Larry Ganz
Active Member
The opposite of eBike riders going too fast or being reckless can still hurt.
In this case, unassisted riders surprised us while passing us and it resulted in my crash. We'd decided that bike path was too narrow to be cruising at max assist speed of 20mph, but other riders didn't feel that way and were going even faster. I'm not sure why class 1 eBikes have to be limited to 20mph, or are banned from some areas completely, when healthy and fit riders on lighter un-powered bikes are allowed to go as fast as they want, regardless of traffic or road conditions.
We took our ebikes on vacation this weekend, planning to ride 30 miles both Sunday and Monday. I was riding my Trek Powerfly 7 on a bike path by the river in Glenwood Springs Colorado (river on my left, with highway I-70 on my right) with my wife leading on her Trek Neko+. We were coasting with brakes about 15mph on a narrow downhill section, about 25 miles into a 32 mile round trip ride, when a pair of faster non assisted riders came past us on the left with very little warning,
One of the riders called out "on your left" about 5 feet from my left ear, which scared me right into the concrete retaining wall on the right.
I was like the kitten on YouTube that jumps 6 feet back when the pet iguana starts to move suddenly towards it, but I had no room to go anywhere but into a wall at speed. And it was not object fixation, but my right handle bar hitting the wall turned the bars towards the wall. Once my right handlebar made contact with the wall i was sucked into it.
My inexperience kicked me in the ass, and I wasn't prepared for everything - while I was focused on what was ahead I forgot that there were riders behind me. I just wasn't expecting to be passed at 15mph when we'd been passing others in front of us, and I'd warn people with my loud voice well in advance of our approach while slowing down some.
My body and gear didn't fare well. I gouged my right grip, tore out my front fork lock-out cable, scuffed my Intuvia display, broke of a piece of my front reflector, scraped my headlight and right brake fluid reservoir, ripped off my iPhone 7+ mount (with iPhone in it), snapped my left front brake lever mounting bracket in half, gouged my right crank pedal, scraped the right crank, twisted my handle bars 15 degrees to the right, and bent my rear wheel as I got trapped between the wheel and seat post. My Intuvia damage is cosmetic, and the assist level switch was spared because I had it rotated more vertically to reach with my arthritic thumb more easily.
I ended up with small patches of road rash on my right knee and arm, a cut and deep puncture on my shin that kept bleeding, and contusions along my right side. I ripped my shorts but my Specialised Deflect jacket didn't tear - it just has dirt and rubber streaks along the right arm and right side, and blood. Somehow I caught road rash under my jacket on my right chest and shoulder, without a hole in the jacket.
My sleeve slid up a little and exposed my $700 black steel Apple Watch on mesh bracelet, which protected a good portion of my hand and wrist, minimizing my road rash to a smaller section above the watch. But I gouged the watch case, broke the watch sapphire crystal and twisted the steel mesh bracelet. So glad I wasn't wearing my Titanium Omega chronograph that I'd taken off before the ride.
My Apple Watch still works and it only missed recording 2 miles of our 32 mile ride - it auto-paused while the faster riders stopped to render first aid, and I didn't notice and resume timing the ride until 10 min after we started back to the hotel. My iPhone came out unscathed, protected by the 360 coverage of the handlebar mount that I bought from REI for XL phones. It was laying on the ground 15 feet ahead of where the bike and I finished sliding.
The faster riders were very helpful and apologetic (sounded like from Sweden) and plan to give people more warning than silently sneaking up on someone and then yelling "on your left" directly into that persons ear at "last second" distance. it's a two way path and I was staying right, but was startled by the sudden appearance of a passing rider so close to me.
It was a downhill portion but my wife is afraid to ride too fast on narrow paths, and she was coasting with the brakes - it would have been easy for the other riders to be going 25+mph with gentle pedaling on this 5-6 foot wide bike path. It's probably not safe to be going more than 5mph faster than other riders when passing there.
I took advantage of all the bandaids and first aid tape they wanted to donate, saving my kit for another time. They went on their way forgiven, once they helped me ascertain that my bike and I could limp back for the last 7 miles. Riding back with the handlebars out of whack, no front brake, and wobbly rear wheel wasn't fun.
I'll hit up the Apple Store Monday night on our way back home, and see if Apple Care+ will cover the watch repairs. I know it covers an iPhone when folded into a taco by an electric rear hatch on a Subaru Forester XT.
And Tuesday I'll take my Trek to the LBS for repairs which shouldn't be too bad - the brake lever, lock out cable, and reflector shouldn't be too much to replace, and I may upgrade the plastic crank pedals while I'm at it. The scratched parts such as the Intuvia display and headlight still work.
The steering stem should be able to be adjusted back to true, and hopefully the rear wheel can be straightened out okay. Not sure why the front wheel didn't bendtoo. But I worry that the rear might be weaker after fixing it than if it replace the wheel. I also don't know if there's any underlying damage to the front fork, i.e. if it had twisted at all, but it seems to be using up about 8omm travel with my 26% sag during the ride back to the hotel. So it's not binding up.
I took an Oxycodone and Valium since I can't move right now, along with Aleve, so hopefully I'm not stuck in bed in the morning. I feel like a truck hit me, but the last time that actually happened I ended up with two broken legs and 5 broken ribs. So this isn't that bad...
