WTF type crashes

['Dale]

I was there, but not involved in the crash....

Hehehehe ????

[Red Robin]

All I know is that when I have crashed, I seem to suffer from temporary Tourette's syndrome and have no control over the words coming out of my mouth. Words I never ever normally use.

[Allrounder]

All I know is that when I have crashed, I seem to suffer from temporary Tourette's syndrome and have no control over the words coming out of my mouth. Words I never ever normally use.

Haha I think this a common problem among cyclists.  

[Furbz]

WTF moment number 1

 

On a slow wednesday afternoon MTB around kyalami with friends i tried to bunny hop up a curb at around 30km/h.

Lord knows why but my timing was miles out, landed my front wheel smack bang on the curb itself and went flying over the handlebars X-games style!

 

surprisingly not a mark on the bike

 

Me: 8 months later and shoulder still aches every now and then

 

 

WTF moment number 2

 

Riding in the cradle along the road to the caves

I was deep in lala land, thinking about the (at the time) world cup rugby and our chances of winning the tournament when i notice a dog 40 odd meters in the bush wearing of all things a Springbok rugby jersey.

having a good chuckle to myself (and not watching the road) i hit one of the rubber cycle lane designation bollards that used to be all along the cradle road.

needless to say, arse over kettle i went.

 

both shifters aesthetically damaged, broken bars, rear derailleur hanger broken

 

Everyone seems to forget the cost of replacing kit!

Helmet cracked

Gloves torn

full kit torn

even the socks were torn!

glasses lens popped out and got scuffed

and lastly shoes got some lekker road rash

 

Me: thankfully the kit took the brunt. but i still had to hop around the shower for a week or 2!

 

 

WTF moment number 3

 

Anyone remember the old fallen down tree you could ride along and then jump off on spruit where tigers milk now stands?

 

it was the first time i had seen this obstacle:

Essentially there was an easy ramp that got you on top of a large tree log.

not stopping to look first i road up onto the log fully expecting an easy ramp on the other side - there wasn't one. instead there was a kick lip that you were mean to jump off!

in a vain effort to get off the tree at the end i tried to drop my front wheel off 60-70cm height.

as luck would have it, the speed was just right and the drop too far. 

i went over the bars head over heels and landed on my feet in a crouch position!

10/10 for sticking the landing!

i then looked round to see what had become of my bike.

it had landed jamming the wheel and the bars into the ground in an action that ensured the rest of the bike could pivot round the head tube and smash me in the face as i turned. 

i ended up on my arse anyway with a bruised cheek.

[intern]

That looks like a serious upgrade!

May I be the first to say 'eina fork'...

[Allrounder]

WTF moment number 1

 

On a slow wednesday afternoon MTB around kyalami with friends i tried to bunny hop up a curb at around 30km/h.

Lord knows why but my timing was miles out, landed my front wheel smack bang on the curb itself and went flying over the handlebars X-games style!

 

surprisingly not a mark on the bike

 

Me: 8 months later and shoulder still aches every now and then

 

 

WTF number 2

 

Riding in the cradle along the road to the caves

I was deep in lala land, thinking about the (at the time) world cup rugby and our chances of winning the tournament when i notice a dog 40 odd meters in the bush wearing of all things a Springbok rugby jersey.

having a good chuckle to myself (and not watching the road) i hit one of the rubber cycle lane designation bollards that used to be all along the cradle road.

needless to say, arse over kettle i went.

 

both shifters aesthetically damaged, broken bars, rear derailleur hanger broken

 

Everyone seems to forget the cost of replacing kit!

Helmet cracked

Gloves torn

full kit torn

even the socks were torn!

glasses lens popped out and got scuffed

and lastly shoes got some lekker road rash

 

Me: thankfully the kit took the brunt. but i still had to hop around the shower for a week or 2!

very true about the kit!!

[intern]

I've been riding bikes since I was about 13 (41 now) but have had surprisingly few offs, no serious ones. But the funniest to which I was party was on a trip to Van Gaalen's with a roadie teammate from the Club 100 30+ vets team of the time; he was on my S-Works Epic and not a regular MTB'er.

 

Anyway, we hauled through some seriously fun singletrack down along the river, then whoever was in front made a sudden stop (I was behind my mate) and said mate stopped dead on what was a slight uphill. He managed to unclip on the LHS but...there was nothing alongside the singletrack on which to place his foot, just empty air and a dropoff into the river. He toppled straight over into the drink.

 

Didn't help that it was midwinter, either....

[intern]

</thread>

 

What a break. Literally only bone poking through your meaty bits could have made my tjommie cease up more that it did from reading that

Gotta say, the carpenter what fixed that is pretty swak. Looks like my Std 3 woodwork project, just keep blikseming nails in until the thing looks like it might hold together...

[intern]

First broken collarbone.

 

Riding on a flat, straight most average piece of dirt road in Spruit, in front of Trailhead. If you ride the Spruit, you know the part I am talking of.

 

Took my right hand off the bar to casually point at some horses, "look how lovely they are, nogal right here in the middle of Johanne&(!/@/'a boom $;83$2?"

 

Clipped the edge of the track with my front wheel and went down faster than a Kardashian. In front of my riding mate.

 

Broken Clavicle, bruised ego, 2 years of being mocked by my mates and an unhealthy dislike of horses. Horses mostly come at night, mostly.

My Mrs had a major off like that when we were training ahead of the '09 Epic. Barreling down  the Spruit, she was on my wheel at 40+, she lipped out on one of the rutted bit just before Delta. Smashed down, ripped her shoulder, got an XTR shifter embedded in her thumb, grazed hip, ankles, elbow. She still rode home. I would have been calling for the broom wagon straight away...

