My First Fall

[Chris Leonardo]

I was riding into downtown from Multnomah Village (down Barbur and onto SW 4th), traffic was heavy and I was in the front of the line at a red light. Feeling a bit pushed left I eased over the max rails only to get a wheel stuck at the point where they start to turn parallel with traffic.

I flew off but only landed on my knees with no big issues. My bike was banged up and I was a bit freaked out from falling in downtown traffic.

One guy came over and helped me out, and most everyone around was really concerned and helpful.

Overall a pretty 'good' experience considering I fell down in the middle of traffic, it could have been much worse.

[djasonpenney]

So, are you OK? More importantly is your bike OK?

It's a Best Practice(tm) to always cross tracks with your wheels perpendicular to the rails. The scary thing about this is that, from the viewpoint of motorists, you seem to be "darting across traffic" (which I would characterize, instead as "safely utilizing the entire lane").

Note this becomes much more important if their is any type of moisture on the road surface; even if you cross at a 90 degree angle you still risk your front wheel flopping out to the side as you cross over, causing a nasty spill.