QUESTION: I’ve biked for multiple decades, and had my first bad accident last November. I had a bike go down in front of me at 23 mph. I went over the rear wheel, and thought I would have come down on my side afterwards. People behind me stated I did a high somersault in the air. Luckily I landed on my shoulder (Type V AC separation, surgically repaired), not my head / neck. What is the best way to respond in this type situation. I’m just now getting back on the road, and am very worried about riding in a group again. — Brad B.
RBR REPLIES: Sorry to hear about your injury. We’ve had a few trips over sprawled riders, so we can empathize!
Coming back from a crash like yours has three components: physical, technique and psychological.
Physically, you need to be sure you’re healed up before you try to regain your confidence in group riding. A sore shoulder can compromise your bike handling skills.
In terms of technique, if you’re tentative, I’d suggest easing back into it. Ride with one or two friends and practice riding a wheel, having one buddy ride beside you, etc. Riding with someone you trust is helpful for regaining the reflexes and skills needed to be confident in a larger group.
The biggest problem after a crash is the one you mentioned, ease in a big group. There’s no denying that pack riding is dangerous and you have little control over what happens right in front of you. You just have to accept that danger as part of pack riding. Be aware of other riders and avoid obviously unskilled people in the group.
Look at least 3 or 4 riders up the road. If you focus on the rear wheel of the rider just in front of you, that’s often the last thing you’ll see before you hit the deck. Sit just to one side of the wheel in front of you so you have some room to maneuver in case of a problem.
It’s really important to not overlap wheels. Think of your front wheel as occupying sacred space. Nothing is allowed in that bubble surrounding your front wheel!
I like to show riders some simple tumbling drills they can do on grass in their backyards to build the reflexes necessary to roll on impact to avoid more serious injury. It doesn’t take many reps to ingrain those reflexes. Also, some simple bumping drills you can do with another rider at slow speed on a grassy field would help you get more confident if you contact another rider.
I hope this gives you some ideas for getting confident in the peloton again.
bike fitness coaching says
This could turn into a whole series of what to do, how to prepare, how to watch other riders, drivers on cell phones, road-rage, wow, looks like its safer to buy a trainer and ride indoors on one of the great apps like Rouvy. It’s getting too dangerous out there….
Bradley Block says
I was surprised when I saw this article printed…….again. I was the cyclist that wrote the Q to RBR back in Feb of 2015, following the described accident. The advice given was helpful, and over a short time I was riding with small groups again, although I kept a respectful distance to the wheel in front of me. Over the years since, I came to be very careful with the cyclists, and groups I’ll ride with. With known safe riders, I can comfortably draft close again.
Another key take away, is that while cars can scare me, it’s the bike on bike accident that I see cause most problems.
larry english says
i;ve never ridden wheel to wheel – too dangerous, what is the point?
Russ says
Unless you’re practicing for actual racing, in which case tight group riding is a required skill, for the sake of safety you can just ride alone or with one or two trusted riders. Especially true if you’re doing it purely for health reasons. Keep in mind bicycle racing is probably the most dangerous sport there is and if you’re not doing it in the professional ranks, where you’re paid well and all medical expenses are covered, it’s probably not worth the risk. Even in this select, highly skilled class of riders it still happens with great regularity. So tight group riding/racing in the case of younger men who are married with small kids that depend on showing up at their jobs with regularity for a pay check is rather juvenile and selfish.
Lou Lamoureux says
Two drills I like to do:
1) practice rubbing the wheel in front of you with your front wheel. Obviously, on soft surface like grass with a willing partner at slow speed.. It came in handy this past summer when I was second in line in a fast group ride and the leader inexplicably slowed (without warning) on a long flat straightaway. My front wheel tapped his and I was able to recover. If I hadn’t practiced, I could’ve taken out myself and 2 or 3 of the riders behind me. A foot or more of gap between wheels can vanish in an instant when traveling at 25 mph and someone brakes without warning.
2) riding side by side practice trying to push each other off the bike. Again, obviously with a willing partner on a soft surface. It will build confidence when riding handlebar to handlebar in a large group or just two abreast when a car passes.
Dave Le Fevre says
I’ve taken a few tumbles in my many decades of club riding and racing. A few of them took a long time to recover from psychologically.
Fifty-something years ago I crashed when riding on wet roads. Heavy traffic all around me – quite scary. Got up, rode home, rode a time-trial the next day, thought nothing of it.
Then a few days later it started. Any road with a bit of a camber scared me. So track racing scared me. I regularly raced on two local tracks, one of which had a banking that wasn’t really steep enough. Yet I kept thinking that I would slide down the banking. The other track (with a normal banking) was even more scary. And riding on wet roads was utterly terrifying.
It took quite a few months for that fear to go away. But it went away. Give yourself time. It takes as long as it takes.