Received a shocking news about a cyclist crashed while riding Ooty downhill.

[GoGreen..Rao]

Dear All
One of my friends Colleague has returned from Ooty yesterday &
witnessed a Cyclist who crashed while descending from Ooty. According
to him he was alone and crashed @ the initial curves. He had head
injuries and probably it may not be sever because he was wearing a
good branded Helmet & their was no bleeding however he was not able to
check his wear about's as the cyclist was not Conscious.

This incident happened on Sunday 30 May 2010 afternoon between 1:00 to
2:00 pm
Color of the Cycle: Blue
Type of Cycle : Road Bike
Head-guard brand : Decathlon
Personality : Lean person
City : B'lore :(
was wearing a Cycling outfit.

Just wanted to check with all our Cyclist if they have come across any
one doing Ooty-Ride (Solo ride) Please update us about his status..

Please take a note on few things before u hit a Downhill.
********************************************************************
1) Wear a Proper headgear.. Please don't hesitate to go for a costly
one.
2) All ways wear Hand gloves.
3) C u have Good sleep so that u follow u'r conciseness to make right
kind of decision's. I have heard of people having a drink and riding
so that they don't strain them selves.. Pleaseeeeeee U Don't have to
do all this..
4) Don't do a Solo Rides specially when u wanted to venture into new
routes..
5) Plan to have proper kind of food much before u think of looking out
for a long ride.. Preferably starting from 2 days to the ride.
6) Do Take enough rest in between and don't Over do. Listen always to
u'r inner soul.
7) Keep in mind to have a control on the brakes right from the
beginning of the descend.
8) Carry a First aid kit..
9) Maybe i am wrong by saying a big 'NO' to Road-Bikes for Downhill
rides rather use Mountain bikes so that u can get good stability &
Control anyhow their r lots of expert around us who can comment about
this..

Remember
firstly U'r families r waiting for u and last but not the least
"Downhill speed can give a THRILL but can also KILL"

Regards.. Rao
Go Green for a better tomorrow Go Cycling..

[Yogesh N. Rao]

Prabhakar, did your friend check if the bicyclist had a mobile phone and if there was a "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) entry in it? This has been an often discussed SOP on our forums.

--
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are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
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[Sudhir P]

Adding to the points Mr Rao has mentioned

Please take a note on few things before u hit a Downhill.
********************************************************************
1) Wear a Proper headgear.. Please don't hesitate to go for a costly
one.
2) All ways wear Hand gloves.
3) C u have Good sleep so that u follow u'r conciseness to make right
kind of decision's. I have heard of people having a drink and riding
so that they don't strain them selves.. Pleaseeeeeee U Don't have to
do all this..
4) Don't do a Solo Rides specially when u wanted to venture into new
routes..
5) Plan to have proper kind of food much before u think of looking out
for a long ride.. Preferably starting from 2 days to the ride.
6) Do Take enough rest in between and don't Over do.  Listen always to
u'r inner soul.
7) Keep in mind to have a control on the brakes right from the
beginning of the descend.
8) Carry a First aid kit..
9) Maybe i am wrong by saying a big 'NO' to Road-Bikes for Downhill
rides rather use Mountain bikes so that u can get good stability &
Control anyhow their r lots of expert around us who can comment about
this..

(i differ a bit on this: not everyone can go up using a roadbike and come down on an mtb :) So it might be not be an option. But, its important to always stay in control of the situation.... Never let ur bike accelerate at a pace beyond what u can handle.... On TFN, I remember even seasoned riders like Rajesh nair, (co-founder TFN, and also participated in many races), who gave full respect to the downhills of Ooty and took it slow) 

10) Lower ur saddle height for downhills to increase stability and control..... After all, u dont need to pedal, so the leg-should-be-amost-straight-on-downstroke rule doesnt need to be followed.

11) Everything that looks like a helmet is not a helmet. (particularly talking abt stuff like the helmet that was given free at the cyclothon: it was a peice of plastic with some sponge inside). The good ones are hard substances that resemble high density thermocol.... It is made of polyurethane foam (thermocol is polystyrene foam). It shouldnt bend easily with pressure applied by your hand. The idea is that all the energy of the crash must be transferred into crushing the foam and not ur skull.

