Re: Crash Analysis: What did you learn?
recap: riding along with the right-of-way on a side street, only to have a minivan run a stopsign and cross into my path. I fell on my right side after losing traction trying an emergency stop to avoid a crash.
what I did right: Didn't hit the minivan and die!
what I did wrong:
- Rode when I knew my tires were in bad shape.
- Rode without paying the best attention to possible danger (too much trust in the power of the stop-sign. If I had been watching the minivan more carefully, not just assuming he would stop, I'm sure I could have initiated braking sooner).
- Overused the front brake in particular.
- Spent valuable seconds after falling with useless thoughts of 'my bike! nooooooo! my bike!' and 'maybe I can go back in time and fix this?' instead of 'license plate number, look at his license plate number!'
Thoughts: Well... I think watch out for minivans is the most important one... But I do remember that I fell a good 5-10 feet from the minivan. So that means that I might have gotten away with using a little less braking force, and come to a stop slower without falling. I definetly stand by my decision to chose breaks over swerving though, because I couldnt tell if he would stop or keep going, and since he filled the entire intersection in front of me, I would have had to aim for the sidewalk to avoid him.
I plan to practice emergency breaking at varying speeds. Knowing how hard you can break without losing traction at just one speed is not going to help you.
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Aftermarket: RoadRacing modified under-engine exhaust, revalved 996 forks, ProCutting open clutch, CC triple and pressure plate, 999 clipons, BMC filter, CRG-LS mirrors, PC3, Rizoma rearsets, heated grips, +2 teeth in rear gearing, Veypor VR2 computer, MBP collets, Yoyodyne slave, Galfer waves front and rear, misc CF (mostly faded). After so much work, why is it that I still can't help but consider buying other bikes?
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