DC Dump: 16th Street Wipeout

[Boomstick1491]

I just bought a Ninja 250 and am learning to ride. For background, I took the MSF and obtained my license last Friday, purchased a 2008 Ninja 250 on Tuesday, and got the plates/registration/title on Wednesday. I took the bike for a nice long ride on Wednesday and totally loved every minute of it. Then today happened...

After leaving work and stopping by one of the local shops to grab my new Signet Q, which finally arrived, and looking at and passing on some RevIt textile pants (idiotic decision I will probably forever regret), I came home to take a quick ride before date night with my wife. Everything was going great. I tooled up into NW DC, around Catholic University, into Rock Creek Park, and then was coming back down 16th St. and approaching the intersection of Belmont Ave in the right hand lane. There was a line of cars in the left lane, but we had the green light. I was approaching cautiously and covering my front brake. Suddenly, a cab DARTED across the intersection in front of me (prob 15 feet away) and I slammed on the brakes. I believe I skidded on the white crosswalk paint, because the next thing I knew, my elbow had made contact with the ground and my bike was on top of my leg. I shut it down and stood up confused, while the cab driver flew by completely oblivious to the fact that he made me dump my bike. In the flurry of activity, someone stopped their car behind me, hopped out, and helped me pick the bike back up. I rolled it on to Belmont and tried to regain my composure. The guy who helped me right the bike then handed me my turn signal which had been snapped off in the drop. After some time, a quick phone call to my wife to tell her I crashed (definitely something I did not want to do), I tried to start the bike. I had a lot of trouble getting it to turn over, but finally did. I rode it very cautiously back to the house and shut it down.

The post accident investigation revealed the following... My "new" bike, which looked virtually flawless before (and which I quickly cleaned yesterday and had not even had the opportunity to photograph), now has several large cracks in the left fairing from the turn signal smashing through, long scrapes from the pavement, and missing paint. The bar end is slightly scratched, as is the gear shift lever, but the latter is not bent. The turn signal is also off, but it seems like that might be easy to put back on. As for me, my A* jacket saved my elbow and arm skin, which I think took a fairly intense blow, my left gloved saved my knuckles, my Frye boots saved my foot, but the RevIt pants I passed over at the shop were sorely missed. My left knee is badly bruised and scraped, despite wearing jeans, which did not rip. And somehow I cooked my right calf on the muffler when the bike went down, despite the jeans and tall Frye boots.

I am not really sure what to do now. I have had my license exactly one week and owned my bike for three days. On the second day of riding, I dump it. My pride is really the only thing truly hurt, but the incident shook me up. Call me a wuss all day long, but that sucked. Admittedly, it could have been a whole lot worse.

[Jiggles]

The best thing you can do is go get back on your bike and ride it. Take it to a parking lot and practice emergency breaking. That way, the next time something freaks you out you won't grab a handful of brake. The longer you stay off the bike, the more intimidating it will become. As long as it's rideable take it for a spin

[pilotgeorge747]

Sorry to hear about your crash and glad you and the bike are mostly ok. Perhaps you should take the bike to a secluded area such as a back road or parking lot and practice maneuvers from the MSF (especially quick braking). I know how it feels just get the bike registered and then go down soon after. Fix her up, update your gear, and practice, practice , practice.

[Boomstick1491]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

The best thing you can do is go get back on your bike and ride it. Take it to a parking lot and practice emergency breaking. That way, the next time something freaks you out you won't grab a handful of brake. The longer you stay off the bike, the more intimidating it will become. As long as it's rideable take it for a spin

You're a wise man. I believe the old adage is, "it's not what you do when you get knocked down, it's what you do when you get back up." I have to get the bike to the DMV. Perhaps a short ride there is in order for tomorrow.

[Boomstick1491]

Originally Posted by pilotgeorge747

Sorry to hear about your crash and glad you and the bike are mostly ok. Perhaps you should take the bike to a secluded area such as a back road or parking lot and practice maneuvers from the MSF (especially quick braking). I know how it feels just get the bike registered and then go down soon after. Fix her up, update your gear, and practice, practice , practice.

The problem with DC is that there are very few secluded areas when you live right downtown. If I lived even a couple miles out in the suburbs it would be a different story. Downtown, you're pretty much in traffic from the minute you put the key in the ignition. However, your point is well made. I have primarily stuck to back roads and perhaps I got a little too over confident this afternoon. I hope to not make the same mistake again.

