Bicycling is not Dangerous

So, the guy I've been riding with most lately -- and who was trying to
pile on miles to regain fitness after getting hit by a car and
breaking his collar bone earlier this year -- called me yesterday to
let me know he had broken his wrist in a fall. He was making a
transition from trail to road while riding his cross bike and hit a
super-slick patch of moss, needles, slime and the usual stuff one
finds under trees in Oregon. Down in a nano second -- no time for
Matrix Ninja (tm) stop motion crash avoidance technique. It was so
slippery, he had trouble getting his footing to stand up. I think for
at least the next six weeks, I'll be riding with my other good cycling
buddy who had been off his bike . . . recovering from a broken
wrist. I am going to propose legislation for mandatory wrist
braces.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Nov 15, 8:38*am, Jay Beattie wrote:
So, the guy I've been riding with most lately -- and who was trying to
pile on miles to regain fitness after getting hit by a car and
breaking his collar bone earlier this year -- called me yesterday to
let me know he had broken his wrist in a fall. *He was making a
transition from trail to road while riding his cross bike and hit a
super-slick patch of moss, needles, slime and the usual stuff one
finds under trees in Oregon. Down in a nano second -- no time for
Matrix Ninja (tm) stop motion crash avoidance technique. *It was so
slippery, he had trouble getting his footing to stand up. *I think for
at least the next six weeks, I'll be riding with my other good cycling
buddy who had been off his bike . . . recovering from a broken
wrist. * I am going to propose legislation for mandatory wrist
braces.

-- Jay Beattie.

Well let's not get carried away.
The statistics clearly show that only a single wrist brace is
necessary as the chances of breaking both wrists are miniscule.
DR

On 15 Nov, 15:38, Jay Beattie wrote:
So, the guy I've been riding with most lately -- and who was trying to
pile on miles to regain fitness after getting hit by a car and
breaking his collar bone earlier this year -- called me yesterday to
let me know he had broken his wrist in a fall. *He was making a
transition from trail to road while riding his cross bike and hit a
super-slick patch of moss, needles, slime and the usual stuff one
finds under trees in Oregon. Down in a nano second -- no time for
Matrix Ninja (tm) stop motion crash avoidance technique. *It was so
slippery, he had trouble getting his footing to stand up. *I think for
at least the next six weeks, I'll be riding with my other good cycling
buddy who had been off his bike . . . recovering from a broken
wrist. * I am going to propose legislation for mandatory wrist
braces.

-- Jay Beattie.

Why not show them how to fall w'out attemptn to poke a hole in the
road?

On 11/15/2012 10:43 AM, DirtRoadie wrote:
On Nov 15, 8:38 am, Jay Beattie wrote:
So, the guy I've been riding with most lately -- and who was trying to
pile on miles to regain fitness after getting hit by a car and
breaking his collar bone earlier this year -- called me yesterday to
let me know he had broken his wrist in a fall. He was making a
transition from trail to road while riding his cross bike and hit a
super-slick patch of moss, needles, slime and the usual stuff one
finds under trees in Oregon. Down in a nano second -- no time for
Matrix Ninja (tm) stop motion crash avoidance technique. It was so
slippery, he had trouble getting his footing to stand up. I think for
at least the next six weeks, I'll be riding with my other good cycling
buddy who had been off his bike . . . recovering from a broken
wrist. I am going to propose legislation for mandatory wrist
braces.

-- Jay Beattie.

Well let's not get carried away.
The statistics clearly show that only a single wrist brace is
necessary as the chances of breaking both wrists are miniscule.

But research shows that with the wearing of both wrist braces, there is
a significant reduction of head injuries, knee injuries and you're less
likely to spill your gatorade.

On Thu, 15 Nov 2012 07:38:23 -0800 (PST), Jay Beattie
wrote:

So, the guy I've been riding with most lately -- and who was trying to
pile on miles to regain fitness after getting hit by a car and
breaking his collar bone earlier this year -- called me yesterday to
let me know he had broken his wrist in a fall. He was making a
transition from trail to road while riding his cross bike and hit a
super-slick patch of moss, needles, slime and the usual stuff one
finds under trees in Oregon. Down in a nano second -- no time for
Matrix Ninja (tm) stop motion crash avoidance technique. It was so
slippery, he had trouble getting his footing to stand up. I think for
at least the next six weeks, I'll be riding with my other good cycling
buddy who had been off his bike . . . recovering from a broken
wrist. I am going to propose legislation for mandatory wrist
braces.

Bracers, not braces. Bracers are for protection. Braces are for
post-accident medical damage control.

That would look kinda cool. I guess the pointed studs are for added
traction:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=wrist+bracers
However, wrist bracers won't help as they are only useful after the
rider has lost control. A better approach would be to prevent the
initial slip and fall. I therefore suggest:

- Training wheels or skis to provide stability while riding through
slime. These need not be permanently deployed. They could be spring
loaded and activated by when the front and rear wheels are turning
different speeds (i.e. ABS for bicycles).

