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I went down

2K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  Elvis 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey guys, my Sunday wasn't so fun as it sometimes is on my bike. I was riding Santiago Canyon Road at about 9:30, nothing fast, just a nice sunday morning ride. Making a left curve, all of a sudden in oncoming traffic, over 120 bicyclists are bunched up and taking WAY too much of the car traffic lane, and completely overcrowding the bike lane. Wow, awesome site in a way, a crapload of bicycles. Now 4 cars come, and the first one is practically in my lane! He is trying to go around the bicyclists on a God-damned curve. 20 year old in a raised Ford Ranger is taking at least 50% of my lane. All I could do to aviod a head-on collision was stop turning, so I did. 2 seconds later, I'm in a rock patch of a turnout, went down immediately after trying to ride rock at 45 mph. Bike is tore up on the left side, clutch lever tip broke off, twisted ankle, swollen knee, sore as hell. That is the extent of my injuries. I was extreemely lucky I wasn't killed, I came within 3 feet of that truck. There was absolutely nothing I could do, I doubt that situation could have been avioded by anyone. No one stopped wither, at least no one that was in oncoming trafic. I was completely pissed. Everyone said it was the bicyclists fault,EDIT: I waited for a cop, even tho I knew he couldn't do shit. He said it was the bicyclists fault.I then rode it to my bike shop, injured leg and all, with no damn clutch lever. I'll get some pics of my bike, looks kinda cool now (j/k).

No more rides on canyon road notorious for these bicylists.

At least I haven't gone to work for 2 days so far.

I consider myself lucky as hell, there were all kinds of hazards that I avoided during this fall that would have made things much worse. I even remembered a comment from another post that saved my life. Don't ride too close to a yellow lane on a blind curve, no where near close. I was in the right 1/3 of my lane, and still had to adjust for some ass.
 
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#4 ·
That sucks elvis. Too bad you're bike didn't slide across the lane and take out a few bicycles:D

But hey, now you got time to sit and home and play ghost recon right?
 
#7 ·
The Ironman of Canada is held in my main riding area & cyclists are practicing 15 miles north to my town & some 40 plus miles farther east/west from Spring & on. Lots of twisties & basically twisty, up & down 2-lane mtn roads. One is seeing them out practicing from Spring to the Ironman in August till some still keeping in shape well into September.

Not like the glob you came up against, but times I am coming down a series of the twisties to find several dozen of them (to one or possibly three) & often some passing SO it is simply slow down & CRAWL well behind them (in 1st or 2nd cog) & slowly work ones way pass a few without interferring in this glide down the hill.

So if bicycle racing is done on your roads then you must anticipate them on the straights, on the twisties & in the shadowed areas. Another part in the life of m/cists. Bicycle racing is a history well before m/cing & they are legal in their practicing & actual racing while m/cists must find their own circuits or dirt terrain ---- the same for cages.

Sorry you went down & bike was damaged, but here was something you did not anticipate though probably will from now on. Tough break.
 
#8 ·
The bummer of this is that it was a cage driver that forced you to the prang as he was on the wrong side of the road & in your lane.

Not much you can do as you do not have a license plate nor a witness.
 
#11 ·
i got stuck behind some of those lane hogs when i first started driving (i was 16, in a car) i couldnt get arround them because everyone was passing me...

another time i was comming arround a blind corner going 25 in a 35 (in my truck) and i honked becaue some bicklests decided to stop in the middle of the road ON A BLIND CURVE!! morons.. then they had the balls to yell at ME!?! wtf

if they are in my lane can i "accedently" hit them? :twofinger

they are dangerous...seriously
 
#12 ·
Triumph_S4 said:
i got stuck behind some of those lane hogs when i first started driving (i was 16, in a car) i couldnt get arround them because everyone was passing me...

another time i was comming arround a blind corner going 25 in a 35 (in my truck) and i honked becaue some bicklests decided to stop in the middle of the road ON A BLIND CURVE!! morons.. then they had the balls to yell at ME!?! wtf

if they are in my lane can i "accedently" hit them? :twofinger

they are dangerous...seriously
Well, let's not make any ridiculous generalizations here. Some are clearly stupid, and Darwin will sort them out. I have plenty of friends who are triathletes, and they constantly complain of being all the way to the side of the road while riding and being buzzed within a foot or so by cars. Bicycles DO have the right of way on a street, but DO NOT have the power to break traffic laws or safety.
 
#13 ·
my generalization was aimed at the big groups that take up the whole lane and part of the car's lane, making driving a car dangerous ( i mean.. your in a big tank where are you supposed to go? into the guy next to you or on comming traffic?!).. not the intellegent bikes that actually stay in their lane and are easily avoidable.
 
#14 ·
Hey elvis sorry to hear about your accident man! I feel your pain about santiago Canyon bicyclists... I live about 10 mins from santiago canyon (Irvine) just outa curosity where in Oc are you? And on another note do you run other canyons/good roads near us? I.E. Malabu area (Mulholland and all those very nice roads)?
 
#16 ·
Drathen said:
Are bicyclists really allowed to hog the road like that?
They are allowed to consume a lane of traffic, legally.

From the California DMV site:
Bicycle riders (cyclists) on public streets have the same rights and responsibilities as automobile drivers. Cyclists are part of the normal traffic flow and are entitled to share the road with other drivers.
 