[drac]

Sorry to hear about the wreck. DC is a tough place to ride when you are just learning. Try and ease your way down Bradley blvd or MacArthur blvd(i think that's the one on the other side of the river) and jump on 270/495. Get yourself over to Carderrock/Great Falls, VA. Some good roads over that way. Some decent twisties and relatively lite traffic......Well for the DC area anyway. Good luck and be safe.

[etiainen]

Try and find a parking lot to practice some braking. As you can see it is an important skill to master.

GL, and props to you for wanting to try again. I know how much a crash can hurt your ego.

[Boomstick1491]

Originally Posted by etiainen

Try and find a parking lot to practice some braking. As you can see it is an important skill to master.

GL, and props to you for wanting to try again. I know how much a crash can hurt your ego.

This is the central theme I keep hearing repeated and it's obviously good advice. I need to reinvigorate my search for a parking lot.

However, even with practice, I am not sure yesterday's situation would have ended differently. I say this because I was perfectly comfortable doing emergency stopping in the MSF course and braking at all other times on the street, even hard some times. And now that I dumped the bike ostensibly because I locked the front brake and skidded on something (or just skidded because it was locked), I am a bit hesitant to really get on the brakes in a parking lot for fear of the same thing happening again. Make sense?

[etiainen]

Yeah. You skidded because you locked the wheel. You have a lot less traction when the wheel isn't spinning.

Try practicing from a slower speed and work your way up. The idea is to get the technique down better so that when you're in a panic situation you react the same way and don't grab a handful. Practice makes perfect

[Alex]

That's why you need the practice. Braking during the MSF at 20 mph is a good start, but it is very different braking from even moderately higher speeds. It's not clear from the writeup whether you locked the front or the rear, but either way it points to a need for more practice on hard braking. Many new riders apply too much rear brake, especially in emergency or stressful situations. Glad your injuries were quite minor, and it sounds like the bike damage wasn't too bad either.

[kaiserz]

That sucks, Glad you're okay. Me, I've gain I think 100 - 200 miles of parking lot experience before I headed out. I try not to go that far, I made sure that I can do those U turns, and proper braking and stuff liked that.

[deadzed]

DC is a difficult place to ride.

I'm with the others in suggesting you take you bike back out as soon as possible. The old saying about "getting right back on the horse" is very true.
It doesn't have to be much. Just go around the block, go to the gas station & pick up a soda. Just go ride a little.

I had my first put down after 30yrs of riding. I shattered my collar bone and it was 4 months before I was cleared to ride again. That first trip to the gas station was a harrowing experience. I think it was made much worse by all the time that had passed.

You're new, you were surprised, you got too much brake, it's perfectly understandable. Don't let it put you off of one of life's great experiences.

[Boomstick1491]

Originally Posted by deadzed

DC is a difficult place to ride.

I'm with the others in suggesting you take you bike back out as soon as possible. The old saying about "getting right back on the horse" is very true.
It doesn't have to be much. Just go around the block, go to the gas station & pick up a soda. Just go ride a little.

I had my first put down after 30yrs of riding. I shattered my collar bone and it was 4 months before I was cleared to ride again. That first trip to the gas station was a harrowing experience. I think it was made much worse by all the time that had passed.

You're new, you were surprised, you got too much brake, it's perfectly understandable. Don't let it put you off of one of life's great experiences.

I went back to the shop and bought the pants this morning. The $200 was definitely worth it, knowing my knees will now have some protection. I am NEVER making that mistake again...

After I got back, I threw on my gear and hopped on the bike. I was a little nervous, but knew I had to conquer my fears. I rode from our condo to the DC DMV Inspection Station, using the least travelled roads I could find, which still means there is an insane amount of traffic, since DC is never devoid of cages and peds. Part of my motivation was everyone's suggestions of getting back in the saddle early and part necessity, since I needed to get the bike's info input into the DMV's inspection system. The short 20 minute ride through the city streets helped a lot . I was very aware of my lane position and my head was on a swivel even more than yesterday. Thankfully I made it back safely. I'm still looking for a nearby parking lot, where I can continue practicing.

