Tram tracks finally got me

After 4 and a half years of riding in Melbourne I finally had a stack on the
tram tracks tonight. Just as I left work it absolutely ****ed down with
rain for about 5 minutes or so and everything got pretty wet. I cut through
between the MCG and Rod Laver arena as per usual then got up to Wellington
Parade and went to cross over the tram tracks. I made it over the first set
OK and the first track of the second set.....I then rode along the tracks
for a bit until a gap in the traffic and then went to cut over to the left
hand side of the road. A combination of wet tracks, worn tyre, not enough
angle of approach, and accelerating to get across the road resulted in my
rear tyre sliding out from under me to the right!!! I ended up on my bum in
the middle of the road and my bike skidded all the way across the lane and
an empty parking spot and into the gutter (luckily there was no parked car
there). I got up really quickly to get off the road as there was a car
coming and jumped on the bike again. It wasn't until I got around the
corner that my leg, fingers, and arm started to hurt a bit.

I stopped to take stock of the situation and it turns out I got off pretty
lightly. Because the ground was so wet I pretty well skidded and only ended
up with a bit of road rash on my upper left shin, slightly tingly fingertips
(not scraped enough to graze them though) and a bit of a bump to my left
forearm. I was initially pretty concerned about this as it was the same arm
I broke about 18 months ago but it feels fine now so I assume I got away
with it. Most importantly the bike came out OK with only a bit of
scratching on the handlebar plug and the LHS of the rear quick release.
There was also a slight graze on the LH rear of the seat but it is not too
bad (I think the wet road reduced the overall damage).

To make it worse, I had a near miss earlier in the week when the rear tyre
(a really worn 26 x 1.5 IRC Metro Slick) slipped on the tram tracks but I
caught it before I fell off - I went into Peter Moore last night and bought
a new set of Schwabb 26 x 1.75 tyres but didn't get around to fitting them
last night (they are still hanging in the shed).

Oh well......I just hope I can go at least another 4.5 years before that
happens again!!!

Gags

On Aug 2, 7:53 pm, "Gags" wrote:


Oh well......I just hope I can go at least another 4.5 years before that
happens again!!!

Gags

That is my pattern, always a few years between track incidents.

I can remember 4 notable incidents (3 offs and one ooooh **** moment)
in the last 13 years, so I guess you are doing better than me1

On 2007-08-02, Gags (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
I stopped to take stock of the situation and it turns out I got off pretty
lightly. Because the ground was so wet I pretty well skidded and only ended
up with a bit of road rash on my upper left shin, slightly tingly fingertips
(not scraped enough to graze them though) and a bit of a bump to my left
forearm. I was initially pretty concerned about this as it was the same arm
I broke about 18 months ago but it feels fine now so I assume I got away
with it. Most importantly the bike came out OK with only a bit of
scratching on the handlebar plug and the LHS of the rear quick release.
There was also a slight graze on the LH rear of the seat but it is not too
bad (I think the wet road reduced the overall damage).

In my copious testing, I have found that fortunately, wet roads are
quite frictionless. Well, less fortunately in that you go down in the
first place.

--
TimC
Television: A medium. So called because it is neither rare nor well done.
--Ernie Kovacs

Gags Wrote:
After 4 and a half years of riding in Melbourne I finally had a stack on
the tram tracks tonight.

Welcome..! To the club

I have only had 1 incident, so now I have said that, I am sure another
1 is literally just around the corner.... at least there were minimal
people around to share the amusement with.


--
MikeyOz

Gags Wrote:
After 4 and a half years of riding in Melbourne I finally had a stack on
the
tram tracks tonight.

Oh well......I just hope I can go at least another 4.5 years before
that
happens again!!!

Gags


Good to hear you are OK. It's a horrible feeling. I have gone down a
few times but my worst fright was to get both wheels stuck in a track,
then bounce out into the oncoming stream of traffic going down Toorak
Rd in the dark one evening. Somehow every thing missed me and I ended
up against the far curb, upright but rather shaken.

Keep an eye on them for the next few weeks.

RoryW


--
Rory Williams

I haven't managed tram tracks yet but I did have a diagonal expansion joint
on a bridge throw me under a truck once. Fortunately the traffic was heavy
enough that the truck wasn't moving.

tram tracks got me back in circa '83.
propping to do righthand turn and at about 2kph got front wheel stuck,
panicked and went over the front in slo-mo and stuck hand out to brace
the fall.

It's those big steel plates 'they' put down as temporary covers for
road works that really scre the bejeezus outta me in the wet.
With tram tracks (assuming good angle of approach) at least it's only a
momentary slippy thing. 6-10ft of it is like riding on ice...


