ridiculous MTB crashes

[jules21]

what is your most ridiculous MTB crash?

last night i was riding along the yarra trails on a section where there is a steep drop on one side - a bit like that video from norway that was posted recently, but not as severe.. anyway i hadn't ridden this bit for a couple of years and i was coming down some steps (vertical wooden slats bolted into the ground for walkers) that culminated in some rocks, a tight RH turn (with the drop on the left) and a big tree leaning slightly over the path at the turn.

so i fell down the slope. remarkably, despite some tumbling down about 2-3m of 60 degree slope, i didn't really hurt anything. i was a bit shaken up though. to make matters worse, some bloke came riding over it as i was brushing dirt off at the bottom of the slope - and he saw me

[ZepinAtor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=en ... csPq0&NR=1

[jules21]

thanks nelson!

[trailgumby]

Mine would be my most recent.

I was on a firetrail with a mate. (Yes, I stacked on a fire trail )

We were enjoying getting air off the waterbars on a steep escent when for some bizarre reason he opted to take the right hand line through an erosion washout instead of the obvious compacted line on the left. Sitting right on his wheel, like a lemming I followed him.

He didn't get his weight back enough and dropped the front wheel in. The rear came up 1/2-2/3rds of a wheel height and it was clear he was going over the bars at speed (we weren't going slow). I immediately dropped the bike on the dirt as there was no way I was going to avoid running him over otherwise. (Visions of that Italian F1 motorbike rider )

I must have bumped my head as I was stunned for a couple of seconds. After the pain yammering from the other points of contact with the track washed away I looked up and ... he was standing up, walking fine and pulling his bike out of the bushes. Somehow the bugger had managed to save it.

I'd planned 3 laps but pulled the pin at the end of that one (lap 2) - wasn't concentrating very well and had a slight headache... probably a slight concussion.

[Jean]

My first two or three MTB crashes were all ridiculous because they were unnecessary in that the stock tyres that came on my MTB were absolutely hopeless on dusty/sandy Canberra trails. I just thought washing out the front wheel was par for the MTB course. A set of decent tyres fixed that idea.

[Baldy]

I reckon all the stupid crashes at low speed/clipstacks/endos gone wrong etc

I've had my share. One of the more embarrassing ones in the late 90s. On my mtb coming down the steps at Franklin Square in Hobart, had a bit much speed after dropping the last 3 towards the wharf. Grabbed a handfull of brake and endo'ed the 5-6meters strait into the traffic light post Bear hugging the post still clipped in and sliding down the post to the ground. The woman standing at the lights was first shocked, until I started laughing and then I think she wet herself

Like Jean a few of my silly little crashes came from the tires. I used to get around with 40-60psi with tubes. Because it was faster on the road [I ride to the trails] Get into the bush and bounce, skate and drift my way around like some mad hatter. Now I have tubeless Specialized control tires at 25psi and I kid you not it is like being velcro'ed to the bloody ground In a bad way on the road but in a sphincter clinching good way in the dirt

[WarrenH]

Ridiculous is the right word to use when I lost it in the pea gravel at the bottom of Big Bear Mountain, after loosing in the pebbles a couple of hours earlier at the bottom of Yaouk Bill Range. I now understand why hauling an Extrawheel trailer, at well over the manufacturers advised speed is not a wise thing to do.

I've an excellent understanding now of why the manufacturer's advised maximum speed limit is important ... because stacking at well over the advised speed can drastically alter the shape of the trailer's hitching arms, if one of them digs in to the track.

I did a bodgie repair to the trailer, which then didn't want to follow the bike. Yawing I think is the word. I limped into Adaminaby ... and went straight to the pub to make the best of a bad day.




The Extrawheel trailer tows well normally, like below.




Warren.

[Ozkaban]

...On my mtb coming down the steps at Franklin Square in Hobart, had a bit much speed after dropping the last 3 towards the wharf. Grabbed a handfull of brake and endo'ed the 5-6meters strait into the traffic light post Bear hugging the post still clipped in and sliding down the post to the ground. The woman standing at the lights was first shocked, until I started laughing and then I think she wet herself ...

That's Gold! Thanks for sharing

[silentbutdeadly]

First lap of the club race over the weekend was pretty ordinary. Three 10km laps of the course in reverse. Took off and passed a few of my fellow class members in the first four hundred. Went charging across the long gully bridge and completely forgot about the 90 degree berm turn and rise just off the end of it - that was now a left hander. Grabbed enough brakes to pull up for the corner but was so unbalanced that when I applied pedal pressure to get up the rise I washed the rear wheel out and laid down - still clipped in. Rolled on to my back to clear the track and everyone went past me whilst I laid there looking up holding the bike over me with both feet still in the pedals. Looking like a twit.