[Malicious Logic]

Glad to hear you're ok and the bike's not too scratched up but I gotta ask...what did you expect? Not saying that you were destined to crash just....from what you've said, this was only your second day riding and you decided to jump straight into traffic. Maybe slow down a tad bit and get some practice in on some back streets and empty parking lots before venturing out on the main roads again. Not too familiar with the streets you were referring to but I'm aware of DC traffic and it's definitely not cager friendly, let alone beginner biker friendly.

[Boomstick1491]

Originally Posted by Malicious Logic

Glad to hear you're ok and the bike's not too scratched up but I gotta ask...what did you expect? Not saying that you were destined to crash just....from what you've said, this was only your second day riding and you decided to jump straight into traffic. Maybe slow down a tad bit and get some practice in on some back streets and empty parking lots before venturing out on the main roads again. Not too familiar with the streets you were referring to but I'm aware of DC traffic and it's definitely not cager friendly, let alone beginner biker friendly.

Unfortunately my wife and I live downtown, so in order to find a parking lot, I have to ride a mile or more on city streets. There is no alternative. It is just the way it is. So in order to learn to ride on a road, I need to ride on a road, but in order to ride on the road, I need to learn to ride on the road. It's quite the catch 22.

[Alex]

Makes sense, you'll get it.

There's a sticky thread in this section that's calling your name....

[Boomstick1491]

Originally Posted by Alex

Makes sense, you'll get it.

There's a sticky thread in this section that's calling your name....

I am not the 99%, I am the 16% (of those who dropped their bike in the first week). What an embarrassment.

[Whiskey]

Good that you hopped back on, I went down after about 6 months, hopped on again the next day.

Avoid the painted lines on the road wherever possible, they give no traction and are worse again in the wet. same goes for manhole covers/ drains

[Malicious Logic]

Originally Posted by Boomstick1491

Unfortunately my wife and I live downtown, so in order to find a parking lot, I have to ride a mile or more on city streets. There is no alternative. It is just the way it is. So in order to learn to ride on a road, I need to ride on a road, but in order to ride on the road, I need to learn to ride on the road. It's quite the catch 22.

Ah, ok, my apologies then...and yeah, that kinda sucks.

[Reswob]

I can't imagine learning to ride in the DC area. I nearly got into an accident just about every day (in the car or on the bike) when working there this summer. It's like there's 10 million people on the roads at any given time, and not a single one of them knows how to drive.

[Boomstick1491]

Originally Posted by Reswob

I can't imagine learning to ride in the DC area. I nearly got into an accident just about every day (in the car or on the bike) when working there this summer. It's like there's 10 million people on the roads at any given time, and not a single one of them knows how to drive.

It definitely sucks. What's funny is I just found a YouTube video series about riding safely, which was shot by some guy who was/is a student at Howard University. That is the area in which I have started all of my rides, so I guess others learn here too. Definitely not ideal, which makes me regret not having picked this up when I was a kid.

[DaBlue1]

I learned to ride DC streets on a bike 30 years ago. Sucked then and sucks even worse now. I hated the stop and go traffic and all the one way streets, but the good thing is that, it will make you a better slow rider. Anybody can go fast in a straight line. It takes skill to go slow in a crooked line. Be vigilant, be confident, stay focused but relaxed, remember what you learned in MSF and you'll be fine. Remember to reward yourself by getting in rides outside the metropolitan area and head west to relieve some stress.

[Boomstick1491]

Originally Posted by DaBlue1

I learned to ride DC streets on a bike 30 years ago. Sucked then and sucks even worse now. I hated the stop and go traffic and all the one way streets, but the good thing is that, it will make you a better slow rider. Anybody can go fast in a straight line. It takes skill to go slow in a crooked line. Be vigilant, be confident, stay focused but relaxed, remember what you learned in MSF and you'll be fine. Remember to reward yourself by getting in rides outside the metropolitan area and head west to relieve some stress.

I took the bike to the nearest suitable parking lot this morning for about 3 hours of practice. I did a bunch of slow speed turns, swerves, and a TON of braking at various speeds. I think it was very helpful, since I realized how little pressure I have to apply to lock the rear wheel. I also found it much easier to threshold brake when I take up the slack of the front brake lever. I even successfully recreated the front brake lock that caused the dump on Friday night. It was a bit terrifying and quite eery, but this time the bike did not go down like a sack of potatoes.

After the long practice, I stuck to the quietest streets I could find and rode around town for about an hour more. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting, since I fully expected death around every corner, over every berm, and from every stopped vehicle on the side of the road.