12) Brake well before the hairpin comes..... Else u'll almost defintely skid out of control, unless u r an expert at this

13) While doing long steep downhills and braking a lot, ur brake pads and rims get really hot due to the constant friction. Take a few breaks to let it cool down, and u can soak the awesome scenery around for a while

14) When u know u have a downhill ride comin up, check whether ur brakes are not too worn out.... If its worn out very close to the warning marker, it'll almost definitely cross it mid-ride.... So change em in advance

15) Clean ur rims: If u have dust, rubber powder off the brake shoe etc on the rim, the brake wont grip the rim tight enuf.... U might not notice this deficit on flat roads all that much.... But, under a constant acceleration on a steep slope, u might actually end up allowing the bike to accelerate even if u have gripped ur brakes as tight as u can. (I remember sameer getting this problem on TFN08, on the day of the ooty ascent, which had some downhill stretches).... Diagnosis: slide ur finger on the rim:  u feel the dust/powder Solution: Wipe ur rim with a dry non-greasy rag. Some folks recommend cleaning ur rim by applyin toothpaste

-sud

 

================================
Sudhir.P
Blog : http://roastedneutrons.blogspot.com
Photoblog : http://roastedphotons.blogspot.com
Comic strip: http://ktpdq.blogspot.com

I do not suffer from insanity......
I enjoy it!
================================

[rushi]

"Never let ur bike accelerate at
a pace beyond what u can handle.... "

Kind of circular, right? How do you know what you can handle unless
you do it? One needs to be a bit adventurous in known territory while
being conservative elsewhere. Downhill on Ooty-Kalhatty is a bit
scary, though.

[Sudhir P]

ah! thats probably why my downhill speeds have stayed constant for a while!

But yes, i experiment with my borders of controllability only on known routes..... And i ALWAYS do a recce of the route before any bbch race, for this same reason....

-sud

--
biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)

are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
Visit www.bangalorebicyclechampionships.com for more details

--

[Go Green Rao]

** D/Sudhir
Thank u very much for updating very important points. I hope this would b an eye opener to all of us..
** D/Yogesh
About ICE "In Case of Emergency" : people didn't found his mobile. Maybe its thrown away apart during the accident.
16) I think v need to add an address tag & ICE No on the bikes too..

Regards...Rao
Sent from BlackBerry
I am Going GREEN by Cycling. How about u ...?
Go Green, For a better Tomorrow Go Cycling
www.GoGreenGoCycling.org

---

From: Sudhir P <sudhirp...@gmail.com>

Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 08:07:25 +0530

To: GoGreen..Rao<prabhak...@gmail.com>

Cc: GGI-Club B'lore (Go Green Initiator's Club)<ggi-...@googlegroups.com>; <bangalor...@googlegroups.com>; <GGI...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: [BBC] Received a shocking news about a cyclist crashed while riding Ooty downhill.

[sriram.bmsce]

all-there is something called roadid,pls check it out and do let us know if we can find a suitable substitute for this in india...by the way i have my name/blood group on bike/helmet.it sure helps in city or outside..

 

http://www.roadid.com/Common/default.aspx

 

also,the ooty downhill being extremely dangerous is by now a well known fact i guess,good that the rider was wearing a helmet..often i have seen that we undermine the importance of helmet..! i must also add that although wearing one will most probably save one's life,its critical to have flashing signal lights for other vehicles to see us..i consider that a person who hits a bicyclist from behind since he didnt see the rider,should not be considered the culprit..its happened to me,although cyclist would best describe me,i have at times failed to see a cyclist..!

i guess we better stop reinventing the wheel-repect wearing helmets/stop cribbing abt costs,instead land ourselves good helmets and ride down nandi/kalhatti without fear..!
 

Sriram
 

On 6/2/10, Go Green Rao <prabhakarrao.cm@gmail.com> wrote:

** D/Sudhir
Thank u very much for updating very important points. I hope this would b an eye opener to all of us..
** D/Yogesh
About ICE "In Case of Emergency" : people didn't found his mobile. Maybe its thrown away apart during the accident.
16) I think v need to add an address tag & ICE No on the bikes too..

Regards...Rao
Sent from BlackBerry
I am Going GREEN by Cycling. How about u ...?
Go Green, For a better Tomorrow Go Cycling
www.GoGreenGoCycling.org

---

From: Sudhir P <sudhirp...@gmail.com>

Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 08:07:25 +0530

To: GoGreen..Rao<prabhakarrao.cm@gmail.com>

--

[Sudhir P]

TFN riders had s road-ID equivalent made for them last year. I am not sure if Adventure Worx (the guys who made it for TFN afaik) makes it for commercial distribution

-sud

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