Elephant in the Room

[Browneye]

I'm sorry, I'm not stopping everytime I pass a road or driveway on the right that somebody might turn into. I already average 8 mph, I'd never get anywhere if I stopped at every driveway when a car was passing me. I assume drivers have eyes, and with my bright colors, they seriously wish me dead to ride over me. Even if they are color blind. Age 70 this body is past its freshness date already. Getting splatted by a car is better than cancer.
I think I'm being careful by paying for a cellphone that can ride in my pocket and actually have a signal out near my destination. Verison costs $22 a month more than tracphone that dropped signal at the last town. Now they have devices that call for help if you fall over? I'd rather have a phone that called for help if my heart didn't beat for 40 seconds. My friend Bob could still be alive if they had one of those. My heart has been missing beats in winter for 8 years. Bob's heart got him in the 2nd month of missing beats.

Unfortunately, this is erroneous and completely unrelated. Oh well. Good luck and have fun out there.

 

[RandallS]

My question would be how did you test it to ensure it works in an off-road emergency? I use my Apple Watch and the one time I crashed on my bike was the one time it did not ask me if I’d fallen.

I've tested the SOS feature on my watch that sends a text, but YOU have to initiate the message by pressing the home key 3 times quickly. I have not tested a "Fallen Over" device.

 

[Dallant]

I've tested the SOS feature on my watch that sends a text, but YOU have to initiate the message by pressing the home key 3 times quickly. I have not tested a "Fallen Over" device.

My Apple Watch fall detector works like charm 99% of the time but, seriously, didn’t ask me if I‘d fallen the one time I crashed my bike, causing scratches on the watch face. Lots of bumping the arm, closing the truck door, yada, yada, but not when I really needed it! Watch still works perfectly but In that kind of situation, you just can’t tell unless and until the time comes when you really need it.

 

[john peck]

I'm a 60 year old born again mountain biker. My kid(26) rides all the time and it has been great to participate with him! I love every ride!
Arthritis in shoulders, knees torn up, rupture discs... BUT I always feel better after a ride!

I've OTB'ed(over the bars) twice. Hit a tree BAD on one of my first rides, and a trail we ride has a log bridge at the bottom of steep hill at a 90degree switchback.
EVERY TIME I get to it I'm on a bad line, start wobbling to figure out the best line, ultimately freak, lock up the brakes and do a slow fade into the bushes!
My kid laughs every time!

My tip, always wear a helmet, don't ride trails above your ability, it's just a flesh wound!
View attachment 60187View attachment 60186

Still healing a shoulder injury from late June. Ruff, we ain´t kids anymore. I think it´s time to rethink the way we ride. My degree of
situational awareness has since doubled. I don´t have much left that hasn´t been broken or torn. Feel free to call me super-chicken
from now on.

 

[Dewey]

I’m 46, two years ago after a wet fall weekend on my commute home from work my ebike slipped on the wooden planks of an NPS Mt Vernon trail timber bridge a few feet above the Potomac River, a day after heavy rain had strewn wet leaves on top of a layer of slime/algae, a stretch so notorious local riders have named it ‘trollheim’. Coming downhill I needed to brake for two Bikeshare riders who stopped in the middle of the trail, my rear wheel slid from under me and down I went, the rider behind me then also fell over and slid into me. I broke my leg, causing me to have to take 3 months FMLA leave from work and max out my health insurance out of pocket annual limit $3,000 ouch! The bridge is slated to be resurfaced in...2024

NPS know the problems, a recent report from the excellent US DOT Volpe Center said there were 225 accidents reported on the trail during a 4 year period 2006-2010. Reportedly “Several crashes took place on or near trail bridges, including bridges 1,3,4,12, 15, 18, and 24. This includes five reported crashes on bridge 12, and three on bridge 24. Crashes on trail bridges are generally related to wet and slippery conditions, with bicyclists falling and/or colliding with other bicyclists. These incidents are often severe in nature, including flipping over handlebars and falling over the side of the bridge. Injuries included head lacerations requiring an ambulance and bones protruding through the skin... Only incidents serious enough to prompt a call to an emergency response unit are reported. Therefore, crashes resulting in minor injuries or property damage typically go unreported.” I did not have to call an ambulance so my fall wouldn't have been counted if it had happened during the study period, there are likely dozens more unreported falls each year. Trail maintenance may be unsexy but this is where NPS funding ought to be targeted.

I can’t thank enough the tremendous work by the Friends of the Mt Vernon trail raising funds and donating time to clean up the surface of this bridge as a direct response to accidents like the one I had on this bridge in 2018

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1335291663753879555

 

[Luto]

Yesterday I went on a new route and slowed down ( to 6-8 mph) on two parts because:

1) A downhill I had not been on before even though there was a uphill in sight. Glad I did. Hit three 2" deep, 6 " wide depressions that span the road. Pavement was intact, so basically invisible.
2) Had not been on this road since early fall because it is more in the shade and there was a sudden drop in temperature. Came to a downhill corner. The mid corner was full of wet alder and maple leaves. Way to slick for a normal turn.

Total loss of time less than 1 minute.

Glad everyone is healing