Stupid Crashes - Learn From Them

Less than 5 blocks into today's 50 mile ride to work, I was cruising along one-handed (with my right hand) and tried to reach across and shift my gears with my left hand while holding a cup of coffee. This was a bad idea: I veered crazily towards the curb to my right, destined to crash. I tried to recover, hit the curb at an acute angle, bounced back towards the street, and finally started to go down. I somehow leapt from my bike as it skidded sideways, landing on both feet and skidded to a stop as I raised my hands above my head and let out an elated "Whoop!" And there was still some coffee left in my cup (the rest was all over me). The bike was fine and I was forced to continue my quest to ride to work all five days this week.

(Day 3 of SF2G's 5W5D)

• embarrassment factor (1-10): 9
• dumbness factor (1-10): 9
• injuries sustained (1-10): 0 (landed on feet)
• bike damage (1-10): 1 (seatpost turned, bartape scuffed)

So I was heading up 24th with a latte in my hand when a big pickup stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian. Unable to one-handed trackstand with no prep time and no lateral space, I leaned a shoulder on the truck to get a foot gracefully on the ground, but it started moving, its bumper neatly hooking my left handlebar drop. Unable to get it out I got dragged into the intersection before falling off as the truck gained speed. Someone yelling convinced him to stop on the other side, just after my bike disentangled. I apologized to the driver for my idioticy and sheepishly thanked the surrounding pedestrians who tried to help.

• embarrassment factor (1-10): 9
• dumbness factor (1-10): 9
• injuries sustained (1-10): 2 (pride only)
• bike damage (1-10): 1 (abraded bar tape only)

Stephan was cruising along thru E.P.A. like we often do, when at the intersection of Illinois St. and Bay Rd. he noticed construction going on. Undeterred by "things that don't apply to me", he continued on, despite frantic hand-waving and shouting by orange-vested men, and entered the intersection between two orange cones, when *splooorge!* he found his road bike was unsuitable for freshly poured concrete, and he came to an abrupt and embarrassing halt.

• embarrassment factor (1-10): 9
• dumbness factor (1-10): 9
• injuries sustained (1-10): 2 (pride only)
• bike damage (1-10): 1 (concrete juice sprayed on various parts)

One fine NRLB Friday the large SF2G group had just turned right onto the bike path right past the Coyote Point golf course, when a rider approached from the other direction. Being jolly friendly, I extended my left had for a jovial wave to the unknown rider. Just then I hit a sharp ripple in the asphalt -- which hadn't caused a problem in 1000 crossings -- but due to the right-drifting lateral move caused by overly complacent one-handed riding, I hit it in such a way as to flip myself into the air and land on my left thumb -- which, 2 months later, is still not fully functional and often hurts. Duh!

• embarrassment factor (1-10): 9
• dumbness factor (1-10): 9
• injuries sustained (1-10): 5 (long-term damage)
• bike damage (1-10): 3 (left shifter significantly scratched up, bar tape ruined)

Having finally healed from my last Bridge to Nowhere wipeout, I was not ready to tempt fate again. As I approached the bridge, I cautiously dismounted and walked my bike to safety, exclaiming to my fellow riders: "I can't get any bruises - I'm going to Sundance and I need to be in a bathing suit & Jacuzzi in two weeks!" Not 10 minutes later, I'm cruising along feeling like I'm quite the drafting queen. Not so much. I get just a little too close to my friend's wheel -- well, overlap it actually -- and hurtle myself over the left side of my bike, and cause a 3 person pileup in an area with no bike lane -- awesome! Resulting injuries - 1 lip cut resembling the mustache of one infamous German despot (attractive!), 1 gushing knee (how can a nick so small bleed so much?) and a large cut on my nose (hooray for to drawing attention to my least favorite feature!).

• embarrassment factor (1-10): 6
• dumbness factor (1-10): 5
• injuries sustained (1-10): 5 (bloody face, bruised hip & leg, bloody leg)
• bike damage (1-10): 3 (scrapes, scratches)