[intern]

I was about 10 years old, my boet and I went for a Saturday ride following paths in the green belt between Secunda and trichardt. 

 

Reached Trichardt and went down a nice descend and had to turn left at the bottom. 

 

My brother was about 10 meters ahead of me, with his new 18 speed, made a left and I saw him go down. 

Next thing I know he was standing over me and asking if I am okay. 

 

The culprit was gravel on a tar road.... Had to cycle back home all the way. I had that paragon all the way to first year of university. And it got stolen. 

I also did my first 100 km ride on it in my matric year. 

I had a Porsca Ikapa for a while in 1990, I think it must have been. Or maybe 1991...

[intern]

Hectic, well done on finishing that race. I think I would have curled up in a ball and quit after the initial fall!

Apparently, and I'm not 100% sure of this, but it is easier to curl up into a ball AFTER coccyx removal...

[Thor Buttox]

Gotta say, the carpenter what fixed that is pretty swak. Looks like my Std 3 woodwork project, just keep blikseming nails in until the thing looks like it might hold together...

Hahaha, that made me laugh cos I flashed back almost 30 years to my Std 6 'TV tray' project with fully opening leg/s and almost complete surface area.

[Odinson]

Wasn't really a crash, but I think this is worth sharing. 

 

A while back I was riding in Chaudfontaine (Belgium), doing runs down the DH track. There is a give-or-take 1km tar road that you use to get to the top of the trail head. On it's one side there is a big grassy field, that has quite a slope to it. 

 

As I'm merrily pedaling along, I notice a Rottweiler down in the field. As I slowly pedal up, I noticed that he noticed me and was casually straight lining it to me. Keep in mind that most dogs here in Belgium are quite docile and socialized and it is extremely rare to see a dog wandering the streets without its owner in tow. I keep on heading along the road and the Rottie is still heading my way. Halfway up the road, the Rottie is closing in (now about 3m away from me). No barking or funny business up to now (from both me and the dog). 

 

I think to myself, "What a friendly Rottie". I come to a stop as he's about 1m away and stick my hand out as a gesture of good will and to have the big bastard come closer for some deluxe rubz. As I stick my hand out, this pooch's warning system cranks it up to Defcon 1. Barking, snapping, jumping about, the whole shebang. I get a bloody fright, but keep my composure and scream at the dog to "Voetsek!". Being a French dog, he clearly didn't understand me and kept on yapping. As he wasn't coming too close for a nibble of my supple flesh, I decided to pedal on. He tails me and keeps on yapping, but coming a bit closer the whole time, seemingly building up the courage to take a bite. I stop and notice that he gets a bit of a fright and figured that he may be more bark than bite. I scream at him again and carry on. He gets a bit of a fright, but comes much closer as I pedal away.

 

I decide that enough is enough and I jump off the bike, grab the bike by the fork and seat post and lift it up over my head and charge the dog whilst screaming. The dog gets such a fekking fright that he literally starts tumbling down the hill, gat-oor-kop. There was an audible "sacré bleu" as he went flying. 

 

I decide its time to get out of there and pinned it to the top. Never saw the dog during any of my next runs. I'm quite sure he must've been drowning his sorrows in a glass of Bordeaux, in a dimly lit, smoky cafe, while lazily biting away at a Croque-monsieur. 

[FrikkieMeyer87]

Maaan, you guys should start riding with GoPro's. These "hoekie-vir-eensames" written stories would be exponentially helped by some supporting footage

 

Exhibit A: This past Saturday (23 September), my brother in law returned to the trail after a rather long period fighting the dreaded lurgy that comes with the changing of the season. He had never been to Contermans so we thought it would be a nice welcome back ride. He klapped all the berms without any issues, but when we got to the tabletop jump at the end of the DH trail we thought we'd stop a bit and do the jump a couple of times over to try and hone our noobish skills a little and perhaps build our confidence a little for when we encounter similar jumps on the trails in future. Of all the multiple approaches there that day, this was the one that I was least expecting to end in an accident. Looks can be deceiving though... Long story short, he remembers driving to Contermans, and then remembers the trail after the fall. Knock to the head dumped the trail memories hovering around short term right there on the ground, helmet broken, mild concussion. But luckily his injuries were minor he and the bike are both doing well and ready for the next ride!

 

I did my best to analyse his approach, take-off and landing in as much detail as possible, trying to identify potential causes for the fall along the way. It might not be 100% accurate, but keep in mind that I myself am also pretty much a noob

Disclaimer: Falling is a natural part of riding, even more so when you are new to the sport. If you're not falling every once in a while, you're most likely not pushing your boundaries. I only feel comfortable sharing his misery because a) when he fell, I clearly said "That's going on the internet" for sure, b) I have shared countless of my own falling videos and c) every fall holds a lesson for future riders, and in that light, drum roll please...

 

[Hairy]

lol, glad you did not let that crack sound go to waste!

[FrikkieMeyer87]

lol, glad you did not let that crack sound go to waste!

 

That's an expensive sound man, brand new helmet stuffed. Had to squeeze every drop out of it's final sacrifice. But what a flipping whack to the head. I've watched this video countless times myself and cannot get over the brutality of that fall. What seems like a pretty smooth approach and take-off ends in a pretty rough tumble, and while the video stops where he tumbles the first time, he still continued down that little embankment before coming to a disturbingly quiet stop just a few meters from where I was standing. I'm so happy he's okay. Loss of memory is never a good sign.