- A cow catcher attachment for the front wheel. It could be two push
brooms oriented to a point, which will push the road slime and debris
away from the front wheel. Some additional effort might be needed to
compensate for the added friction, but that's a small price to pay for
the added safety.

- Gyro stabilization. This would be a large diameter flywheel mounted
horizontally on the rear bike rack. Spin stabilization will keep the
bicycle upright as it plows through the road slime. As in a small
airplane, when things go awry, just let go of the yoke and let the
airplane stabilize itself. The same idea might work with a gyro
stabilized bicycle.

- Slick tires and rocket assist. Applying extra power will allow the
tires to float over the road slime. Smooth tires will assist this
effect by hydroplaning over the top of the road slime. Since it is
unlikely that the rider can respond sufficiently fast, some form of
ABS skid detection (different wheel speeds) would activate the rocket
assist.

- Replace bicycle with a tricycle. A three point base is far more
stable than two point. However, there's still a danger of going into
a flat spin, which can somewhat be reduced by adding fins and a
vertical stabilizer to the tricycle.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jay wrote:
So, the guy I've been riding with most lately -- and who was trying to
pile on miles to regain fitness after getting hit by a car and
breaking his collar bone earlier this year -- called me yesterday to
let me know he had broken his wrist in a fall. He was making a
transition from trail to road while riding his cross bike and hit a
super-slick patch of moss, needles, slime and the usual stuff one
finds under trees in Oregon. Down in a nano second -- no time for
Matrix Ninja (tm) stop motion crash avoidance technique. It was so
slippery, he had trouble getting his footing to stand up. I think for
at least the next six weeks, I'll be riding with my other good cycling
buddy who had been off his bike . . . recovering from a broken
wrist. I am going to propose legislation for mandatory wrist
braces.
-- Jay Beattie.

I'm convinced that my radical mountain biking skills have saved my wrists and collar bones many times on the road, but then again I have broken my ribs twice mountain biking.



--
Android Usenet Reader
http://android.newsgroupstats.hk

On 11/15/2012 12:52 PM, Peter Cole wrote:


Jay wrote:
So, the guy I've been riding with most lately -- and who was trying to
pile on miles to regain fitness after getting hit by a car and
breaking his collar bone earlier this year -- called me yesterday to
let me know he had broken his wrist in a fall. He was making a
transition from trail to road while riding his cross bike and hit a
super-slick patch of moss, needles, slime and the usual stuff one
finds under trees in Oregon. Down in a nano second -- no time for
Matrix Ninja (tm) stop motion crash avoidance technique. It was so
slippery, he had trouble getting his footing to stand up. I think for
at least the next six weeks, I'll be riding with my other good cycling
buddy who had been off his bike . . . recovering from a broken
wrist. I am going to propose legislation for mandatory wrist
braces.
-- Jay Beattie.

I'm convinced that my radical mountain biking skills have saved my
wrists and collar bones many times on the road, but then again I have
broken my ribs twice mountain biking.


Last time I fell, I saved my wrist by separating my shoulder. Was sort
of a football type tuck. Didn't scratch the bike though.

Same happened to me some weeks ago also from dirt to street on my crossbike on wet cobblestones. To much pressure in my tires. I'm still experimenting with the pressure in my crosstires. What I don't understand why people break their wrists in such I sudden situation. My hands are still on my handlebar/shifter, no time to put them somewhere else, my feet still clipped in so I always fall on my shoulder and hip. Some road rash scratched shifter that is all. Continued my ride.

Lou

On 11/15/2012 03:08 PM, Lou Holtman wrote:
Same happened to me some weeks ago also from dirt to street on my crossbike on wet cobblestones. To much pressure in my tires. I'm still experimenting with the pressure in my crosstires. What I don't understand why people break their wrists in such I sudden situation. My hands are still on my handlebar/shifter, no time to put them somewhere else, my feet still clipped in so I always fall on my shoulder and hip. Some road rash scratched shifter that is all. Continued my ride.

Lou



When I have my fall, I seemed to have enough time to think about putting
out my hand but didn't. But I could sort of feel the bike going over as
I hit a curb. Having the bike slide out from under me would probably
have been too quick to think about it.

On Thursday, November 15, 2012 10:38:23 AM UTC-5, Jay Beattie wrote:
So, the guy I've been riding with most lately -- and who was trying to

pile on miles to regain fitness after getting hit by a car and

breaking his collar bone earlier this year -- called me yesterday to

let me know he had broken his wrist in a fall. He was making a

transition from trail to road while riding his cross bike and hit a

super-slick patch of moss, needles, slime and the usual stuff one

finds under trees in Oregon. Down in a nano second -- no time for

Matrix Ninja (tm) stop motion crash avoidance technique. It was so

slippery, he had trouble getting his footing to stand up. I think for

at least the next six weeks, I'll be riding with my other good cycling

buddy who had been off his bike . . . recovering from a broken

wrist. I am going to propose legislation for mandatory wrist

braces.

I've hardly ridden off-road in your area. But based on the 6" slugs I've seen on hikes, I think I'd be on the lookout for slippery stuff.

If you have any cyclist friends who don't crash, perhaps you should ride with them instead?

- Frank Krygowski