most spectacular crash

I was riding south on Milwaukee just between Fullerton and California. Because of the construction they had narrowed the lanes with cones. As a cyclist not wanting to get "buzzed" or doored I rode in the middle of the lane. I can hear the semi behind me, and he isn't braking- he's accelerating- planning to crush me like a bug and run the red light 400 feet ahead???

So I try to duck out of there, and slow down to make a right down Belden. I even signalled that I was slowing down. Right arm down, right? No! He starts blaring his horn and I swear when I glanced behind right before turning I could see my horrified face reflecting back from his fender. Somehow he clips me, and my bike starts wobbling. Oh no! Construction on Belden too! A mini-bulldozer is pulling a u-turn and doesn't see me either. Now I have metal plates, cones and oh ****!

They've just laid down a new strip of cement across the entire street. I slam my brakes (back ones only), but not soon enough. My front wheel lands (crunch) into newly laid cement and I went flying over my handlebars and bam! Stupid bike lands right on top of me. I wish the construction guys had that on tape. I would have paid serious cash for that video. Luckily I had on my helmet and gloves, so just a couple of scrapes and bruises, and I walked away.

So what about you? What have your most spectacular falls been?

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on September 10, 2009 at 9:24am
A SEMI!!! got annoyed with a cyclist on Milwaukee? Really? Doubtful, but I hope you got this guy's "How Am I Driving?" number.
Permalink Reply by S. Campbell on September 10, 2009 at 11:54am
i am pretty sure it was a jewel truck that got lost.

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
A SEMI!!! got annoyed with a cyclist on Milwaukee? Really? Doubtful, but I hope you got this guy's "How Am I Driving?" number.
Permalink Reply by JRod on September 10, 2009 at 2:46pm
I was riding the LFP with my friends going pretty fast. We came to a pack of slower people, so I slowed down. Then when I tried to power past them, my chain slipped off my cog, the pedals came around real quick and I fell over the handlebars in front of my bike! Scrapped my side, elbow and bag pretty good.

It happened so quick, I thought someone threw a branch in my wheel! My friends thought I actually crashed into someone. My pride was hurt, but everyone around me was real nice, and made sure I was ok. One guy even asked if I needed an ambulance. Thankfully I didn't. I just tied my bandanna around my elbow and kept going...
Permalink Reply by Erin on September 10, 2009 at 2:55pm
I was riding south on Halsted just past UIC. It was afternoon and I was going pretty fast until I hit a patch of road where the asphalt had been stripped away and the bumpy under-road was revealed. I hit my brakes a little too hard. New bike, new brakes; the damn bike stopped on a dime. I went flying over the handlebars and landed on my head. If it hadn't been for my helmet, I would've been seriously injured, at best. I blacked out for a minute and when I came to, people were picking me up, getting my bike out of the street, running to get a wet towel for my bleeding chin, etc. It was a great example of the kindness of strangers, and nearly all of them disappeared before I could thank them.

I was pretty banged up, but the most noticeable part was the huge bruises on my thighs where they hit the handlebars as I went over. Quite the conversation starter!
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on September 10, 2009 at 5:00pm
Haha, don't they have guidance in those trucks? Hey buddy! See that CB radio? Use it!

Anyway, glad you're ok, and the only way it could've been a better crash was if the truck was full of tomatoes, and the back opened up. "And there are tomatoes all over Milwaukee Avenue!"

S. Campbell said:
i am pretty sure it was a jewel truck that got lost.

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
A SEMI!!! got annoyed with a cyclist on Milwaukee? Really? Doubtful, but I hope you got this guy's "How Am I Driving?" number.
Permalink Reply by S. Campbell on September 10, 2009 at 5:45pm
my luck couldn't be that good!

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
Haha, don't they have guidance in those trucks? Hey buddy! See that CB radio? Use it!

Anyway, glad you're ok, and the only way it could've been a better crash was if the truck was full of tomatoes, and the back opened up. "And there are tomatoes all over Milwaukee Avenue!"

S. Campbell said:
i am pretty sure it was a jewel truck that got lost.

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
A SEMI!!! got annoyed with a cyclist on Milwaukee? Really? Doubtful, but I hope you got this guy's "How Am I Driving?" number.
Permalink Reply by S on September 10, 2009 at 6:29pm

My crash was while doing the bike the drive a while back. I ended up getting up at 5 to meet up with a friend and biking up from hyde park. The weather was sort of drizzly and we were finishing the north portion and coming up on the loop. On the turn onto jackson, I hit some wet painted lines and my bike slide out form under me without any warning. No major injuries but one moment I was riding and the next thing I remember was seeing the asphalt sliding by through the lens of my glasses. I don't remember unclipping from my pedals but my bike had slide a few feet away from me so I must have unclipped. Anyhow, I ended up assuring the volunteer at the corner that I was fine, giving my bike a quick check to make sure it worked and then rode home with my friend from the loop to hyde park. We ended up passing someone being carted off in an ambulance on the way south and given that I had a slight headache, I finished the ride in hyde park, rode home and slept for a few hours. Nothing too spectular but I'm somewhat sure that I'll end up

There's been some pretty spectacular crashes in the grand tours especially in the last few kilometers when everyone starts getting twitchy and the speeds start ramping up. A stage 4 of the Vuelta de Espana had a pretty massive crash about 3 km from the finish. I think the peloton was doing somewhere around 30mph when someone went down and took about half of the peloton down with him.

