m pretty sure, due to the fact that I was tired and turned to look at something, and the bike went with me. The adage “look at where you want to go” contains a downside, i.e. you may end up where you look.
Getting up a curb is a matter of angle and tire pressure, tire width, I’d venture. I have wiped out skinny tires on curbs I tractor over with wider, plusher ones. But there is also skill: for that curb, you don’t need to bunny hop, but understanding the principle behind it would be useful.
Also: rain = slick. My most spectacular fall was on a wet street, getting my front tire caught and dragged along trolley tracks. Do not recommend, See also: angle.
Slow down a bit, but not super slow (you need momentum to stay balanced); get a rearview mirror so that you don’t have to turn your head too much, but also practice that slowly, so that it becomes second nature.
My two cents. Don’t get discouraged.
It gets easier.
I didn’t bike for nearly 13 years before picking it back up. First 6 months was hard for me. I wasn’t ready. I forgot how to brake without spilling, how to balance properly, my muscles where gone, and my muscle memory a faded memory when i was half my current size.
Moving where you look is normal, braking hard is normal, falling while mounting a curb is normal for beginners. Hell I did it myself. I wiped out in the rain when i tried to hard brake myself and scuffed up my hands mounting a curb and its very likely many others here have as well.
Remember where you look you will naturally steer yourself to go. Doing otherwise is a learned skill. That helped me avoid dangers by training myself to look at the path forward not the danger.
If you want you can get bike mirrors for your handlebars till you get a hang of the looking behind you part. They are like $10 on Amazon.
It gets easier. Wear the helmet, practice riding when traffic is light and off major roads, practice braking, and ask for help. You are already doing one of those things so great progress. No different than learning to drive and crashing isn’t that common once you get used to it. Don’t forget there are dozens of sites that will freely give advice about where to put yourself in relation to cars (If you worry about anything make it the cars and the sidebar has some great links).
Hop back in that saddle and in a few months I hope to hear from you again once you build up that muscle memory. It is well worth the effort trust me.
If you need something to get over the fear this is what helped me. It’s good exercise, it’s good savings on your wallet, and it’s damn fun. I don’t regret any of the bruises or cuts I got.
These things seem to come in waves. I went 5k miles/3 years without an accident then had a crash and then the very next day had another crash. The first one was another cyclist ran a red light and we collided, luckily not severe. The next day I got distracted by a bird and flipped over a curb. That one I felt the next day, completely my fault.
Fast forward a couple years, I was just about to celebrate 10k miles with 5k since the last incidents. Wednesday there was a valet service that put a sign protruding into the bike lane, it was too tight… Clipped my handlebar and took me out. The valet people have thankfully stopped putting the sign in the bike lane. Very next day I’m commuting home from work and a guy runs a red light causing a collision and concussion, scrapes bruises.
Don’t give up after falling down, get back up and keep going. Maybe take a day off afterwards
Omg I feel you. The day that I crashed twice in one day, when I was otw to class, I ended up just going to the bathroom on campus instead of my classroom and crying in the stall. 🙃
But I’ll tell you that I haven’t crashed since that day. A few bad crashes make you learn where to be cautious (turning sharply or at speed on gravel, for example) and equip you to be mostly crash-free forever onwards!
I totally get you. I crashed coming back from dinner one day and ended up in the hospital. Had to call work to say that I didn’t know how long I’d be off (they were still checking for a concussion and broken bones). Statistically, the benefits of cycling vastly outweigh the risks, but it’s difficult to see that after two consecutive crashes.
Nothing to be embarrassed about, we all make mistakes and misjudging a curb is no different. I hope you get over the fear and get to enjoy your bike rides soon.