Posted on October 08, 2010 by Dave W

Cycling Safety – Is It Just For Others?

Why do we always adopt the ‘it will never happen to me’ attitude when faced with something we may not necessarily agree with?

Following on from a previous article about Cycling Safety ‘Heads You Win’ I have one or two more incidents to report which highlights the dangers of cycling.

Obviously if you are riding on the road you should have a good understanding of the Highway Code. I am not getting into the rights and wrongs of cyclists adapting the rules of the highway to suit themselves, I am talking in general you should at least know the rules.

My main objective of this article is about things that can happen to you if you are not careful.

I have four examples of accidents and almost accidents to relate to you, which recently happened to me or my riding partners.

1. Going Too Fast Around Bends!
   

   On our Thursday ride we generally do around 23 miles with 50% being off road. After a good climb on the road we then have a good 2 mile downhill which sees me squeezing the brakes when I get to around 35 mph. By this time my more adventurous/stupid riding partner is well in front of me.

   There are some sharp bends and on one occasion I found myself on the wrong side of the road. Luckily no traffic was coming the other way, but it did serve as a warning and now I slow down enough to keep me on my side of the road.

2. Not Concentrating When Stationary!

   Just because the bike is not moving forward don’t assume it will keep still.

   Only the other day, three of us were doing our short 13 mile Monday ride.

   Two of us sped off and left our rather slow mate (you know who you are) trailing in our wake.

   We were going along a canal towpath and came to the point where we would wait for our mate to catch up. I leaned on a Lock gate so as not to unclip and my front wheel tried turning back on itself unbalancing me and sending me crashing to the floor, grazing my knee and wrist and my pride with it.

   Fortunately my other mate didn’t see me and doesn’t know about it, saving any embarrassment.

3. Don’t Lean Too Far Forward When Braking Going Downhill!

   A while ago now, before my mate (the slow one) changed his bike, he fell off it. In fact I think he changed his bike because he fell off. Talk about a poor workman blaming his tools.

   Anyway, we were going down a steady off road descent which had more than its fair share of holes, when my mate suddenly went over the handlebars and landed, somehow amongst his bike.

   It appears, but not admitted to, that he was leaning too far forward when he went down one of the holes. He probably put his front brake on too quickly and voila, one flying cyclist.

   One day we will get him to admit to his failings and I will be able to tell you the whole truth!

4. If You Know The Puddle, It Might Be Best To Ride Through It!

   On one part of our ride, we go down a dirt track which after it rains has some large puddles. It runs alongside a small river which is about 6 feet below us to our right.

   As we approached the puddles, my mate (the faster/stupid one) decided he would avoid one of the puddles and attempt a small jump over a gap in the banking at the side of the river.

   He didn’t quite make it and when I managed to stop behind him, he was front wheel down, almost in the river. His backside and his back wheel stuck up.

   Some may have fallen about laughing, but not me. I quickly reached for my phone, but my mate said I didn’t need to ring for an ambulance, he was ok.

   I explained I was not phoning the emergency services and by him getting back to his feet he had just deprived me of a YouTube classic.

   I am sure that we are not alone with our hits and our near misses and whilst the above examples turned out ok in the end, please be aware that the story I am or you will tell could so easily be different.

   Take care and ride safely.

   Have you had any near misses or accidents you can tell us about?

   Keep Moving

   Dave W

   Cycling For Fitness

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