Permalink Reply by mattbikes1 on September 10, 2009 at 8:38pm
It was June 22nd of 2008. A nice peaceful Sunday and I had to go to work. I thought about just wearing my baseball cap on the two mile ride but last second actually exclaimed to my girlfriend, "better wear my crash helmet!" I was coming from Swedish Covenant on California and Foster and usually took Lincoln to my job on Addison and Wolcott. I was biking south on Lincoln approaching the intersection of Wilson when I see a lady in a white sedan begin to drive slowly into the bike lane. The light is green so I proceed with caution while watching this lady to make sure she is not gonna cut me off or turn right without a signal. I am about ten from the crosswalk and all the while watching this lady who is still oblivious to the fact that she has half of her car in the bike lane, no turn signal, but hesitantly encroaching on my right of way! I am maintaining my speed, which is not that great considering my 48 to 16 fixed ratio, when as I enter the intersection look left at the lady in hopes of catching her attention so she does not suddenly veer further right and cut me off completely. With no eye contact made I look up just in time to see that another motorist going northbound has taken advantage of the confusion to turn left in front of me just in time for me to collide into the rear passenger door of her car...I know that I am about to be at the mercy of physics so I relax and go head over handlebars careening off of the back of her trunk as my body rotates forward 360 degrees, clearing the car, and landing squarely on the top of my head on the opposite side of the car. The momentum carried me forward and glancing off of the top of my head I come to rest on my feet, in a crouched position, via my right hip. Stunned, I jump to my feet, grab my bike, and get the hell out of the intersection before I am run over by another oblivious motorist. My helmet cracked, my body bruised and contused, and my cross tube on my beloved gun metal grey Surly Steam Roller kinked at a 20 degree angle about four inches in from the head tube. My front wheel is tacoed and I am shocked, pissed, and brimming with adrenalin. The rest of the story is history, insurance, and legal action. I then, after collecting myself and calling my girlfriend to collect my damaged bike and body, went to work. It sucked. State Farm replaced my bike, will be covering my medical expenses which are still amassing, and will hopefully pay out for some pain and suffering, however, I would trade the whole experience for it never having happened in the first place. My helmet most definitely saved me from a nasty head injury but my neck bore the brunt and still bothers me to this day and always will. The end.
Permalink Reply by Amber K on September 11, 2009 at 2:28am
Clark said:
Each time my head has tucked in and any blow is taken on my shoulders.

I'm the same way. I've never hit my head. I just kind of tuck and roll. Flown over the handlebars many times, and I always seem to tuck in my chin and land on my shoulders and back. It's just an instinct. My helmet never seems to get in the way. I wear it just in case. You never know what could happen.
Permalink Reply by Homebuilt on September 11, 2009 at 2:42am
I don't actually remember it, but I took out the back door and window of a 70's era Suburban.
Was riding down Hubbard west of the river one Friday evening, and something caused me to swerve into to the line of parked cars, slammed into the back of the Suburban and woke up an hour or so later at Northwestern. Luckily only a concussion and massive muscle spasm in my back. When I went back and saw the truck, I didn't really believe I'd caused that damage, but that's what the sole witness said.
Permalink Reply by Homebuilt on September 11, 2009 at 3:30am
So... You'd rather just make sure you die or have brain damage instead of being paralyzed.
To each their own, I guess.
For some valid scientific data on the efficacy of helmets, please see:
http://www.helmets.org/stats.htm

Clark said:
See? Lots of helmeted riders hitting their heads while flying off bikes. And lots with neck injuries...which can escalate all the way to paralysis á la Christopher Reeve.

...He landed headfirst on the other side of the fence. His helmet prevented any brain damage, but the impact of his 215 pound (98 kg) body hitting the ground shattered his first and second vertebrae. Reeve had not been breathing for three minutes before paramedics arrived...

I never wear a helmet, and I've gone over the handlebars many times in the 30+ years that my bike has been my only form of transport. Each time my head has tucked in and any blow is taken on my shoulders. If I'd been wearing a helmet I doubt that my head could have tucked out of the way with that big plastic globe encircling it. Perhaps Reeve's helmet prevented his head from tucking out of the way too.

Think about it... Mankind has been falling for eons, ever since we began to walk upright; during that time we've developed natural reflexes to protect our heads in a fall. A helmet just gums up the efficacy of those protective reflexes, and paralyzing neck injuries result.

mattbikes1 said:
...My helmet most definitely saved me from a nasty head injury but my neck bore the brunt and still bothers me to this day and always will....
Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on September 11, 2009 at 3:45am
My head over the handlebars crash involved me going North on Wells and turning onto Lincoln. I had the light, but it changed as I was going through the intersection. As I was turning, a car that was parked pulled right into the lane as I was next to it. I was probably going 16-18mph and I hit the side of their car and flew over my handlebars. Somehow, I managed to tuck my head and roll onto my shoulders. While I was laying in the street with my bike on top of me, I realized that I was okay.

An ambulance was there in a few minutes and they checked me out. I had a scraped elbow, and they gave me a bandage. Otherwise, I was fine. THe people in the car felt really bad and gave me a ride home. I was going on a business trip the next day, and I was definitely sore for the plane ride, and I had some bruises on my thighs, but otherwise I was really, really lucky.

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