!Worst Bike Crashes!

[urbanREDNECK]

Well what was your worst bike crash? Were able to rebuild it? How long did it take to fix it?

Now I've had bad ones but I only crash my rat rod bike two times. The first time was going down a snowy road. I forgot about the chain that was blocking off the bottom and crashed. It bent the front fender. The other time about a week ago I was biking on the side walk and went to get off (I was going fast). When I hit road the bike must have gotten a little bit of air and the front wheel popped off( I forgot to tighten the nut on it opps ). So the fork land on the wheel's spokes and I flipped off. When I got up to look at the damage the front wheel was bent and so was the fork. So I the next day rebuild it using another old bike I crashed ( frame broke). So I swapped out forks and front wheels . Had it back on the road again the next day :mrgreen:

 

[highship]

I wasn't going much more then 2 miles per hour when I lost my balance and fell about 10' into a brook.
yup the doctors were able to rebuild my shoulder, and 12 years later I'm still trying to fix it... the shoulder that is.
Bike was unhurt.

 

[g-ratter]

The worst was on my mountain bike up in Jim Thorpe Pa.
I was boogying down a very rocky trail running along some power lines. Usually in this situation I let every thing just go with the flow,mind, body ,bike but for some reason one of the rocks caught my eye and I thought that looks like trouble. Sure enough I go over it, it teater toters and over the bars I go. Since I was by myself luckly I did not brake any body parts but my bike ended up with a bent seat that had to be replaced.

 

[American Vintage Bicycle Supply]

 

[Wildcat]

My brothers and I were riding back at the quarry (forbidden of course) and were enjoying the first day of summer vacation way back in 1968, in Sandusky Ohio. They had made a big long hill of dirt to surround the quarry to keep the noise down when they blasted the limestone. It was perfect for riding. And sledding in the winter! We somehow had traded bikes between us and I was on my oldest brother's 3 speed hercules "English Racer". My bike was a 24", I was short back then at 11 years of age. There was a gradual but lengthy road off one of the hills that I liked to ride. They dared me to ride down it. I said I already rode down it many times, but they didn't believe me. So I said ok, but I need my bike. They egged me on, saying I should be able to ride it on any bike if I was that good. The 3 speed was set up for speed, with the seat high and handlebars as low as possible. My feet barely reached the pedals on the downstroke, and I was almost over the handlebars already, but I took the dare.

Going down was uneventful, at first. There was a little rut 3 quarters of the way down that had never been a problem before, I always slowed, using my trusty coaster brakes on my trusty middleweight 24" bike. This bike was really moving so I squeezed the rear brake, the whell just locked with no braking, all my weight was on the front wheel. I knew not to grab the front brake too hard, so I eased on the front brake as gently as I could and waited for it to make contact. It finally made contact, but it grabbed right as the front wheel dipped into that rut.

I came to laid out on the limestone dirt and got up before I noticed I had broken both the bones in my forearm, protecting my head. The skin wasn't broken, just a nice curve to my arm. More important, we weren't allowed back at the quarry, and the old man was known to dish out a heck of a whipping. The broken arm didn't have priority, keeping from getting a beating came first. I had to get that bike back, get cleaned up, then wake Mom and Dad up on a Saturday morning with a broken arm. I yelled for my brothers as they pedaled away, but they kept going, so I really was challenged. I drug that bike with one hand back up the hill, across the hill about 1/4 mile, then slid down the other side after letting the bike ghost ride down the hill. Had I not slid just right, I would probably have had a compound fracture. Then it was another 1/2 mile through the neighborhood to our house. I was guiding the bike home and cradling my broken arm somehow. I made it home! Now to get cleaned up before they noticed the limestone dust all over me. Luckily the folks were still sleeping. There was no way of getting cleaned up, but I thought I did ok. It was apparent that I had been back at the quarry, but having the broken arm was my ticket. No whipping. But I wore that cast all summer vacation and into the next school year, more than 3 months.

