Bad Bicycle accidents

[Fixxxator]

This was kind of discussed in the crude awakening thread but I've got a story to tell.. So we arrived on saturday to set up for all of our fellow campers, partying and working all day happily intermingled. By tuesday, we were all kind of tired and in need of a break but did we chill? Of course not. Anyway, one of the camp setter-uppers was out on tuesday night and managed to hit an unlit, abandoned mid playa bike, sending her flying ang slightly injuring her. Ok, the week goes on and we keep on without much in the way of a rest day. We all load up the art car and head over to watch the man burn. Happiness and good times ensue. After, we all go out and do our own thing, and my friend who had crashed earlier stayed up all night. So, sunday morning comes around and my friend and 2 other campers head to black sabbath pancakes. While there, she decides to go off the bike jump which results in a severe concussion and eventual life-flight to Reno. She ended up ok, released that night, but needlees to say our camp was in a bad way not knowing what was going on. I don't really know what the point of this post is, but if anyone has any bike stories, bring 'em. And please, be careful on bikes, think about walking at night.

[misfit]

we went riding everyday and nite,,, once we even rode sober. we did have head lights, tail lights and L-wire,,, never had a problem.....

[Rat Bastard]

Unlit bike? Could it have been one of those "Yellow Bikes"? They're left all over the city and aren't lit up. I thought of this during the week but didn't give it much concern. Driving an art car I saw many "obsticles" on the playa.

Maybe someone from the Yellow Bike crew will read this and take it to thought. I know dressing up these bikes with glow or El wire is impossible but how about reflective tape. Like the stuff that's on trailers. Even a little ambient light with cause them to reflectively glow.

Food for thought.

RB

[skibear]

Unlit Bike shouldn't be a problem?

If you are simply walking at night you should already
be wearing EL wire, glow sticks or other blinkeys anyway.

But not the case. I gifted out at least 25 "forever" flashlights
(no batteries -shake a magnet back and forth thru a coil of
wire to reacharge) very green and only 66 cents at a MD
66 cent version of a Dollar store to "Darkwads". If I had a hundred
I could easily given them away. They were so cheap that when
tested prior to purchase half did not work. Several failed on
the way to BM but I was able to fix all but 1 or 2.

Supprisingly most people with no lights accepted them.


:)

[Kinetik V]

I like the reflective tape idea....since those bikes were funded with a grant that covers maintenance meaning someone will have to lay hands on any remaining green bike (community bikes are no longer yellow), it would be a fine time to add some tape.

As for the lack of lights..I just don't get it. I had multiple light sources...glow sticks, led lights, headlamps, heck I had backups for the backups and I didn't spend a mint to do it. I hate saying it but I think the darkwads are just lazy. If you can spring for the BM ticket, surely $10 for lighting is not much to ask a participant to come up with.

[Burner till death]

Ouch 0 I am glad your friend is ok, Concussions are serious business.

About green bikes - Who fixes em all, and where do they all go? My biggest beef were all the people that locked up and sequestered green bikes, and treat them as theirs. I saw one guy drop his bike on the dirt and go into a camp. My friend started to get on and the first guy comes out all pissed off. "I was only a minute" so my new friend says "thats a minute too long - these are communal bikes" the second guy starts to get all huffy like he is going to fight. so we road off real quick with him swearing at us.

seemed wrong to have him swear at us like that and get all pissy.

[mdmf007]

The day the bikes were introduced there were a billion of them at center camp. A day later they were all scattered like they were supposed to be. I saw them locked up as well.

I also saw a bunch of them being cut loose and freed. There were groups of guys with bolt cutters setting them free as well.

[Zhust]

Anyway, one of the camp setter-uppers was out on tuesday night and managed to hit an unlit, abandoned mid playa bike, sending her flying ang slightly injuring her.

I've come to expect that I can't force other people to do what I want so I try my best to adapt to what they might do. And that includes unlit people and things on the Playa. The odds of actually encountering another object in any straight line is small in deep Playa, but I treat it like riding unlit streets at night at home: ride slower, get a brighter headlight, etc.

I think it's interesting the solutions people have. I fully support people bringing around lights to offer to people who don't have any, but I wholly reject the notion of demanding that they take one. That's what we have thugs ... er ... authorities in the default world for.

While there, she decides to go off the bike jump which results in a severe concussion and eventual life-flight to Reno.

I'm glad she ended up all right, but that's another weird thing about Burning Man. On the one hand, the biggest reason for wearing a bike helmet at home is to survive a collision with a car. But on the other, since cars at Burning Man tend to travel slowly (5 mph with rare exceptions) I don't really think of it an issue.

That said, I was working on a star bike for my girlfriend -- the frame is a hollow 5-pointed star. I brought it to the local bike shop to use the cottered crank tool (thank goodness Roger told me about that and keeps his archaic equipment) and to give it a final tune-up.

Well, I had installed the wrong bottom cone in the steering bearings so the steering was sticky. Nonetheless, I went for a test ride and tried riding no hands, causing me to lose total control and wipe out.

I left the house earlier and didn't have my helmet. I heard this story about a bicyclist in a race who forgot his -- his wife tried to hand it to him when he first started, but he couldn't get it on right so he rode without the helmet. As irony would have it, he did crash and was killed due to the head injury he sustained.

So based on that story, I went back and I was luckily wearing my helmet. In fact, a rather new one I bought from that very bike shop. I finished my test ride with both hands on the wheel and managed to also break the junker chain. So when I got back, I told Roger, "well good news for you: I need the rear wheel trued again, a new chain, and a new helmet.

Anyway, the point is that even in a single-person slow-speed crash, it's possible to crack your head right open. The Playa is insignificantly more forgiving that asphalt. But when you're out there, there's a feeling of magic and personal safety that sometimes turns to cockiness and a sense of invulnerability that gets you into trouble. Sometimes you're also riding a bike that's been modified with a safety-third mindset and isn't as reliable or maneuverable than a bike designed with a safety first one.

So while I think there's sufficient magic to prevent most serious injuries like when I was growing up in the 1970's and nobody wore bike helmets -- and we crashed and busted things up but never cracked our skulls, I also think that there are limits to the protection offered by that magic. Disrespecting your own mortality is one way to do that.

But I'd probably try the jump anyway too.