Author Topic: Your Recumbent Crashes.  (Read 4907 times)

Torslanda

  • Professional Gobshite
  • Just a tart for retro kit . . .
    • John's Bikes
Your Recumbent Crashes.
« on: 09 January, 2009, 07:36:41 pm »
What was your biggest off?

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Special awards to any of the 'Laydeeezzzz' who achieved a'Flying Scissors' especially at the WNBR!  :o
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #1 on: 09 January, 2009, 07:46:16 pm »
Falling from a foot is usually less than spectacular, so none of mine yet have had merit.
Your Royal Charles are belong to us.

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #2 on: 09 January, 2009, 09:49:05 pm »
I think that the only time i've fallen off a recumbent was when I went out to play in the snow on a LWB  ::-)

My M5 is very light on the front wheel and i've 'lost' that a few times, but managed to stay on my feet.  O:-)
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #3 on: 09 January, 2009, 09:50:35 pm »
I've fallen off Tubbycyclist's 'bent twice on my first play :-[

Not spectacular, and fortunately only TC to see (& giggle ;D )
Getting there...

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #4 on: 09 January, 2009, 09:57:05 pm »
We see a lot of grazed elbows at events we take the Spincycles to.  ;D (we have 4 of them now)

If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

richie_b

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #5 on: 09 January, 2009, 10:10:20 pm »
I managed an off that was (apparently) quite spectacular....
Laidback of this parish witnessed most of it & gives a far better explanation than I do, if he sees this, I'm sure he'll correct me.
Tour of East Lothian last year.  I'd insisted on taking the short route back to Embra since I'd hugely overestimated my fitness.

(Laidback took the photo, I'm on the bent & Mr Magnolia is in front)

A few km after the photo, the road starts to drop and take some switchbacks.  We'd not seen a car for 20km, so I started to take some fairly aggressive lines through the corners & was having a ball.
There was a left corner, which, like all the others, was obscured by the hill, so I carried on taking a little more speed into each consecutive corner.  Unfortunately, as I came round this corner, there was some very uneven road surface, then the bend tightened & the descent got steeper.  I remember having the choice between coming off on the road & missing the bend & going into the trees, so I came off, at upwards of 30mph, I think....
Torn pair of tights, a nasty bit of road rash that was a pain to get healed & a hugely dented ego were the costs.  Unfortunately, Laidback was too busy cornering to photograph the event & the written description is less spectacular...

Laidback will have to offer opinions on style: but I was quite style-less in the aftermath, but trying to see which parts of your bike/outfit you might have damaged is never cool

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #6 on: 10 January, 2009, 12:07:54 am »
Actual rolling the Cheetah was Tuesday and is already posted on here.

Previously I've only had close calls, the worst of which was hitting a speed bump, getting completely airbourne, and then slowly starting to roll it in the air.  Luckily when I touched down with one front wheel the resulting bounces ended up with the trike on all three wheels and not my head.

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #7 on: 10 January, 2009, 08:09:42 am »
Oh, I forgot, miniMikey has now twice rolled his KMX.
Your Royal Charles are belong to us.

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #8 on: 10 January, 2009, 08:20:36 pm »
i managed to roll my anthrotech into a hedge in  norwich last year at low speed . my camping load was the cause of the roll and a repack solved it  :).  i wonder if the hole in the hedge is still there ;D
the slower you go the more you see

rower40

  • Not my boat. Now sold.
Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #9 on: 11 January, 2009, 01:08:03 am »
The brief (!) highlights of my main 'off':
1995
Brand-new Velocita: my first SWB 'bent.
6 pints of Old Speckled Hen
Tried to do a left turn that required a derogation from the laws of physics.  Bike started to come over, so I put a foot down, in an alcohol-befuddled attempt to push myself upright again.
Left leg now trapped between front fork and ground; huge fracture of tibula and fibia.  I knew I wasn't going to walk away from this when I saw my foot flopped over on the ground (at right angles to its natural position), even though I was sitting down.
3 weeks in hospital, 3 months in plaster.
At final orthopaedic clinic, the surgeon summoned his registrar over, and said "This was the guy we thought would never walk again".

I think I've learnt my lesson.
Be Naughty; save Santa a trip

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #10 on: 11 January, 2009, 10:39:30 am »
Pathetic stationary sideways fall onto grass from a Hase Pino tandem (stoker forward in recumbent position). Ms P and I tried one out at a Company of Cyclists event locally. I wanted a go in the front. On stopping Ms. P managed to drop it.

No technical or style points there.

handcyclist

  • watch for my signal
Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #11 on: 11 January, 2009, 12:57:55 pm »
Oh the shame!