--
flyingdutch

On Aug 2, 10:07 pm, flyingdutch flyingdutch.2uo...@no-
mx.forums.cyclingforums.com wrote:
tram tracks got me back in circa '83.
propping to do righthand turn and at about 2kph got front wheel stuck,
panicked and went over the front in slo-mo and stuck hand out to brace
the fall.

It's those big steel plates 'they' put down as temporary covers for
road works that really scre the bejeezus outta me in the wet.
With tram tracks (assuming good angle of approach) at least it's only a
momentary slippy thing. 6-10ft of it is like riding on ice...

--
flyingdutch

But you usually go straight over those, tram tracks get me when I
flick into them or back out while essentially riding parallel to them,
tne you have to flick across to get around a parked/parking car or
back and then you are instantly on your butt/shoulder/back first into
a parked truck (for example!).

Gags wrote:

After 4 and a half years of riding in Melbourne I finally had a stack on the
tram tracks tonight. Just as I left work it absolutely ****ed down with
rain for about 5 minutes or so and everything got pretty wet. I cut through
between the MCG and Rod Laver arena as per usual then got up to Wellington
Parade and went to cross over the tram tracks. I made it over the first set
OK and the first track of the second set.....I then rode along the tracks
for a bit until a gap in the traffic and then went to cut over to the left
hand side of the road. A combination of wet tracks, worn tyre, not enough
angle of approach, and accelerating to get across the road resulted in my
rear tyre sliding out from under me to the right!!! I ended up on my bum in
the middle of the road and my bike skidded all the way across the lane and
an empty parking spot and into the gutter (luckily there was no parked car
there). I got up really quickly to get off the road as there was a car
coming and jumped on the bike again. It wasn't until I got around the
corner that my leg, fingers, and arm started to hurt a bit.

I stopped to take stock of the situation and it turns out I got off pretty
lightly. Because the ground was so wet I pretty well skidded and only ended
up with a bit of road rash on my upper left shin, slightly tingly fingertips
(not scraped enough to graze them though) and a bit of a bump to my left
forearm. I was initially pretty concerned about this as it was the same arm
I broke about 18 months ago but it feels fine now so I assume I got away
with it. Most importantly the bike came out OK with only a bit of
scratching on the handlebar plug and the LHS of the rear quick release.
There was also a slight graze on the LH rear of the seat but it is not too
bad (I think the wet road reduced the overall damage).

To make it worse, I had a near miss earlier in the week when the rear tyre
(a really worn 26 x 1.5 IRC Metro Slick) slipped on the tram tracks but I
caught it before I fell off - I went into Peter Moore last night and bought
a new set of Schwabb 26 x 1.75 tyres but didn't get around to fitting them
last night (they are still hanging in the shed).

Oh well......I just hope I can go at least another 4.5 years before that
happens again!!!

Gags

Here in Canberra several years ago the Labour politicians were trying to
promote cycling as a
means ppl should use to get to work and back.
They spent a tidy sum on installing bcycle lanes on many roads,
and I am very grateful, because it made the riding on such roads MUCH
safer, although many motorists have never forgiven these politicians.
The Lanes have attracted only a small number of cyclists.

The reason why these bicycle lanes are nearly empty most of the day
and thus so objectionable to the unforgiving motorists is that
**** happens.

I reckon that if the number of ppl cycling to/from work increased 300
times
so that bicycle traffic was a substantial fraction of the traffic, and
obviously necessitated the cycle lanes,
then the number of hospitals would beed to be doubled by the amount of
**** happening.
In your case its because you ride a bicycle, because the weather was
wet, and because there are tram tracks.

In my case a month back it was because a head stem fractured, and I lost
steering,
and down i went like a bag of potatoes off the back of a truck.

There is a constant stream of people who come to grief coming off bikes
and thus the vast majority of ppl wouldn't dare ride one.

Having said all that I will still ride for pleasure,
and luckily I am able to, and there are bike paths off and away from
roads, and there
are no trams.

I remember Sydney's trams and rode a motorcycle when trams still
existed,
and luckily I never came to grief of the tracks in the wet.

Patrick Turner.

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 2 Aug 2007 22:07:22 +1000
flyingdutch wrote:

It's those big steel plates 'they' put down as temporary covers for
road works that really scre the bejeezus outta me in the wet.
With tram tracks (assuming good angle of approach) at least it's only a
momentary slippy thing. 6-10ft of it is like riding on ice...

In NSW those things are required to have non-slip surfaces. If you
see one that doesn't, ring up the RTA and report same as a road
hazard.

Zebee