Righted myself in the descending quiet and charged off after the mob.

Four kilometres of personal frustration followed as I fought rather than flowed with the bike but I got towards the back of the crew.

Then I tried to weave through a tightly crossed section of thin trees because I was in too much of a lather to see the alternative whip around. Given the weave is made for narrow barred bikes ridden by narrow bodies riders that have some technical skills.....I simply shouldered charged the first tree, kneed the second and laid down under the third. At which point the dead part at the top of the first tree then fell on me....

From that point on my competitive spirit just left me...

I finished the event quite a few minutes behind the others after just concentrating on my technique and flow....rather than catching anyone.

One day I'll learn how to corner....

[drubie]

More of an embarrassing confession of stupidity, but anyway...

Just after I built my freak CX bike up a buddy said he wanted to go attack the local pine forest. Being over-confident, I said OK and brought the CX bike.

On some sketchy downhill single track, I completely lost it and went careening straight down the side of a hill, off the track, unable to stop because I was too afraid to move my hands to the drops to grab the brakes (no gumby levers on that setup). Finally my pedal clipped a rock and I was tossed onto the ground. Bit of claret on the legs but otherwise OK. It was the guffawing echoing through the pine trees that was the give-away that I had been watched the whole way by proper mountain bikers. That bike is now a mountain bike - I still can't ride but at least I can plausibly follow the tracks.

[jules21]

some great (soothing) stories here

i almost added to my list this morning doing a bit of urban MTBing. coming off a jump (2-3 ft wall separating shared path lanes) my foot came out of the cleat. i landed safely with one foot clipped in but it could have been embarassing

[Ozkaban]

Not an MTB, but still a ridiculous crash...

I was riding home from work on my road bike, on a bike lane/carpark thing on the side of the road. At one point the path changed to become a shared pedestrian path, so you have to do a bit of a chicane from the road to the footpath via a driveway if that makes sense. I probably overbaked it a bit 'cos the ground was slightly wet (had been raining lightly about an hour back), but as soon as the shared path started there was one of those stupid great metal plates that go for about 2m. Commute tyres don't turn on wet metal, so I went straight on into a lovely camellia bush at about 25-30km/h. I think the car drivers who were stuck in traffic that I had just overtaken would have had a lovely little chuckle at that point. No injuries beyond a few scratches. My watch band had tons of little bits of camellia stuck into it which was fun.

[Marx]

what is your most ridiculous MTB crash?

last night i was riding along the yarra trails on a section where there is a steep drop on one side - a bit like that video from norway that was posted recently, but not as severe.. anyway i hadn't ridden this bit for a couple of years and i was coming down some steps (vertical wooden slats bolted into the ground for walkers) that culminated in some rocks, a tight RH turn (with the drop on the left) and a big tree leaning slightly over the path at the turn.

so i fell down the slope. remarkably, despite some tumbling down about 2-3m of 60 degree slope, i didn't really hurt anything. i was a bit shaken up though. to make matters worse, some bloke came riding over it as i was brushing dirt off at the bottom of the slope - and he saw me

I like your description of steps: Vertical wooden slats?

I hope you didn't not heed the 'no bicycles' sign (just opposite the Fairfield boathouse), that would be naughty.....

[jules21]

I hope you didn't not heed the 'no bicycles' sign (just opposite the Fairfield boathouse), that would be naughty.....

this isn't near that, i don't think. i suspect i'm not supposed to ride here, but i suspect the reason is that it's too treacherous for cycling (i.e. path cut into side of steep slope). i figure that it's my risk to take (i hope none of the helmet guys are reading this).

[hitchhiker]

An embarrassing series of crashes today:

I've only recently started getting into mountain biking and after having a great day on Wednesday I headed out again today.

Things weren't feeling as good but I was getting along ok on a mix of fire trails and single track. I then spied a track that I didn't think I'd ridden before and thought I'd explore that one...

Not far along I clipped a tree with my right handlebar and crashed into a tree on the left side of the track, managing to rip the seat out of my shorts in the process. As I sat there in my torn shorts I thought "that could happen to anyone, best push on"

50m further down the track I clipped a tree with my left handlbar and veered off the right side of the track, there wasn't a tree on that side to break my fall so I ended up a few metres down the bank but still upright. Ok I thought, I really need to focus on what I'm doing here

100m further along I glanced up to see my face heading straight for a massive spiderweb draped across the track, it was too late to avoid it and after getting a face full of web I instintively took a hand off the bars to brush it away... the next moment my front wheel tucked under me and I was going over the bars and hitting the ground hard with my shoulder and head. That one hurt! I lay there dazed for a few moments trying to work out how I'd managed to crash like that

A headache was setting in and I decided to admit defeat and head home. I was having a nice run along the fire trails and it seemed a waste that after climbing all the way to the top to take the fire trails all the way down when I knew there was a nice bit of single track I could use...I decided to take the single track and just walk the couple of difficult obstacles to avoid any further mishaps

I got to the first obstacle, unclipped one foot and stopped to decide what to do. That decision was taken out of my hands as I over balanced with one foot still clipped in and fell down the bank beside the obstacle....this was getting ridiculous!

