The Chainlink

Falling/sliding/spilling/crashing

I really hope everyone is okay after this weekend's weather challenges.  Anyone out Friday night knows it was slippery!  Any falling/sliding suggestions or stories out there?

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Permalink Reply by Tom H on December 6, 2010 at 11:22am
Note, from Oak street to Ohio is all ice today on lake path. The entire lake path has lots of patchy ice.
Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on December 6, 2010 at 11:28am
one positive for falling in the winter than in the summer is that you're bundled up and somewhat padded and you generally won't get road burn...instead you'll just slide along.

Learning how to fall is definitely a very useful skill.
Permalink Reply by Carl on December 6, 2010 at 12:28pm
My strategy is ride slower (actually that's my strategy year-round), don't lean in any corner, and don't trust shadows on the pavement. Often it's black ice, and if it's only a shadow, than any moisture there will likely be frozen since the sun can't reach it to melt it.

I also avoid using my front brake. If you're on ice, and hit the brake, it's just gonna lock, and a locked wheel will slip any direction inertia and gravity feels like taking it. I can usually manage rear slides (used to do it for fun as a kid), but you can't do nuthin' with a front slide but go down....
Permalink Reply by Eduardo on December 6, 2010 at 2:59pm
Most crashes are so fast or unavoidable that there is no time to react. But the ones that seam like the world is in slow motion and you know for a fact you're crashing is the first thing I do when I'm about to fall is to get off my bike. Don't want to injure ankles if you're clipped in or crash and sustain injury from your own bike landing or rolling over you. Especially going over the handbars and bruising your thighs. Unlike others, I do stick out my hands. I don't put any pressure on my hands but touch the ground to roll. You want to learn how to roll on the ground where the base of your neck meets your shoulder. A technique I've learned in judo class many years ago. Making sure you roll out of harms way away from traffic.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on December 6, 2010 at 9:36pm
I'm glad that you didn't take an accidental swim. I hope that Archie got some cool photos. Will have to check his blog tomorrow.

Lorena Cupcake said:
My bike, which isn't really winterized in anyway, loves to skid out from under me when I brake hard on slippery wet roads. I've just adjusted by trying to make sure I don't have to make hard, abrupt stops.

I've become a bit more cautious and patient hen I approach intersections-I think we've all had moments where we think "That car will probably let me go...oh, hell to the no, it's not stopping." I'm going a bit slower in an unfamiliar situation where I'm not sure if I'm going to have to slam on the brakes (ex: riding near a cab that could swoop in to pick a fare up at any time).

Still, I'm probably going to eat shit at least once this winter. I was walking my bike along the ice-coated Montrose pier this afternoon with Whateverland (trying to get photos with Lake Michigan and the skyline in the background) and I totally fell on top of my bike at one point. I'm just happy we didn't both fall in the lake.
Permalink Reply by djm on December 6, 2010 at 11:24pm
I got an early start when I wiped out Friday morning on the way to work. For the most part, there was only a dusting of snow on the roads, but it had been forged into a thin layer of ice at a driveway from a parking lot. I was going slowly so there was little damage.
Permalink Reply by igz on December 7, 2010 at 9:32am
the alleys are super slick. took my first spill this morning. i was on the bike no more than 10 seconds. bike came out from under me the left with the back pulling away first. i put my right foot down, the handlebars came down, wedged into the ice as i still held on to them. i must have looked like i was playing twister with the bike. my momentum still had me moving forward, so i did a summersualt. i did a pretty good tuck-and-roll, but my head still took a good impact. i was sans helmet today. i wont be tomorrow. i got a good headache now. doubt its a concussion.
Permalink Reply by A.K.A Paul on December 7, 2010 at 3:39pm


iggi said:
the alleys are super slick. took my first spill this morning. i was on the bike no more than 10 seconds. bike came out from under me the left with the back pulling away first. i put my right foot down, the handlebars came down, wedged into the ice as i still held on to them. i must have looked like i was playing twister with the bike. my momentum still had me moving forward, so i did a summersualt. i did a pretty good tuck-and-roll, but my head still took a good impact. i was sans helmet today. i wont be tomorrow. i got a good headache now. doubt its a concussion.

I went down in an alley today too. I came off a street that was relatively ice free and came in too fast. I knew i was too fast but thought I could manage the ice anyway. Didnt happen.

After I got up I thought to my self..."If I biker goes down on a patch of ice in an alley and there wasnt anyone around to hear the 'Doooh!', did it actually happen?"
Permalink Reply by Duppie on December 7, 2010 at 4:24pm
This will be my fourth winter biking in Chicago. I have yet to make a spill. Maybe it has to do with my rule to never, ever ride in icy/packed snow alley.
Before I reach the icy patch, I dismount and walk the remaining 50 yards to my alley entrance.
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on December 7, 2010 at 7:30pm
Took a spill a couple blocks from home tonight. Icing my shin right now. Damn you road ice! I will defeat you if it takes me until May!
Permalink Reply by terryg on December 7, 2010 at 10:11pm
I really really hope it doesn't take until May.....



Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
Took a spill a couple blocks from home tonight. Icing my shin right now. Damn you road ice! I will defeat you if it takes me until May!
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on December 7, 2010 at 10:17pm
Same here. BUT MY SHIN BRUISE WILL BE AVENGED!
terryg said:
I really really hope it doesn't take until May.....



Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
Took a spill a couple blocks from home tonight. Icing my shin right now. Damn you road ice! I will defeat you if it takes me until May!

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