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Old August 5th 19, 09:32 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Andre Jute[_2_]
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Default Crashing and Aging

On Monday, August 5, 2019 at 1:37:06 AM UTC+1, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, August 4, 2019 at 7:58:0javascript:;2 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-08-03 18:06, jbeattie wrote:
On Saturday, August 3, 2019 at 11:31:40 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
Folks,

Had a nasty crash about three months ago. Long story short my
handlebar broke without any warning. There was no cause such as a
speed bump or pothole.

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/Handlebar1.jpg

The handlebar was not cheap, an ITM Mondial. It seems they botched
the design in that they used a non-coated steel stiffener tube in
the center. This corroded the aluminum from the inside out,
interestingly in riding direction. Possibly because that's where
the headwinds are hitting it and maybe cause condensation:

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/Handlebar1.jpg

Luckily it didn't happen 1/2h earlier where I was coming down a
steep hill at more than 40mph, with a rocky drainage ditch. It
happened at a leisurely travel speed of 15-17mph. Thanks to the
fact that it was a very wide bike lane I had space to roll and at
the end I skidded to avoid traffic. In the lane I'd have crashed
into the path of vehicles. About the only body part that wasn't
hurt was my head, thanks to the helmet.

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/Helmet1.jpg

I am back in the saddle. I no longer trust aluminum and certainly
not any kind of plastic stuff so the road bike now has a flat steel
MTB handlebar. Put MeetLocks ergo handles on it, rides nicely.

As a side note I cycled by the crash site a week ago. I still saw
the scrape marks on the asphalt and debris from my bike which I
cleaned up. Interestingly all the blood was gone. Maybe a wild
animal has licked it clean.

Well, I'm glad to hear you're O.K. I broke a modern (2006-ish)
Cinelli bar in the same place after less than three years in service,
but it happened relatively slowly. I thought the brake lever clamp
had slipped but realized my lever was moving because the bar was
breaking off. I rode the rest of the way to work with one-sided bars,
holding on to the dangling broken section. No crash.


In hindsight I was lucky even with the crash. To get out of Cameron Park
to the west without using a busy two-lane county road you have to cross
a hill. The descent is very steep and cyclists tend to "let'er rip",
going down there at well over 40mph. So did I. Since the crash I don't
do that no more. There is a drainage ditch with boulders to the right
and it dead-ends into a busy road at the end of that descent.


I'm still riding with aluminum bars. They are generally safe. And
don't think that steel is going to save the day.



That looks like a very cheap handlebar. I mean something serious for MTB
use. That's what I have on it now. It's heavy. Not having a dopbar took
getting used to, might cost me a few minutes on longer trips. Though I
never spent much time in the drops.

Amazingly three car drivers stopped immediately and almost got into an
argument about who gets to bring me home, despite the bleeding. A fellow
immigrant drove me home. Almost new car, quite fancy, he just turned the
floor mats around in case of blood. He had a nice bike in the back and
put mine on top. Couldn't believe it. There are a lot of good people in
this world.

What surprised me was how much muscle and power one can lose in two
months. My avg speed down in the flatlands dropped from 15-16mph to
almost 12mph. Creeping back up and now at 14mph but that took nearly a
month. I still feel like a slowpoke.


Joerg, I'm hijacking your thread for a moment.

I was on a ride today with my riding buddy of 19 years when I touched his rear wheel with my front and went down. Dopey and not something I've done in decades. I was changing bottles and kind of bobbling around, expecting him to go straight when he turned. It was low speed, so no "helmet saved my life" claim. Anyway, I twisted my back as I fell, and when I hit the ground -- every last O2 molecule was knocked out of my lungs. 30 years ago, I would have jumped up and pretended it didn't happen. Instead, I just stayed down, wondering if I would ever get up. As you grow old, dopey little crashes are so much more consequential. The last 30 miles of that ride were the hardest I've ridden in my life. My friend was on fire, and we were really cooking before the mishap -- 62 miles and about 4000 feet of climbing, mostly rollers with a few multi-mile climbs on the way home. Beautiful, hot day, but a struggle to get home.

-- Jay Beattie.


I'm sorry to hear you fell, Jay, and glad that you're okay.

Somebody on my ride was saying only the other day that crashes at our age are so much more consequential. Though they were talking about breaking a hip, I thought of that when a couple of days later I fell while dismounting from my bike (I hooked the mixte bar between my foot and its heel) and landed so heavily that the deep dent in my helmet looks like the most dangerous accident I've had in 30 years of cycling -- from a standstill! The helmet saved me from a gash on the head, painful stitches, and perhaps even a concussion. That's definitely worth its price.

Like you I managed to finish the painting I stopped to make and the rest of the ride, though not such an heroic distance, but when I got home I was sore and shaking with reaction, whereas in younger days I would have dismissed anything less than broken bones or plastic surgery as "a scratch, don't fuss".

Andre Jute
Not an old crock
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