Went on a ride the other day and on my way back I usually cross over these tracks with no problem, but for some reason ended up on the ground (no damages to the bike) anyways, this is the first time i’ve fallen over crossing train tracks. I was standing to avoid the rumble, should i have been seated to add more weight on the rear, or was it a freak accident. What do you guys do when going over uneven terrain?
you should be hitting the tracks perpendicular, so you know exactly where you’re headed into them, and theres no chance of them redirecting you.
If you are going to stand up, use your thighs and squeeze the seat between them- try to keep as rigid a connection to the bike as possible. If you’re sitting, do the same holding onto the nose of the saddle, and even squeezing the toptube between your knees. Hands should be on the hoods- as its likely the widest/most stable grip you can achieve.
basically- the more control you have over your bike, the better. the less wiggle room, the better
I take the weight off my seat, cross perpendicular and slow down (especially on tracks where going perpendicular means ending up in the middle of the road).
We always slow down - especially after one of our guys went down and broke his hip
last year. Slow down, cross perpendicular and hop the front wheel over the tracks.
Tracks and metal bridges are always neutral to be sure we get everyone across safely.
I’ve crashed out on tracks before… they were wet, front tire slid out along the rail and I went sliding a good 15 feet on my hip. Funny, I almost did it again later in the ride because I went too slow and my front wheel slipped… caught that one though.
I’m allways going so fast that I just jump them 
jaretj
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Most important thing is to try to cross them as close to 100% perpindicular as possible. If they’re wet and your bike is at all angled it’s easy to have a tire wash out. Slow down and coast over them, like a car on ice, you just want to let the bike glide over them as easily as possible with no inputs at the time.
thats how i usually do it, but you can really only jump one set at a time- much of the time i run into them, they’res at least 2 parallel sets of tracks- which means a 15’ long bunny hop. that’d be some serious vertical.
I also put more weight on the back wheel than front.
almost ate it in september going over a bascule bridge finger joint in the rain. open deck grating for 15’ on either side- there was no hopping over this thing- and the rain just made it treacherous.
my vote still goes for gripping the bike with your legs to stabilize, and hit the thing head on- solid.
I’m allways going so fast that I just jump them
jaretj
Me too. Always just jump them. But if it’s wet outside, there’s not much that’s more slick than wet steel.
//If you are going to stand up, use your thighs and squeeze the seat between them- try to keep as rigid a connection to the bike as possible.//
Never heard of doing that. Seems contrary to idea of getting on all fours to have most control of bike.
No help here, but I fell on some light rail tracks last summer. I felt stupid because I cross them every day. The very next day, I was extra careful when I came up to them. I fell again. I felt even stupider than the day before. (I know “stupider” isn’t a word but I figure is works in this case.)
t
I’ve done it before, tracks crossing at an angle and I thought I was lined up perpendicular. It was also raining and I didn’t slow down, so as a result of my own stupidity my rear wheel slid into the grove of the track and I went down hard, getting seriously hurt as a result and requiring a four-day hospital stay and surgery. I’m usually pretty good about slowing down and getting the knees pressed against the top tube to provide some stability, but the one time I didn’t do it I paid dearly for it. Hard lesson to learn.
Sorry to hear it. I’ve been there. My last crash on the road was in early 2003 and it happened going over wet railroad tracks. The tracks crossed the road at an angle, my front weel slid, turned itself into the groove and got taco’d. Of course it was in the middle of nowhere and the only car for miles happened to be right behind me to witness it. I’ve been extra careful on damp tracks ever since.
Obviously you need to go faster…so you can bunny-hop and clear them
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usually tracks are laid out perpendicular to the road so crossing them isn’t usually an issue unless you’re not riding straight, paying attention, etc… The tricky ones are those that cross at an angle, leaving 2 options: swerving to hit the tracks perpendicular (not recommended in traffic) or bunny hopping it. The latter requires a lot of speed, the former requires you to practically stop, and is practically impossible when ridding in a group.
I’m surprised you didn’t total your wheels when you fell
doug
No RR tracks around here, but we have plenty of cattle guards across the roads. Its like … ah… 20 sets of tracks all lined up in about 6 feet of road. No gaps between tracks. I slow down most of the time, unweight and bunny hop most of them. One is on a downhill with about a 32mph run into it. its easy to hop the entire grate. Most are on level ground, so unweighting is the way to go.
I was really just joking about jumping the tracks
I do jump smaller things on the road though.
jaretj