 

[urbanREDNECK]

The worst was on my mountain bike up in Jim Thorpe Pa.
I was boogying down a very rocky trail running along some power lines. Usually in this situation I let every thing just go with the flow,mind, body ,bike but for some reason one of the rocks caught my eye and I thought that looks like trouble. Sure enough I go over it, it teater toters and over the bars I go. Since I was by myself luckly I did not brake any body parts but my bike ended up with a bent seat that had to be replaced.

Your lucky on that one. I've never bent a seat post before so that sounds like it was pretty bad.

 

[urbanREDNECK]

My brothers and I were riding back at the quarry (forbidden of course) and were enjoying the first day of summer vacation way back in 1968, in Sandusky Ohio. They had made a big long hill of dirt to surround the quarry to keep the noise down when they blasted the limestone. It was perfect for riding. And sledding in the winter! We somehow had traded bikes between us and I was on my oldest brother's 3 speed hercules "English Racer". My bike was a 24", I was short back then at 11 years of age. There was a gradual but lengthy road off one of the hills that I liked to ride. They dared me to ride down it. I said I already rode down it many times, but they didn't believe me. So I said ok, but I need my bike. They egged me on, saying I should be able to ride it on any bike if I was that good. The 3 speed was set up for speed, with the seat high and handlebars as low as possible. My feet barely reached the pedals on the downstroke, and I was almost over the handlebars already, but I took the dare.

Going down was uneventful, at first. There was a little rut 3 quarters of the way down that had never been a problem before, I always slowed, using my trusty coaster brakes on my trusty middleweight 24" bike. This bike was really moving so I squeezed the rear brake, the whell just locked with no braking, all my weight was on the front wheel. I knew not to grab the front brake too hard, so I eased on the front brake as gently as I could and waited for it to make contact. It finally made contact, but it grabbed right as the front wheel dipped into that rut.

I came to laid out on the limestone dirt and got up before I noticed I had broken both the bones in my forearm, protecting my head. The skin wasn't broken, just a nice curve to my arm. More important, we weren't allowed back at the quarry, and the old man was known to dish out a heck of a whipping. The broken arm didn't have priority, keeping from getting a beating came first. I had to get that bike back, get cleaned up, then wake Mom and Dad up on a Saturday morning with a broken arm. I yelled for my brothers as they pedaled away, but they kept going, so I really was challenged. I drug that bike with one hand back up the hill, across the hill about 1/4 mile, then slid down the other side after letting the bike ghost ride down the hill. Had I not slid just right, I would probably have had a compound fracture. Then it was another 1/2 mile through the neighborhood to our house. I was guiding the bike home and cradling my broken arm somehow. I made it home! Now to get cleaned up before they noticed the limestone dust all over me. Luckily the folks were still sleeping. There was no way of getting cleaned up, but I thought I did ok. It was apparent that I had been back at the quarry, but having the broken arm was my ticket. No whipping. But I wore that cast all summer vacation and into the next school year, more than 3 months.

Ouch! That sounded like one hard way back home. Stinks that your summer got messed up by that. One thing I must ask where did your brothers end up going?

 

[Buck Masterson]

I don't remember it, but I hear it was pretty bad.

 

[deorman]

I don't remember. :mrgreen:

 

[Wildcat]

My brothers? They would have been guilty by association, so they were sitting at home like nothing had happened. They knew my arm was broken, they were trying to avoid a beating. As for that bike, it survived unscathed, to be involved in another horrific crash a couple years later, but involving my younger brother that time.

 

[iRide Custom Bicycles]

Dirt jumping in 2006 led to a broken neck in 2 places (C-1 and C-2), broken back in 2 places (T-3 and T-4) fractured skull, and a broken rib. I have 10, 2.5" titanium screws and 2, 7" titanium rods holding a total of 7 of the vertabrae together between my shoulder blades. Just thank God to be able to still walk and feed myself.

Here's a side shot..

Here's the front view...

 

[American Vintage Bicycle Supply]

Just thank God to be able to still walk and feed myself.

Yes your right....Thank God, Great Story man! Glad there is a Happy ending :wink:

 

[g-ratter]

iride,Unless some one is writing from the grave I think you take the cake. Glad to see you are still kicking.