#17 ·
maybe i'm the only one who thinks the ranger driver is to blame. we don't have bicycle lanes here, but we have bicyclists. the ranger should have waited for a proper place to pass. if elvis was driving a ford f350, it probably would have hurt/killed a lot of people.

speedy recovery elvis. i hope that sv gets to 100% soon. just remember, scratches give a bike character.
 
#18 ·
If you could ride the bike enough to get the guy in the ranger plate number A) if he crossed a double yellow line he is at fault. 2nd I would of if possible tried to get some of the byclicest and get a cop up there asap.
 
#19 ·
FZR400Tony said:
maybe i'm the only one who thinks the ranger driver is to blame. we don't have bicycle lanes here, but we have bicyclists. the ranger should have waited for a proper place to pass. if elvis was driving a ford f350, it probably would have hurt/killed a lot of people.

speedy recovery elvis. i hope that sv gets to 100% soon. just remember, scratches give a bike character.
I'm with ya Tony. While it blows that the bicyclists consumed the entire lane, they're allowed to do that if there is no available curb space. However, its never legal to come into oncoming lanes without yielding (or crossing solid yellows). Thus my last post.
 
#20 ·
I am at work finally, my leg is just really bruised up. My bike probably has about $200 in damages, not including the bodywork. I am thinking about going back to that canyon each Sunday until I spot those guys (seriously, if I ever see that many bikes together again, it's the same krew) and just ask them each for $5. That would be around $750, which would make things better. Those guys were all older too, so maybe they have some decency. If they don't believe me, i got pics of my damned leg and my bike. (Will post them in a week or so.)

Other than that, the Ranger driver did overexagurate how far he needed to be from the bicyclists, he was giving them extra room on a blind curve. So he was to blame as well as the bicycles.

To the guy that lives in Irvine HerzAusStein, I mostly ride freeways on weekends, I have been to Ortega Highway a few times, those are some nice twisties. Ever been there? Santiago canyon road isn't even considered twisty.
 
#21 ·
overtaking

It is the overtaking vehicle's responsibility to do it safely at an appropriate time. You have a lot more in common with the bicyclists than the dumbass in the Ranger. Bikes weren't in your lane. Truck was.

It still sucks for you and your bike. You just gotta direct your frustration in the right direction.

Another site had thread about moto rider getting hit by fellow moto rider who had "swung wide" and across center line on a corner. Two wheels, four wheels, engine or not--there are stupid people out there everywhere!

Ride safe!
 
#22 ·
On another sight a chap is on the hwy at proper speed & sheriff's car behind him for a while. Suddenly a number of police cars come along with lights going so being a narrow road he pulled over to the shoulder & stopped ONLY the sheriff's car behind him failed to stop in time & so was rear ended by said sheriff's cage!!!!

So who does one trust?????
 
#23 ·
You know what bro? I was with you completely until everyone that stopped told me it was the bicyclists fault. They didn't see what happened, all they saw was the stupidity of the bicyclists. 2 cars that both stopped for me (they were riding in same direction as me, but came around the corner as i was hopping on one foot) both noted the bicyclists eratic riding before they even saw that I had crashed. They said the Ranger barely got back over in time to miss them (the cars) as well. And they were about 250-300 feet back behind me. A cop that stopped said it was the bicyclists fault also.

It's easier to collect $5 from 200 old guys than it is to collect $800 from some punk who will probably just tell me to "PROOVE IT!"
 
#24 · (Edited)
Elvis said:
I am thinking about going back to that canyon each Sunday until I spot those guys (seriously, if I ever see that many bikes together again, it's the same krew) and just ask them each for $5. That would be around $750, which would make things better. Those guys were all older too, so maybe they have some decency. If they don't believe me, i got pics of my damned leg and my bike. (Will post them in a week or so.)

Other than that, the Ranger driver did overexagurate how far he needed to be from the bicyclists, he was giving them extra room on a blind curve. So he was to blame as well as the bicycles.
Sorry to hear about your mishap. It's another example of what can happen while riding. Always vigilant, and always gear for when that wasn't enough.;) Heal quick!

Like Kanwisch, sounds like your issue is with the cage who didn't wait. The cage may have an issue with the bikes for making him wait, but that's his problem. He never should have crossed lanes on a blind corner. JMO
 
#25 ·
Did I mistakenly refer to stantiago as twisty? Hmm if so forgive me and yes I have been to santiago many many times I live very close to it and usually am there once a week usually on nights, and people there are complete idiots , btw ortega is nice I supose but there aswell is alot of idiots, and cops and the Double fine zone at ortega dosent thrill me very much, so I usually only end up going to ortega at 3am or so in my car, but hey Elvis you should really give a good looking into roads in the Malabu area and mabye Pines to palms or highway 18 (both those roads big bear area) there well worth the ride out there if you can manage it withought your ass getting raw...
 
#26 · (Edited)
Next time you go, hit me up. My foot is still swollen, might be for a few weeks. I'll letcha know when I'm good to ride.

Haha, when I read your post, I was pissed at your joke about raw ass, because thats what happens when you crash. But I read it again and I think you mean tired ass from a decent 2 hour ride? :thumb:

PS Tony, you are so right about scratches and character. Since my bike is black/silver/grey, the rock-like scratches really put a nice touch on it. Looks like meteor shower on the left of the bike.

:thumb:
 
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