Wiped out on Wet Railroad Track

I had a good tumble this week. It was raining very lightly. I took the
lane to make a left turn on one of our Old Town streets. This street
has unused trolley train tracks in the middle. My tire hit the wet
track, and the bike, very unexpectedly, slid sideways.

I hit the pavement, with my left hip and elbow. The former is sore, and
the latter is scraped up, but the worst bruise was to my ego. I can't
imagine that anybody who witnessed the accident would be left with a
desire to get on a bicycle.
__________________
Jim Gagnepain
http://home.comcast.net/~oil_free_and_happy/

oilfreeandhappy wrote:
I had a good tumble this week. It was raining very lightly. I took the
lane to make a left turn on one of our Old Town streets. This street
has unused trolley train tracks in the middle. My tire hit the wet
track, and the bike, very unexpectedly, slid sideways.

I hit the pavement, with my left hip and elbow. The former is sore,
and the latter is scraped up, but the worst bruise was to my ego. I
can't imagine that anybody who witnessed the accident would be left
with a desire to get on a bicycle.
__________________
Jim Gagnepain
http://home.comcast.net/~oil_free_and_happy/

Tire width?
Speed?
Lean angle?
Was there a channel in the road for the wheels?
Wet wooden edges adjoining the tracks?
Pictures?
Video?

--
Phil Lee, Squid

On 9 Jul 2006 14:57:29 -0700, "oilfreeandhappy"
wrote:

has unused trolley train tracks in the middle. My tire hit the wet
track, and the bike, very unexpectedly, slid sideways.


What was unexpected about it? Wet steel=no grip, as any fule kno

Kinky Cowboy*

*Batteries not included
May contain traces of nuts
Your milage may vary

In article .com,
oilfreeandhappy wrote:

I had a good tumble this week. It was raining very lightly. I took the
lane to make a left turn on one of our Old Town streets. This street
has unused trolley train tracks in the middle. My tire hit the wet
track, and the bike, very unexpectedly, slid sideways.

I hit the pavement, with my left hip and elbow. The former is sore, and
the latter is scraped up, but the worst bruise was to my ego. I can't
imagine that anybody who witnessed the accident would be left with a
desire to get on a bicycle.

Well, if it's any consolation, at least you had the good fortune of
having avoided a major injury: bruised egos heal much faster than
broken bones.

In Toronto, where streetcars operate downtown, their rails are
responsible for bruising quite a few cyclists. The major thoroughfares
within the core are lined with trolley tracks; where they intersect a
spiderweb of merging steel rails must be negotiated -- not fun in the
rain, as you've discovered[ http://tinyurl.com/r5ctg ].

Luke

On 9 Jul 2006 14:57:29 -0700, "oilfreeandhappy"
wrote:

I had a good tumble this week. It was raining very lightly. I took the
lane to make a left turn on one of our Old Town streets. This street
has unused trolley train tracks in the middle. My tire hit the wet
track, and the bike, very unexpectedly, slid sideways.

I hit the pavement, with my left hip and elbow. The former is sore, and
the latter is scraped up, but the worst bruise was to my ego. I can't
imagine that anybody who witnessed the accident would be left with a
desire to get on a bicycle.

And people had previously looked to you as an inspiration to ride?

Ron

"RonSonic" wrote in message
...
On 9 Jul 2006 14:57:29 -0700, "oilfreeandhappy"

wrote:

I had a good tumble this week. It was raining very lightly. I took the
lane to make a left turn on one of our Old Town streets. This street
has unused trolley train tracks in the middle. My tire hit the wet
track, and the bike, very unexpectedly, slid sideways.

I hit the pavement, with my left hip and elbow. The former is sore, and
the latter is scraped up, but the worst bruise was to my ego. I can't
imagine that anybody who witnessed the accident would be left with a
desire to get on a bicycle.

And people had previously looked to you as an inspiration to ride?

Ron

I had a really miserable crash down here in Houston. They put in a light
rail system. We were going downtown on a ride. It was a bit wet out. I lost
my front wheel going over the tracks, fell and then my buddy fell right on
top of me. Took out a nice pair of wheels as well...

Bruce

"oilfreeandhappy" wrote in
oups.com:

I had a good tumble this week. It was raining very lightly. I took the
lane to make a left turn on one of our Old Town streets. This street
has unused trolley train tracks in the middle. My tire hit the wet
track, and the bike, very unexpectedly, slid sideways.

I hit the pavement, with my left hip and elbow. The former is sore,
and the latter is scraped up, but the worst bruise was to my ego. I
can't imagine that anybody who witnessed the accident would be left
with a desire to get on a bicycle.


Glad to hear you're in one piece, Jim. I tool a nasty spill last week,
too. A parking lot I regularly cut through on my way to work had just
been repaved. I noticed that the parking stalls had been repainted, but
I didn't notice that the speed bumps had not. Since they were so well
camoflaged, I hit one at about 20mph, and like you, landed on my left
hip and elbow. The rear wheel was knocked out of true, but was good
enough to keep riding, so I got back on and did the last 11 miles of the
18 mile commute.

When I got to work, I took off my sweatshirt before heading off to the
locker room to shower, and a couple of my co-workers freaked out when
they saw that my elbow stuck out about an inch and a half further than
it should have. I convinced them that I was OK, since I couldn't have
ridden the rest of the way to work if it was broken. I iced it
throughout the day and was able to ride home, but I have a huge scab on
my elbow, and a huge bruise covering the back of my arm from my watch
band to my t-shirt sleeve. Oddly, no marks on my hip. Benefit of it
being so well-padded, I guess.

Hope you're recovering well!

-Hank

oilfreeandhappy wrote:
I had a good tumble this week. It was raining very lightly. I took the
lane to make a left turn on one of our Old Town streets. This street
has unused trolley train tracks in the middle. My tire hit the wet
track, and the bike, very unexpectedly, slid sideways.

I hit the pavement, with my left hip and elbow. The former is sore, and
the latter is scraped up, but the worst bruise was to my ego. I can't
imagine that anybody who witnessed the accident would be left with a
desire to get on a bicycle.
__________________
Jim Gagnepain
http://home.comcast.net/~oil_free_and_happy/

Since I broke a rib on a RR track, I now walk the bike across. I don't
cross too many tracks. What's the hurry?
EJ in NJ

oilfreeandhappy wrote:
I had a good tumble this week. It was raining very lightly. I took the
lane to make a left turn on one of our Old Town streets. This street
has unused trolley train tracks in the middle. My tire hit the wet
track, and the bike, very unexpectedly, slid sideways.

I hit the pavement, with my left hip and elbow. The former is sore, and
the latter is scraped up, but the worst bruise was to my ego. I can't
imagine that anybody who witnessed the accident would be left with a
desire to get on a bicycle.
__________________
Jim Gagnepain
http://home.comcast.net/~oil_free_and_happy/

Have had this exact experience on wet tracks. In the wet, slow speed
and perfect 90-degree angle usually works.

I would hope that people look to all of us as an inspiration to ride,
providing we're not sliding on the rode sideways.

Thanks to all for the comments. It's good to hear that I'm not the
only one who has tumbled on tracks. Those tracks in Toronto look
pretty treacherous!

And people had previously looked to you as an inspiration to ride?

Ron