I then decided I was really heading straight home. After riding along for a minute trying to clip in I stopped to find out what the problem was



Oh! that's not good, I wonder where the cleat went?



Not my finest day...

[silentbutdeadly]

Oh so very well played, Sir!!

[jules21]

we all have those days, hitchhiker

[trailgumby]

From bitter experience, I'd have quit after the second off ... I've learned the hard way if that kind of thing is happening, it's a signal your head is in the wrong space and it can only get worse, not better... and when it goes wrong on a mountain bike it can go very, very wrong.

[m@]

Recently went for a bash around Majura pines on a borrowed Giant Trance - by the end of the ride I was just getting used to the wide handlebars... or so I thought. Left the guys I was riding with at the car park and rode off along a fairly flat and wide track - and put the left-hand bar squarely into a tree. The bars twisted sharply and I kindof hip-and-shouldered the tree, throwing me off the bike and across the path, landing on my right knee and shoulder and left hand. No lasting damage (thankyou, pine needles ), but it did take me a few minutes to figure out exactly what had happened!

The most ridiculous crash I've seen though was a mate who brought his sister's old Schwinn hardtail out to Majura... he made a daring (some would say foolhardy) attempt at a jump, and looked for all the world like he was going to land it... until he overcooked it, turning too far forward but falling just short of the landing ramp. In the end he put the front wheel into the near side of the ramp and for a split second managed to keep the front wheel down and looked like he'd get the back down as well... then went OTB and faceplanted in the dirt.

[hitchhiker]

From bitter experience, I'd have quit after the second off ... I've learned the hard way if that kind of thing is happening, it's a signal your head is in the wrong space and it can only get worse, not better... and when it goes wrong on a mountain bike it can go very, very wrong.

Wise words, as someone the wrong side of 40 I should remember the body doesn't bounce as well as it did once. In my defence the first three crashes were on the same track and I did decide to quit after them. Unfortunately I didn't keep that commitment so we can blame the 4th crash on sheer stupidity....

Recently went for a bash around Majura pines on a borrowed Giant Trance - by the end of the ride I was just getting used to the wide handlebars... or so I thought.

I'm blaming the handlbars on my Anthem as well! It was my second ride on it and those bars are super wide, they almost seem to reach out and grab the trees..

[trailgumby]

Recently went for a bash around Majura pines on a borrowed Giant Trance - by the end of the ride I was just getting used to the wide handlebars... or so I thought.

I'm blaming the handlbars on my Anthem as well! It was my second ride on it and those bars are super wide, they almost seem to reach out and grab the trees..

You mean like this?

https://contour.com/stories/kiwarrak-mo ... -race-loop

Tell me about it

[senator52]

Recently went for a bash around Majura pines on a borrowed Giant Trance - by the end of the ride I was just getting used to the wide handlebars... or so I thought. Left the guys I was riding with at the car park and rode off along a fairly flat and wide track - and put the left-hand bar squarely into a tree. The bars twisted sharply and I kindof hip-and-shouldered the tree, throwing me off the bike and across the path, landing on my right knee and shoulder and left hand. No lasting damage (thankyou, pine needles ), but it did take me a few minutes to figure out exactly what had happened!

Had pretty much the same crash as this, except I was halfway up a jump. Clipped the handlebars but was going too fast, ended up flying about 3-4 metres through the air horizontal. Oh yeah, also an Anthem.

Also Ive got my tyre stuck in the V between the trunk and broken branch of a tree I was riding along. Fell head first into the ground from about 3 feet up, so about 8 feet total.

Or this one time I got somewhat overexcited through a series of small jumps, landed the first three, and nearly landed an accidental front flip off the fourth. Surprisingly I was able to jump straight up, took it a little more conservative the rest of the ride though. The friends I was taking out for a first mountain bike were impressed/flat out scared.

[Mugglechops]

The old handlebar into the tree trick. Been thee done that.



Now I have 760mm and 710mm wide bars I can't even fit between those 2 trees.

And this one that I have posted before.

[trailgumby]

Dougt I'll ever go past 685mm... I'd never fit between the bridge rails st my local, and i'd be a dead loss trying to navigate Taree

[Mugglechops]

I never thought I would be using wide bars but after trying them I am not going back.