Dirt Roads are not fun (aka, wear your diaper)

[keira]

So, as some of you may know, Rob and I are currently looking for a house. We have always wanted to be a little out of town, and in the area we are looking this means that a lot of the homes we find are on dirt roads. After an evening of house hunting on Friday, we were heading back to our house with our realtor. He had a GPS, so he was leading (in his truck) and we were following on the bikes, first me, then Rob behind me. We were going about 20-25mph, as the road was in pretty bad shape, and swerving around the washboarding and wash-outs pretty well. I saw in front of me a nice straight, flat section and so sped up a bit to maybe 30mph. Then as soon as I got up to speed a hidden pothole showed up, about 2 feet in diameter and almost a foot deep. I hit it square on at just under 30mph, losing the front tire, and hitting so hard on the front forks that they bottomed out and the back tire actually came off the ground. I wrestled it back without dropping it, and continued on to the stop sign, where I took a minute to steady myself and wonder if I broke anything. The bike is fine, no leaks or bends or anything. I woke up yesterday with a little bit of whiplash and a killer headache, but I am fine now. What a crazy experience....Rob said he thought I was going to lose the bike, but thankfully we both made it out unscathed.

Lesson learned: Never assume that a dirt road has an OK section when the rest is in such horrible shape. Gravel can be deceiving.

[nlheikki]

Glad you're alright.

[idanny]

its just these bikes arent made for the dirt roads, dirt can be lots of fun on the right kinda bike though.