Had My Second Major Crash Today

[DCTenor1]

I had my second major crash today. Both of them were caused by Glider Error and had to do with inappropriate interactions with curbs.

Just about one year ago, at mile 0085, I went up a curb cutout too fast while shifting my weight to the wrong foot while turning. The Segway platform oscillated, I couldn't keep steady on it, and I wiped out. The Segway went in one direction, I went in another, and my InfoKey and Blackberry were ejected 50 feet away from me in opposite directions. I skinned my knee, elbow and wrist, and ruined a pair of pants.

Just about an hour ago, at mile 0585, I had nearly completed my daily 2.5 mile glide to work. I was across the street from my building, and since there was no traffic heading toward me on the one-way road (23rd Street near N St. NW for those of you who know the area), I decided to jump down the 6-inch curb and cross the street, as I have done literally hundreds of times over the past year.

But today, for some reason, i got cocky. Instead of jumping off the curb at 2-4 mph as usual, I guess I took it a little too fast. I'm not sure how fast exactly, but it might have been somewhere between 4-8 mph. That, my friends, was a major mistake.



I'm still not really sure what happened exactly, but I think that when the wheels hit the ground, they couldn't handle the forward momentum of my body. Seggie tried to get under me, while I instinctually tried to lean back to get over Seggie. I also tried to pull the Lean Steer Frame toward me, but as I was not directly over the platform anymore but slightly to its side, this had the effect of spinning the inner wheel faster than the outer wheel. This clumsy ballet lasted no more than a second. Together, we spiraled down to the street and collapsed with a loud thud.

I was splayed out in the street, clutching onto Seggie so that he wouldn't roll away. As is often the case after a crash, my immediate thought was, "OH MY GOD I LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT, HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE STARING?" I sat up and looked around. Miraculously, nobody saw. I was basically alone and there was still no traffic heading my way. Seggie had shut down. I stood up and rolled him to the other side of the street, where I surveyed the damage to myself and to my ride. He had a few extra scratches on the LSF but otherwise seemed to be no worse for wear. I turned him on and he started up as normal. I also had a few extra scratches, but unlike Seggie, when the road scratches me I tend to leak. I had a major cut on my left thumb, with a deep reddish-crimson oozing out. That said, it looked worse than it was and it didn't hurt.

Fortunately, I had taken the brunt of the fall with my well-padded derrier. Unfortunately, I had ruined another pair of pants. (If anyone would like a free pair of olive-colored khakis with a ripped seat, send me an e-mail!)

When writing this post, I briefly hesitated on whether to categorize the crash as "major," but I have decided that when one of my first actions after a crash is to look around for the first aid kit to dress my wounds, that counts as "major."

So, what have we learned today? A) Don't take curbs too fast. If you want to be real careful about it, go find the nearest cutout and glide down with ease. (You will also arguably save your steed the cumulative damage caused by lots of small drops.) B) Major crashes tend to happen when you get cocky. I don't care if you've ridden for 5 miles, 500 or 5000; the moment you start to act like a Segway God, the real Segway God will step in to put you in your place. C) I have a major crash about once every 500 miles. Good to know. (When I approach mile 1085, I'll be sure to wear pants I don't care about.)

[BillK]

I enjoyed your blog!
Keep on Seggin'!
Illegitimi non carborundum. (or something like that! )
Bill

In the short time I have owned my Segway, it has never once occurred to me (and never will) to go down or up a curb on my i2. Maybe it's from my years of riding a bicycle and my over cautious nature, but I always find a driveway or sidewalk ramp to go up.

Actually, now that I remember, it has occurred to me exactly once. The tiled entryway of our house stands 1 - 2 inches above our living room. One day I was heading out for a glide and I decided to try going up onto the tiled entryway on the i2. When the tires wouldn't grab the edge, I got off and used the riderless assist to get it onto the entryway, out the door and down the step we have leading to the driveway. That was the first and last time I tried that.

I also tend to be really easy on things I pay so much money for. Maybe far too easy on them. Where I live in Florida, a lot of the newer roads have V-shaped channels on either side to direct storm water to the storm sewer openings. Every time I go over one of these on the i2, I cringe, even though I'm sure the Segway is durable enough to handle something as minimal as this.

I guess I'm just over cautious...

[DCTenor1]

Really? I thought it was fairly common... the first day I ever rode a Segway, the dealer showed me how to go down a curb.

People have also mentioned going down curbs when they were jury-rigging makeshift kickstands, and mentioning that if you go down the curb too slow, you might hit the kickstand.

Anyway, it's good to be cautious. I bet you have never fallen off your Segway either. :-)

[Jallie]

very good story

may we have a pics of the pants ?? ( LoL)

I escaped from a crash this afternoon , on my golf course .

What I understood ... don't go down in a courve too

straight down look like better. (even to go slowy )

[DCTenor1]

VERY good advice from Jallie. Heading off a curb at an angle is the #1 Surefire Way to have a major crash.

[KSagal]

First off, I am glad you are okay.

Secondly, it is nice the seg was not damaged.

Thirdly, it was good that you got away with the anonymity, and no one saw you... For me, that is worse than a minor injury, or the cost of a pair of pants...

I did a far stupider thing, and fell a couple years back, but did it on a main street right in front of many people. The drivers on the road stopped, the pastor of a local church ran over, even the drivers of the stopped cars (2 or 3 at least) were all talking amongst themselves... I was on the ground less than 60 seconds, and by the time I left, there had to be a dozen people involved, looking scared and concerned... It was nice by EMBARRASSING!

In some circles, pants with no butt have more value than pants with, but I digress... LOL.

Perhaps you can keep a collection of these clothes and make a wall of shame kind of display. Go on tour and lecture to students as to the cost of segway over aggressiveness. Write a book.

Okay, maybe no.

Back to the top. Glad you were not hurt. Keep on gliding. I am looking forward to the post after 1085 miles...

Perhaps you did the math wrong. Your first fall was at 85 miles, the second was at 585. Perhaps you should use the factor of 6.88 (585/85) and figure the next fall is due at 4026 miles. (this is because you get better, so I would not think that the interval would be additive, but multiplicative)...

Be happy. I just gave you 3500 more accident free segway miles to cruise!

Originally Posted by DCTenor1

Anyway, it's good to be cautious. I bet you have never fallen off your Segway either. :-)

I hope I never will either, but I know better than to say never.

[SegwayDan]

I'm with you, Chris. I just don't like the idea of jarring the mechanism that much. It can't be a good thing.

Oh, and a tip on negotiating our v-groove curbings: reduce speed and take them at an angle like cutting waves in a small boat. It lets one wheel at a time take the v and reduces the impact because the v-groove taken at an angle actually has a shallower angle that way.

By the way, when Chris and I talk about negotiating our Florida curbs, it's NOT the same as the curb drops mentioned in this thread. Sidewalk and street are usually at pretty much the same level, and the v-groove curbing is lower to form a trough for rain. They're not super deep, but if taken head-on at speed, they can be pretty jarring.

[wwhopper]

I think it was the Segway getting back at him for trying to sell it off.

Glad to hear you are in one piece there Matt, and with all of today's craziness in DC (major power failure downtown, fires in the subway and the politics as usual) it was just one more thing that made DC not the place to be today.

Glad to hear you back up gliding, did you ever get your wheel replaced?

And by the way, that was your third crash - how soon you forgot your first and only glide on a Gen One machine. The day that we wondered if there would ever be any little DCTenors around afterwards.