Bike pile up

dmcummins · 08-19-2011, 03:42 AM

I was backing my trailer into my driveway and a bunch of bike riders started piling up about 50 feet from me. They piled up in my neighbors driveway and one lady cut her hand and many had scrapes. One guy came over complaining that I should have put cones out or something. Now I live out in the country and the visability is not the best due to the corn. But its a 25mph zone and they had 100 yds of clear site to see a 25' aluminum trailer and a black 3/4 ton truck. They were not in view when I started backing the trailer up.

There were about 20 in the group, of coarse they were riding so close together that when one fell down she took several more with her. Many had no problem stopping or running into the grass.

So how hard is it to stop a bike? I don't know how fast they were going, but its a 25mph zone.

I know they were pissed at me, but they should be able to control their bikes also. I'm not going to get a flagman or put out cones everytime I want to pull into my driveway. Now I know why many are wanting to put a stop to having them on the roads out here.

john walker's workshop · 08-19-2011, 04:27 AM

cars will stop in that situation, bikes will not. they'll swerve into traffic if necessary, just to keep momentum up. it's all about momentum.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Is your street flat? If so, they weren't going over 20-25 mph and could have stopped in a few car lengths. Their problem was they were riding in a pack, the front guys braked but the rear guys didn't react as quickly. That's their problem. If they aren't good at riding in a pack, they shouldn't do it.

Cones - ridiculous.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

A road bike at any speed over about 15mph (easy to do) is a missile and has only limited steerability and virtually no braking. If you have to panic stop, you WILL flat, possibly lose control and crash. If you're riding in a pack, you're likely to cause a pile up. Crashes break collarbones easily (natural reaction to put hands/arms in front of you to stop the fall, energy gets transmitted up the arm axially to the failure point, which is the collarbone). This is common and accepted by anyone who rides regularly. If riders are smart they choose routes that have minimal traffic for exactly this reason - or lots of uphill climbs where it's easier to stop if you need to since speeds are low.

Yes, it's all about momentum and conserving it better than the other guy in order to win.

romad · romad's Garage

Problem is they are cyclist......same mentality as a vegan, but about riding bikes.

andyt11 · 08-19-2011, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

A road bike at any speed over about 15mph (easy to do) is a missile and has only limited steerability and virtually no braking.

Not sure I'd agree with that. I've never had any trouble steering or braking at 15 plus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

If you have to panic stop, you WILL flat, possibly lose control and crash. If you're riding in a pack, you're likely to cause a pile up.

Sounds like they should spread out a little then doesn't it. Sounds like a bunch of idiots to me.

widgeon13 · 08-19-2011, 05:30 AM

Since I ride in the woods and need to always watch for critters I have no sympathy for these people. Some riders are idiots, that's why I generally ride alone.

I may be an idiot but I'm not going to make an issue of it.

billybek · billybek's Garage

Tell them they should get a ticket for following too close!

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

Rules of the road state that you leave two seconds to the next vehicle. Bikes do not get a free pass, but often assume that they do. If a car was tailgating and this happened, they'd cite the tailgater... Same principle applies.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Cycling in a pack (especially on a rural road) is a way to save energy and crank up the pace. Wind resistance is huge on a bike and directly affects how fast you can go and how long you can last.

There are clear advantages to riding closely grouped, but for obvious reasons it makes more sense on rural roads with little traffic - which it sounds like this was.

85eurocarrera · 85eurocarrera's Garage

Sounds like the lead rider screwed up.

Pace lines can be fun but dangerous. There are hand signals and protocol involved. You almost have to be accepted into the group for reasons just like this. Something about if your legs aren't shaved you could be dangerous.

I ride regularly with 1 or 2 others and thats fine with me. I don't really like a group bigger than 4, but then I'm more of a mt biker...no shaved legs here.

Tim Walsh · Tim Walsh's Garage

You should have offered to call the cops and have him/her put in a report. My bet would be on a "exceeding a safe speed for conditions" violation.

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

Oh I understand WHY it's done... I'm just saying that when you do this, you must accept the consequences of your actions like a man.

Mark Henry · 08-19-2011, 06:25 AM

My bet is the lead rider, (plus a bunch of the followers) had his head down.
My kids and I ride the back roads all the time, I'm always telling them "heads up!"

trekkor · 08-19-2011, 06:45 AM

I'm going to say there is a reason why public roads are closed when people want to race bikes.

Pack riding is a racing thing.

KT

David · David's Garage

Like the others wrote: lead rider problem. I ride in large fast groups and it just takes a few seconds for something really bad to happen when you're all a couple feet apart at 25mph or so.

A930Rocket · 08-19-2011, 06:53 AM

Sounds like they f'ed up. Plain and simple.

Cones? Right...

dmcummins · 08-19-2011, 06:56 AM

Here is a pic of the road. Its a 100 yd shot with my rangefinder from my driveway to the edge of the corn. So they actually had more than a 100 yds to stop. They went down in the curve, so I assume they never had their heads up until then.

dmcummins · 08-19-2011, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Sounds like they f'ed up. Plain and simple.

Cones? Right...

I was just getting out of my truck when one of the riders was telling me I should have had cones out. And it would be up to the lady who cut her hand on what would be done. I just said I didn't like to see anyone hurt but they should have there bikes under control. The lady that cut her hand did not seem upset. I gave her a towel with some ice in it, and one of the other riders taped her up. She sat for a while and eventually continued on.

romad · romad's Garage

Like I said many hardcore cyclist are under the delusion that they have special rights to the roads. Not to mention the fact, right or wrong they will alway lose in any mishap regardless of the laws and liability. So if a cyclist takes to the road under the misguided impression that the rules of the road will protect them from physical harm, they might want to consider some safer activity.... like sky driving or rock climbing.