 

[sensor]

back when i was a kid i used to ride about 20 miles to hang out in the next town over....then i met a car on the interstate that got a little to close and i ended up getting clipped and flipped over the car(still holding the bike :roll: ) bike made it out without much damage(a few scratches and some road tar) but i had a broken arm,torn shorts,a gash that took 30 or so stitches and had to ride 3 or 4 miles back to town while bleeding and in alot of pain.........does that count?
ohhhh.......i almost forgot about the time when i was learning gut levers.........went forward a hair to far and gave myself a great concussion :lol: sad thing was riding a quarter pipe i never got hurt :?

Dirt jumping in 2006 led to a broken neck in 2 places (C-1 and C-2), broken back in 2 places (T-3 and T-4) fractured skull, and a broken rib. I have 10, 2.5" titanium screws and 2, 7" titanium rods holding a total of 7 of the vertabrae together between my shoulder blades. Just thank God to be able to still walk and feed myself.

Here's a side shot..

Here's the front view...

WOW :shock:

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Dirt jumping in 2006 led to a broken neck in 2 places (C-1 and C-2), broken back in 2 places (T-3 and T-4) fractured skull, and a broken rib. I have 10, 2.5" titanium screws and 2, 7" titanium rods holding a total of 7 of the vertabrae together between my shoulder blades. Just thank God to be able to still walk and feed myself.

Here's a side shot..

Here's the front view...

OUCH :shock: Glad you're okay bro.

 

[M.Martian]

I've had two that sucked pretty bad. The one that did more bodily harm was one of those embarrassing kind that shouldn't have happened.

In high school I was riding my dad's old Schwinn Conti when a car pulled off into the gravel parking lot that I was also going through. I ended up hitting the car head on at the center of the front end. Taco'd the front wheel and I went diagonally over the hood just missing the windshield. The bike ended up getting the worst of it. Besides the taco'd wheel (surprisingly the rear wheel was ok), the seat stays were slammed and pushed over at the seat tube a couple inches.

In my 20's I was out for a mtn bike ride. It was really wet and muddy out so I had my fenders mounted. Apparently the pressure in my forks was a bit low and when I came down off a curb the shock compressed and the knobbies caught the fender. Over the bars I went and landed in the street on my elbow. By the time I finished the ride (actually about half way home) my arm stiffened up and I couldn't move it. I did get xrays but they didn't tell me anything. Possible crack or chip and my elbow is still screwed up to this day (18 years or so later).

I've made it out pretty much unscathed in comparison to some others and with what I've gotten away with (road bike top speed of 53mph and hitting 40+mph on a hard tail in the dirt).

 

[twomorestrokes]

Surprised I still get on a bike. Once I was racing someone down our hill and I was sitting on the back fender when the grips pulled off. Doh!

Another time I had a fenderless bike with no brakes racing down the same hill. To slow down I'd rub my shoe on the front tire. It jammed into the fork above the front tire, locking the wheel up suddenly. Owww, my head.

The topper was when I didn't see the Cadillac and rode my Collegiate right in front of him crossing the road. Learned to ride wheelies in a wheelchair that summer. Wore the wheelchair tires out by coasting down that hill and skidding at the bottom. Yeah! :wink:

Bones healed and I'm always dreaming up new ways to injure myself. The gasoline fire did not involve a bike though.

 

[Wildcat]

"I did get xrays but they didn't tell me anything. Possible crack or chip and my elbow is still screwed up to this day (18 years or so later)."

X-rays are more definitive today, and other imaging can pinpoint injuries. Next checkup, ask your doctor, maybe some of this newfangled stuff can fix the old problem.

 

[Bendix]

bike crashes are best viewed from a distance......

 

[X-RAY]

i think i was about 13, was on the back road (dirt) into town for a church function. trying to build up momentum for the next hill (and be cool) i got going too fast and my front wheel dropped into a deep rut. i woke up in the middle of the road (luckily no traffic in the boonies) with the bike about 50 feet ahead of me, front wheel bent up. i must not have been out very long, i wasnt that late when i showed up at church carrying my bike. everyone said i should have my head checked for injuries, but to this day i still think im fine,dont you? :lol: