Not sure if I need a bike coach or a psychiatrist, but here goes. Have been doing tris and cycling for eight years and have gotten quite decent for my AG (podium/FOP), though cycling remains my weakest leg.
In the past two years I have had four single-bike accidents, none in races.
Railroad track on bridge, nervous about car traffic so tried to cross not at proper 90 degrees. Road bike. Broken right shoulder.
Coming downhill on bike path when saw tree down across it. Put bike down on left side before tree. Road bike. Torn tendons and ligaments in left arm.
Going through narrow (few inch wide) cut to get around gate across road, hit the curb at the end and went down on right side. Tri bike. Just a few scratches.
90 degree turn, decided too late I was going too fast into the turn, lost control, and apparently put out my arm when falling onto the road. No clue why I didn’t go the last few feet to the grass. Tri bike. Severely dislocated elbow and awaiting surgery.
I know almost every cyclist crashes sometimes but this pattern seems like something else. I am afraid that at this rate I’ll get myself killed. I’m thinking perhaps my speed and ambition have outpaced my handling skills, and that in a few months when I’ve healed I should work seriously with a coach. Does that sound right? Lay it on me, ST: what’s wrong with my cycling?
When was the last time you got your eyes checked? Maybe it’s a vision, judgement, spacial thing. Maybe next time over tracks bunny hop em or lift 1 wheel off ground as you pass. You use a Garmin? They will provide alerts for sharp turns.
My advice is to do group rides, off road rides, gravel or easy mountain bike. you should pick up some skills and confidence and any spills you have you should be traveling slower and/or landing on a softer surface. I have a few routes that I know very well so I am not surprised by fallen trees or railway crossings.
Where do you live? Do you do most rides on a trainer throughout the winter?
I had an athlete that lives in Chicago. She road 8 months on an indoor trainer. Once on the bike she crashed at many events - mostly out of transition. The difference in rocking motion, weight transfer and pedal pressure was the difference. Once identified we solved the issue.
To answer the questions so far:
My eyes are fine.
The railroad crossing was while l was on vacation - totally unfamiliar location.
Not sure how familiarity with a path would help me know when a tree had fallen across it!
The 90 degree turn I know well and have done without a problem dozens of times.
Not sure if I need a bike coach or a psychiatrist, but here goes. Have been doing tris and cycling for eight years and have gotten quite decent for my AG (podium/FOP), though cycling remains my weakest leg.
In the past two years I have had four single-bike accidents, none in races.
Railroad track on bridge, nervous about car traffic so tried to cross not at proper 90 degrees. Road bike. Broken right shoulder.
Coming downhill on bike path when saw tree down across it. Put bike down on left side before tree. Road bike. Torn tendons and ligaments in left arm.
Going through narrow (few inch wide) cut to get around gate across road, hit the curb at the end and went down on right side. Tri bike. Just a few scratches.
90 degree turn, decided too late I was going too fast into the turn, lost control, and apparently put out my arm when falling onto the road. No clue why I didn’t go the last few feet to the grass. Tri bike. Severely dislocated elbow and awaiting surgery.
I know almost every cyclist crashes sometimes but this pattern seems like something else. I am afraid that at this rate I’ll get myself killed. I’m thinking perhaps my speed and ambition have outpaced my handling skills, and that in a few months when I’ve healed I should work seriously with a coach. Does that sound right? Lay it on me, ST: what’s wrong with my cycling?
Always 90, if cant, stop and wait then go.
Tree ain’t your fault, but I only use bike paths as slow warmup to cut across a dangerous part of town or something. Never a training ground.
I don’t trust these scenarios unless it is like the 10th time thru said gap. Had a pro/1/2 racer eat it on gravel group ride as he arrived to group sneaking around the gate. If it isnt part of skills you intend to build on a ride dont risk it.
I had an oh shit moment other night. Way too fast and in skis into sharp turn. Took it in skis. I guess boils down to staying focused and knowing the route. Study the route, Google streetview if a question arrises.
In general……I realize a lot of triathlete tri bike time is spent in Z2. But……to build skills try some 5 min pursuits workouts outdoors including a road with turns and hills or something you have memorized. Then you can go faster at 120% power and build the skills.
To me it just sounds like you need more time outside on a bike. Adding some off road cycling could be great for you. If you don’t have a mountain bike or gravel/cross bike, I would recommend the investment in either or both. Or maybe fat biking in the winter if it’s possible. It’s just time spent in the saddle and developing good bike handling skills.
I think too many triathletes in the US spend too much time on the trainer and I don’t blame them. It’s dangerous in many places to ride on paved roads and you can get such a good quality workout inside. But if you don’t have a cycling background (like myself) spend as much time outside on a bike as you can to gain better skills and also you’ll gain some confidence. It’s expensive to have a bunch of bikes but you can find good used bikes. And who knows you may love mountain, gravel or winter fat biking. “you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy a bike” - author unknown.
You could also find a place where you could set up some cones to practice skills on your tri-bike, maybe in a school parking lot during off hours or an abandoned parking lot? I know some people who have done that.
I ride outside year-round, almost never on trainer. I have a roadie and a tri-bike. Can I tell my husband that I need a third bike now, for safety? 🙂
I ride outside year-round, almost never on trainer. I have a roadie and a tri-bike. Can I tell my husband that I need a third bike now, for safety? 🙂
Ride rollers and I bet a lot of this goes away. Do you do a lot of trainer with Zwift where your visual vs bike movement is completely decoupled from outdoors. On a trainer fixed bike and fixed visuals. Outdoors the world is a fixed frame of reference with a bike moving relative to visuals. How your body and brain interacts is subtly different. If this factors in then that may be part of it
Seriously though, learning a bit of mountain biking can do wonders for building technical skills on a bike. It all transfers over to other bikes. I play around in the woods and our class 4 and dirt roads on a few different off road bikes. I do have a road bike racing background but that was literally decades ago. I think all the play time on the fun bikes let’s me get away with riding my tri-bike 99% indoors and then doing a race safely outside on my tri-bike.
Part of this is not just getting into an unbalanced situation, but having the strength/balance to get yourself out without tumbling. I suspect that a lot of my own close calls were saved due to having a strong core.
I think a good way of learning how to handle your bike is to start doing some MTB. No need to go crazy. Just the process of learning how to ride around and over stuff and do switchbacks etc helps bike handling skills in a fairly safe environment, meaning that if you fall you most likely won’t get more than a scrape or two.
I’m not an expert, but my guesses would be…Not sure if I need a bike coach or a psychiatrist, but here goes. Have been doing tris and cycling for eight years and have gotten quite decent for my AG (podium/FOP), though cycling remains my weakest leg.
In the past two years I have had four single-bike accidents, none in races.
Railroad track on bridge, nervous about car traffic so tried to cross not at proper 90 degrees. Road bike. Broken right shoulder.
Dodgy judgement. Probably better to walk it than cross at a shallow angle.
Coming downhill on bike path when saw tree down across it. Put bike down on left side before tree. Road bike. Torn tendons and ligaments in left arm.
There’s always the possibility of an obstacle around the next bend, so wisest never to go so fast you can’t stop in the distance you can see. If it wasn’t a corner at fault, then perhaps visibility was poor for another reason, or you were just tired and inattentive?
Going through narrow (few inch wide) cut to get around gate across road, hit the curb at the end and went down on right side. Tri bike. Just a few scratches.
Like no.1, just a judgement thing. It’s easy to make a mistake in these situations, best to unclip at the very least, just in case.
90 degree turn, decided too late I was going too fast into the turn, lost control, and apparently put out my arm when falling onto the road. No clue why I didn’t go the last few feet to the grass. Tri bike. Severely dislocated elbow and awaiting surgery.
Dodgy judgement. Always a possibility if you’re going fast. I came close to a nasty accident a few times in my first 2 or 3 years riding. I still vividly remember braking too late from 85km/h for a sharp corner on a fast descent once and very nearly running off the road - I was lucky enough to get away with it and made the corner… but I’ll never forget that moment or two when I expected a very different result. I still descend faster than most I ride with, but I treat bends with more caution than I once did.
I know almost every cyclist crashes sometimes but this pattern seems like something else. I am afraid that at this rate I’ll get myself killed. I’m thinking perhaps my speed and ambition have outpaced my handling skills, and that in a few months when I’ve healed I should work seriously with a coach. Does that sound right? Lay it on me, ST: what’s wrong with my cycling?
I’d say you just need to be more cautious. All 4 incidents you mentioned would have been avoided with a little more caution.
Sort of a relevant question too - are you using carbon wheels with carbon-rim brakes?
Carbon rim brakes can have a lot less stopping power than regular alloy rim brakes, and you can crash unexpectedly if you’re not slowing as much as you need in a tricky section like railroad tracks, etc.
If you are using carbon wheels with a carbon rim, you may seriously want to consider going with alloy wheels (like HED JETs) which will have substantially better braking power, and thus let you navigate trickier sections at lower speed safely.
I’m going to suggest something slightly different – some tumbling, or gymnastic type movements off the bike.
I think there’s a combination of judgment and inability to recover once you were off balance at play. If you develop a bit more body control, body awareness, etc., that will help you develop the base of athleticism necessary to handle the bike well.
Dang, sorry about the crashes. They sound rough, and seriously painful.
My wife has raced triathlon since 2015, and road bikes since 2018. She picked up MTB in 2021. She credits the skills she practiced in MTB cornering and handling entirely, for her improved handling on a TT bike.
I can attest that her road & tri bike handling skills have improved at a far faster rate since owning a MTB. Something I did not expect, since she’d owned and ridden a gravel bike for a couple years already.
My vote: get a MTB. Watch Fluidride videos. Practice MTB skills. Specifically: cornering skills. Start at the very basics. You’ll get on a road or tri bike and your handling will be improved. You might even fall in love with XC MTB’ing if you’re anything like us.
Can I tell my husband that I need a third bike now, for safety? 🙂
and the best helmet money can buy
Yep. You sure can! We sold our gravel bikes and bought Scott Sparks (XC MTB) instead. Get on pinkbike.com and look at downcountry or cross country (XC) MTB’s if you like pedaling a lot. Buy used!