No flammers please, it's not helpful. Sympathies, regards, prayers, and constructive criticism welcome.
In this case, unassisted riders surprised us while passing us and it resulted in my crash. We'd decided that bike path was too narrow to be cruising at max assist speed of 20mph, but other riders didn't feel that way and were going even faster. I'm not sure why class 1 eBikes have to be limited to 20mph, or are banned from some areas completely, when healthy and fit riders on lighter un-powered bikes are allowed to go as fast as they want, regardless of traffic or road conditions.
We took our ebikes on vacation this weekend, planning to ride 30 miles both Sunday and Monday. I was riding my Trek Powerfly 7 on a bike path by the river in Glenwood Springs Colorado (river on my left, with highway I-70 on my right) with my wife leading on her Trek Neko+. We were coasting with brakes about 15mph on a narrow downhill section, about 25 miles into a 32 mile round trip ride, when a pair of faster non assisted riders came past us on the left with very little warning,
One of the riders called out "on your left" about 5 feet from my left ear, which scared me right into the concrete retaining wall on the right.
I was like the kitten on YouTube that jumps 6 feet back when the pet iguana starts to move suddenly towards it, but I had no room to go anywhere but into a wall at speed. And it was not object fixation, but my right handle bar hitting the wall turned the bars towards the wall. Once my right handlebar made contact with the wall i was sucked into it.
My inexperience kicked me in the ass, and I wasn't prepared for everything - while I was focused on what was ahead I forgot that there were riders behind me. I just wasn't expecting to be passed at 15mph when we'd been passing others in front of us, and I'd warn people with my loud voice well in advance of our approach while slowing down some.
My body and gear didn't fare well. I gouged my right grip, tore out my front fork lock-out cable, scuffed my Intuvia display, broke of a piece of my front reflector, scraped my headlight and right brake fluid reservoir, ripped off my iPhone 7+ mount (with iPhone in it), snapped my left front brake lever mounting bracket in half, gouged my right crank pedal, scraped the right crank, twisted my handle bars 15 degrees to the right, and bent my rear wheel as I got trapped between the wheel and seat post. My Intuvia damage is cosmetic, and the assist level switch was spared because I had it rotated more vertically to reach with my arthritic thumb more easily.
I ended up with small patches of road rash on my right knee and arm, a cut and deep puncture on my shin that kept bleeding, and contusions along my right side. I ripped my shorts but my Specialised Deflect jacket didn't tear - it just has dirt and rubber streaks along the right arm and right side, and blood. Somehow I caught road rash under my jacket on my right chest and shoulder, without a hole in the jacket.
My sleeve slid up a little and exposed my $700 black steel Apple Watch on mesh bracelet, which protected a good portion of my hand and wrist, minimizing my road rash to a smaller section above the watch. But I gouged the watch case, broke the watch sapphire crystal and twisted the steel mesh bracelet. So glad I wasn't wearing my Titanium Omega chronograph that I'd taken off before the ride.
My Apple Watch still works and it only missed recording 2 miles of our 32 mile ride - it auto-paused while the faster riders stopped to render first aid, and I didn't notice and resume timing the ride until 10 min after we started back to the hotel. My iPhone came out unscathed, protected by the 360 coverage of the handlebar mount that I bought from REI for XL phones. It was laying on the ground 15 feet ahead of where the bike and I finished sliding.
The faster riders were very helpful and apologetic (sounded like from Sweden) and plan to give people more warning than silently sneaking up on someone and then yelling "on your left" directly into that persons ear at "last second" distance. it's a two way path and I was staying right, but was startled by the sudden appearance of a passing rider so close to me.
It was a downhill portion but my wife is afraid to ride too fast on narrow paths, and she was coasting with the brakes - it would have been easy for the other riders to be going 25+mph with gentle pedaling on this 5-6 foot wide bike path. It's probably not safe to be going more than 5mph faster than other riders when passing there.
I took advantage of all the bandaids and first aid tape they wanted to donate, saving my kit for another time. They went on their way forgiven, once they helped me ascertain that my bike and I could limp back for the last 7 miles. Riding back with the handlebars out of whack, no front brake, and wobbly rear wheel wasn't fun.
I'll hit up the Apple Store Monday night on our way back home, and see if Apple Care+ will cover the watch repairs. I know it covers an iPhone when folded into a taco by an electric rear hatch on a Subaru Forester XT.
And Tuesday I'll take my Trek to the LBS for repairs which shouldn't be too bad - the brake lever, lock out cable, and reflector shouldn't be too much to replace, and I may upgrade the plastic crank pedals while I'm at it. The scratched parts such as the Intuvia display and headlight still work.
The steering stem should be able to be adjusted back to true, and hopefully the rear wheel can be straightened out okay. Not sure why the front wheel didn't bendtoo. But I worry that the rear might be weaker after fixing it than if it replace the wheel. I also don't know if there's any underlying damage to the front fork, i.e. if it had twisted at all, but it seems to be using up about 8omm travel with my 26% sag during the ride back to the hotel. So it's not binding up.
I took an Oxycodone and Valium since I can't move right now, along with Aleve, so hopefully I'm not stuck in bed in the morning. I feel like a truck hit me, but the last time that actually happened I ended up with two broken legs and 5 broken ribs. So this isn't that bad...
No flammers please, it's not helpful. Sympathies, regards, prayers, and constructive criticism welcome.
