Lessons from downhill crash

Question

I was taking my usual morning ride before dawn on an 'adventure' road bike. It is a very steep hill with bends (Ditchling Beacon, East Sussex, England). I was descending and noticed (too late) some debris on the road and applied the brakes on the first corner. My front wheel skidded, and I hit the road and slid quite some distance with very unpleasant consequences. No bones broken but a cracked helmet, torn clothes and some very nasty grazes and bruising. I have been riding a road bike for less than a year and obviously this is down to my lack of skill and judgement as a rider. I would like to learn from this experience. Factors I have considered are:

• Light. A better front light may have allowed me to see the debris earlier thereby braking before the bend, maybe not. Can you recommend a good front light?
• Braking technique. Perhaps I should not have used the front brake at all. I didn't think I applied it excessively, the bike just seemed to go before I realised it.
• Tyres. The tyres I have are mainly smooth with a very slight tread at the edges. Are there tyres that would prevent this kind of accident more than others?
• Clothes. My head hit the road very hard and the helmet saved me from serious injury I'm sure. However, as I was going downhill at speed I slid for some distance. When I came to rest I had large holes in my cycling trousers, gloves, tops and skin. Are there clothes that offer more protection without limiting movement or comfort?
• Experience. Assuming I want to continue riding downhill, in the dark, on less than perfectly clean and dry roads, what techniques should I aim to learn and how best should I learn them?

Answer 1

To ride in the dark is difficult. You should have a decent head light on your helmet so it tracks your vision, and a handlebar light that tracks where your front wheel is aiming. In addition you should have a secondary front light and two back lights for redundancy. We don't make product recommendations here, but that would be the minimum.

To increase your awareness, consider riding UP the track that you plan on coming down later. This way you'll be moving much slower and have a better chance of spotting obstructions before you come through.

Also consider not doing crazy speeds on downhills. The road rules say "Don't outdrive your lights" so you should be able to stop in the distance illuminated. Perhaps you should leave the downhill leg until the sun is higher ?

Braking technique - if you were doing a hard brake on a turn, and your front wheel slid out from under you then its all over, you're going down. Some more tread on your front tyre may have helped, as would lower pressure in the front tube. Another technique, you could overweight the front wheel to make the side lugs dig in and regain grip, or you could unweight the front wheel and try to stop it pushing, and therefore regain grip. All this has to happen really quickly, we don't generally react fast enough.

Clothes - your outerwear did its job, and took all/most of the sliding damage. I suggest you slap some patches on the damaged bits, and on the knees, and call it your Riding Gear. No point dressing up all pretty for a ride (unless you're into that sort of thing) My favourite riding pants have canvas on the knees, over a patch of woollen blanket, and some light cotton on the inside of the knee, They're butt-ugly but totally comfortable.

Finally experience - you've just acquired some. Sadly it was painful.

You should also give your bike a close look and service. Standard crash damage to look for includes:

• Wheels out of true, rim damage, broken spokes and loosened nipples.

• Disk Brake rotors no longer flat, or rim brake pads slightly out of position

• Gears out of whack - bent derailleuruer hanger is very common.

• Mudguards/fenders out of position, or plastic bits cracked.

Also give the bike a service and lube, and look for damage while doing it.

Answer 2

At some point you are still on the bike, but the mistake has already been made and you are looking for the exit option that will minimise damage. Jamming the front brake on while in a tight corner does not 'minimise damage'

Experience rider would have probably seen the debris earlier or not been riding as fast, and is always thinking what alternatives they have if things go wrong. The rear brake is best in corners, it will induce a rear wheel slide which is much easier to control and ends in a fall and slide rather than tumble that tends to happen with a front wheel lock up. Only use the front once you have lost some speed with the rear, straightened up and are ready for the front wheel to be loaded by the braking action.

To a point, equipment such as tires won't help much - with better equipment, you will just be going faster. Lights will help in this instance, as it sounds like you were riding faster than your visibility allowed to do so safely.

In the future:

• Don't out ride your visibility
• In an emergency Corner or brake, never both.
• Start with back Brake in emergency
• Always have a Plan B (a C is often useful)
• If you are going to fall, minimise damage -off sideways and slide, don't tumble off the bike.

Answer 3

Your front brake is your most effective stopper but there's a fine line between slowing down and sliding out. The technique to practise is applying enough pressure to your front brake lever without applying too much. Too much depends on the road surface as well as your bike. Learning how to drift a bit is a very useful skill, not to mention the most fun ever, but it's dicey.

On a DH mountain bike we do all our stopping with the front brake and we ride helter skelter on super loose and rough surfaces! So it's definitely possible to learn how to control your front brake but it takes practise. DH bikes are more suited to this obviously (big tires, suspension, hydraulic disc brakes, etc) but the principle is the same.

I've had a few nasty tumbles myself, ain't pretty :)

Answer 4

For that level of damage you were carrying a lot of speed. If you cannot see the road you need to assume it is less than perfect.

What you can do in the future is better speed control.

Debris is little ball bearings. If you are going too fast there is not much you can do about it. Touch the rear easy first to see where you are in traction but you need to quickly get on the front as it has most of the stopping power. You may have been better off trying to ride it out.

Wide, soft rubber tires, at lower pressure. But still in the proper pressure range.

Downhill clothes have more protection but they have limited movement.

A good helmet firmly buckled.

Cyclocross will teach you braking as they almost always have an off camber downhill and you get to fall slow on grass. There is it almost all front as the rear will wash out easily.

Not sure it would work on the road but in CX uncleat uphill lets you keep the bike more upright and an easier bail. At speed already in the lean this probably would not be effective. But I have seen road pros uncleat at speed when it looked like things were going south.

Answer 5

two other things to consider. While braking in a turn is always dicey, counter steering may give you more control. Second, consider whether running off the road may give you a softer landing if you have to crash.