Tram Lines

[Paul on the Pearson]

Sounds like a good time was had by all on the Falling Leaves Ride, any way to cut what could end up a long meandering tale of puntures without spare innertubes, an uninspiring ride over Richmond park(every time I go there I get a punture and had forgotten how monotonously, tediously boring it is riding round and round) and a fruitless search for SIS PP....(cant remember the rest) Original Flavour, got back home and headed off to GB's for said go juice. After the lights at the bottom of Croydon High street did a right and it being a bit damp the front wheel flipped out as I crossed the tram line and have fractured my left arm just below the elbow so wont be out fora 4 - 6 weeks.
so see you all soon
Paul
Beware the tram lines !

[Jon H]

You have my sympathy. I've only recently got back into riding after dislocating my elbow and fracturing the radius in July.

[John Cochrane]

Sorry to hear about your accident, Paul. Those tramlines in Croydon are dead dodgy. A few months ago my front wheel dropped into a tramline but fortunately I managed to stay upright.

If you come away from East croydon station, heading east, there's a point near one of the tram stops where your forced to cross over the tramline twice!!! Really dangerous, particularly in the wet, and the road is reccomended as a cycle route!

[David Lombari]

Sorry to hear that Paul. I too had problems with tramlines earlier this year when I asked the barber to put a couple on the right hand side. I got dissed by the kidz as apparently 37 is too old to have such a cutting edge hair style....BUGGER!
Seriously, I had an accident at the beginning of August and am only just getting back. Treat it as 'enforced rest' and do other things to keep your pekka up. Good luck.

[sylv]

Sorry about your injury.

I find it's not only tramlines which are tricky in the wet. The slightest metalic surface, like a hole cover, will make your front wheel wash out before you know it if you negotiate it at the slightest angle. I try to always have the bike upright when going over one, which means slowing down if it's on a turn.

[Nick Hussey]

This got me thinking so I've been Googling for a bit:
A lot of the sites are for 'rad tricks and sh*t' which is not my bag, but there a a few tidbits. Some are kind of obvious and I can't find much more. What's the name of that mag?...

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adven ... ps_30.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_13779_fall-mountain-bike.html\

http://www.ehow.com/tips_13779.html

...Though unless you practice these techniques on giant mattresses, aren't you gonna break something before you train your body instinctively? You're not going to have time to make a decision when you're going down, so it has to be 'programmed' in.
I'm lucky only to have had one broken collarbone from yonks back but I lost 2" off my left shoulder because I wouldn't let them re-break an over-lapping clavicle. Fool am I! "Regrets, I've had a few".

The most common break is of course the collar bone/clavicle because when placing the arm out to break the fall that bone proportionaly absorbs the most energy versus it's strength. The arm often stays ridged (unless the wrist buckles, hence a wrist/arm break) automatically, telescoping the arm into the shoulder socket and crushing or bending the clavicle beyond it's means. Hence, to cut a long story short, the best advice is probably to fall 'curled up'. Easier said than done.

I feel for you Paul, it drives me nuts staring at the bike for weeks, feeling the fitness dwindle. Hope you have turbo trainer or a gym with decent bikes?...What fun!

[sylv]

Aaah, Leigh Donovan ...

[img]http://www.leighdonovan.com/images/leigh_si_98.jpg[/img]

[Nick Hussey]

Not to be outdone....[img]http://www.kentmarshall.com/Photos/Girl_on_Bike.JPEG[/img]

[Tamar Collis]

The advice about practising somersaulting might be useful. My ex used to do gymnastics and when he got his back wheel caught in tram lines in Switzerland, he flew over the handlebars, executed a perfect forward roll and finished up on his feet without a scratch on him.

The wheel was not so fortunate as the weight of fully laden panniers resulted in it looking like a figure of eight and meant an day's delay waiting for the bike shops to open (it was Sunday).

Hope your arm heals well and you're back on your bike soon Paul.

[stevefunkster]

get rid of the bikes man, those chicks are hot, about tramlines while watching le tour they said always try and cross them at 90degrees which is'nt always possible but does seem to help, we should do a guide to riding over obstacles, cattle grids always worry me.

[Tamar Collis]

Cattle grids are fine. I used to be a real wuss, especially on the round pole ones. I'd screech to halt in front of them, convinced that my front wheel was going to suddenly turn itself 90 degrees and drop down the gap (yeah right! And that would happen how exactly?). However, eventually I forced myself to ride them and they're fine. I usually ride them as fast as possible, but going slowly uphill works OK too. I haven't tried crossing them on a diagonal though and always go for a 90 degree approach.

[stevefunkster]

yeah i have crossed a few of the square ones but would not look forward to the round ones

[Nick Hussey]

Funny, I always thought those cattle grids were handy for bike-parks where you could stick your bike while you went for a pee. That would explain the funny looks from the sheep and traffic behind me. Doh.

[Conor Cormican]

Sorry to see you are out of action for a while. Those tramlines are like magnets to bicycle wheels. Hope to see you whizzing up those hills again in the near future.

[sylv]

Ex World-class Downhill chick.