Its the going down like a ton of bricks with no warning as a sudden event that hurts. I think in this case the forward speed will have been irrelevant to the fracture – its the sudden fall on the side

Rider 173 still clipped in ready for a fast getaway

In fact if you look at the Cav crash they’re all in position just as they hit the ground

Best photo of that crash is this one:

Still, GW would have seen it coming and ridden it out.

if your front wheel goes on a road bike you’re ****. the chances of catching it, or even getting into a good falling position is slim.

I’ve been road racing since my teens, mountain biking has probably taken up about 5% of my overall riding but delivered about 95% of my crashes. Whilst some have been real pain’ers a lot have left me chuckling at the side of the trail. I can’t remember one road spill that has made me grin. My highlight being an end of day flyer descending mount etna. I can’t really remember anything until I woke up in hospital, on the brightside my new front teeth are far more Hollywood than the ones I left in the tarmac. 😀

I had more of a near-death experience on a road bike yesterday than I’ve ever had on a mountain bike. I can see the potential for having far worse things happen to you on a road bike.

Descending a twisty single-lane road with high hedgerows at about 20 mph, I’d guess, and came round a gradual but blind bend to see an old lady in a Honda Jazz coming up at approx the same speed.

There were about 18 inches of tarmac available to me at the side of the lane that didn’t involve hitting the car, and I managed to skid into that 18 inches – just. If the skid had swung out the other way the car would’ve sent me flying.

Next few miles involved a lot of what-ifs and reliving that couple of seconds in slow-motion.

I’ve had fairly high speed offs on the mountain bike whose only consequence was a good laugh. I’ve had some sore ones too (dislocated shoulder being a highlight)

But although I’ve had far fewer offs on the road I can’t say I ever enjoyed any of them. They all hurt.

MTBing is sold as all Ruffty tuffty Grrr; out in the woods with Tree’s, big rocks and panthers

Jesus Christ! There are panthers out there? Why did nobody mention the panthers?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/yoursay/topics/bigcat.shtml

MTBing is sold as all Ruffty tuffty Grrr; out in the woods with Tree’s, big rocks and panthers

The place is full of them around here !!

maccruiskeen – Member

Jesus Christ! There are panthers out there? Why did nobody mention the panthers?

I think you’ve been missing The Point Of Mountain Biking.

If you’re gonna buy your wheels from Salvador Dali, it’s bound to go wrong!

Hmmm, suppose you can hurt yourself badly either way if you try hard enough.

Difference with road v’s off road is that if you crash off road then usually it’s your own fault – you can feel it coming and get yourself ready for impact.

On road things sometimes happen a lot faster and when they do happen a highly strung road bike won’t give you long to correct things. With an accident on the road there’s a good chance that it’s often not going to be your fault.

Too many terrible drivers on the road these days and at times it feels dangerous enough surrounded by a ton and a half of car and airbags. That’s why I stick to off road riding these days. The scenery is usually better and I don’t fancy getting wiped out from behind by a car I never even saw coming.