Having given a nice big signal to turn right into the road that leads to my garage, followed by a big lifesaver, friendly car driver behind flashes headlights and drops back. Keen to get out of their way, I make the 90deg turn a bit more rapidly than normalbut forget to lean in. I consequently proved that once the tipping point of a recumbent delta trike is reached, it flips out quite rapidly. Naturally, both friendly driver and next door neighbour are concerned and come over to extract me from a scraped Quickie and check I'm ok.

Fortunately the only damage was paint, a replaceable handle and my pride.
Doubt is is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #12 on: 11 January, 2009, 04:10:06 pm »
Only had one recumbent crash which was when I was riding to work in early august.  Nice clear weather.  When riding along an unclassified road though a village at about 20mph a pratt in a land rover pulls rolls upto a give way sign on a side road, thinking she was going to stop I continued but when I got close she accelerated out and went straight into me.  The result:  a totalled Quest and a £5k insurance claim.



clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #13 on: 11 January, 2009, 04:47:03 pm »
Ouch!  Silly mare.
Getting there...

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
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Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #14 on: 12 January, 2009, 09:59:40 am »
What was your biggest off?

How long have you got...

A few years ago at Eastway, I'd had a minor off at the hairpin, shedding Cosimo the Stealth Baron's chain convincingly enough to require the Use of Tools to get it back on.  I was offered the chance to have a go in the second race, which I naturally enough accepted.

Having failed to make any kind of note on how fast the Fast Boys had gone in the first race, I was obliged absolutely to cane it for the entire race.  On the last lap I am approaching the left-hander at the end of the back straight at about 55 km/h.  On the inside are two handcyclists, in the middle two other riders overtaking them, thus obliging me to go round the outside.  Because no-one rides on that bit of the circuit, it has a liberal quantity of moss.  On it.

Slip, bang, graunch, owwwwwwwwwww, arse, elbow etc.!

Six days later I impress a Youth in the moshpit at a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig, as I still have my leather jacket on.  "Aren't you hot?" he asks.  I mumble something and clutch the wreckage of my elbow.

Then there was the Inexplicable Off at Castle Combe, the Inexplicable Off at Cyclevision, the Rining Into The Back Of Patrick Field Incident, ect. ect. ect.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #15 on: 12 January, 2009, 02:47:02 pm »
Mine was at the Betteshanger circuit last year. It was a very windy day. There is only one corner on the circuit that is even slightly demanding: a left-hand hairpin. On the day in question, you had to lean really hard on the crosswind to get round without ending up off the tarmac on the far side of the track.

After a tentative first couple of laps, I had it nailed by lap 3; on lap 4 I was positively enjoying it when the wind suddenly dropped, dropping me too. My Kingcycle's fabric fairing was virtually destroyed, but was later miraculously repaired by its maker; and a Halfords fibreglass kit sorted out the dent in the front fairing... but I won't be playing the harp now. My left index knuckle will never be the same again  :'(
Profit or planet?

LaidBack

Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #16 on: 12 January, 2009, 11:06:14 pm »




The road surface here was good. Once we went on the descent we started to pass by some farms. So the middle of the road became crappy. Mr Magnolia hung back after the first few bends. I was riding holding camera. I did notice that Richards bike's back wheel was starting to jump sideways on loose stuff.
Despite this he kept his speed at around 25-30 only dropping slightly on each bend. At the same time the bends were getting sharper, the road rougher and the hills steeper.

The thing is that even good disc brakes don't work when your airborne!

I heard the crash from around a blind corner - and I was trying to keep up. The bike and Rich had slid out against an old fence. A second of silence and Mr Magnolia's brakes squealed to avoid the carnage.
Rich devalued some high quality cycle clothing that day. Fun though!




Valiant

  • aka Sam
    • Radiance Audio
Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #17 on: 13 January, 2009, 08:30:58 pm »
I've did a full summersault on my first ride with the trike, some bint legged it between two moving cars necessitating a 20-0mph stop in about 2 feet. Luckyly minimal damage.
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Pedaldog.

  • Heedlessly impulsive, reckless, rash.
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Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #18 on: 13 January, 2009, 08:56:39 pm »
I've did a full summersault on my first ride with the trike, some bint legged it between two moving cars necessitating a 20-0mph stop in about 2 feet. Luckyly minimal damage.

Did you get her to "Help you Up" Sam?
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Valiant

  • aka Sam
    • Radiance Audio
Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #19 on: 13 January, 2009, 09:08:49 pm »
It was an old dude :(
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you.

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Pedaldog.

  • Heedlessly impulsive, reckless, rash.
  • The Madcap!
Re: Your Recumbent Crashes.
« Reply #20 on: 13 January, 2009, 09:42:42 pm »
You'll have to look elsewhere for sympathy with your tales of "Dashing self sacrificial behaviour" then Sam. It's gotta be a good line to start with :thumbsup:
You touch my Coffee and I'll slap you so hard, even Google won't be able to find you!