How should I have handled this scenario?

[InAsia]

So I had minor accident that knocked me off my bike at a stop light...

I was splitting lanes and I think was coming in a bit fast, swung around a car to split the lane between the curb and another car at a red light....
Next thing I know, I feel one of the wheels slipping out and within 1 second I'm failing with the bike on top of me. I had some road rash on my joints(I didn't wear gear that day on a whim...).

I surveyed the scene right after and all I could find was this large, rounded road nail/pipe(something like that) persumbly from the near by construction site.

No other slippery surfaces or gravel(some dust though)....

I'm wondering what I should do in the event of running over a small, rounded pipe like object? Not common, but I barely had any time to react.

It blended in with the road fairly well and I couldn't see it in time to avoid it(I usually watch the road surface like a hawk).

[zeligman]

*placing bets on responses

[fireguzzi]

Besides avoiding it, which was probably near impossible in heavy traffic, I would say hit it as perpendicular as you can and try to lighten the front wheel by leaning back and SLIGHTLY accelerating. But in a tight situation like lane splitting it may be hard to really do those things effectively.

Just gotta decide if lane splitting is worth the risk of restricted maneuverability.

[mazer]

I thought "splitting lanes" was going between two vehicles in motion, in essence passing between two lanes. Passing between a car and the curb is an illegal move isnt it???

[bandit600]

Illegal... have you ever been to Asia?

If the user who made the original post's username is accurate then it's a whole other world out there. This might have been posted on here before but if you want to watch an MSF instructor's head explode have em checkout this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Doy_7sOoM

Slow, Look, Lean, Roll turns into Slow, Watch out for that guy on the bicycle, speed up to avoid that city bus with 20 people hanging off the side, oh crap I caught my flip flops on that manhole cover...

Thanks forum filter for changing c r a p to crumb... Really... really?

[koji52]

Illegal... have you ever been to Asia?

If the user who made the original post's username is accurate then it's a whole other world out there. This might have been posted on here before but if you want to watch an MSF instructor's head explode have em checkout this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Doy_7sOoM

Slow, Look, Lean, Roll turns into Slow, Watch out for that guy on the bicycle, speed up to avoid that city bus with 20 people hanging off the side, oh "crumb" I caught my flip flops on that manhole cover...

Thanks forum filter for changing c r a p to crumb... Really... really?

What a cluster f*** that was. I lived in Japan for 12 years and it wasn't like that. There's no lane markers or anything. You need nuts of solid rock to ride in those kinds of conditions.

[storysunfolding]

There's too little data to support any real hypothesis. For instance it is probably that you could easily have just let off the gas too quickly while turning. However, if you allow yourself extra time and space you're chances of avoiding similar catastrophe are greatly reduced.

[VTXRider]

Doesn't seem like there was much you could do in that situation since you didn't even have time to see what you were running over. Next time maybe give yourself enough space between you and other vehicles, obstacles, etc.

Has anyone ever been to Athens, Greece? OMG, the motorcyclists and scooter riders show no mercy over there, they own the roads for sure. Like a stampede of bulls going every which way they possibly can. Crazy!

[InAsia]

Illegal... have you ever been to Asia?

If the user who made the original post's username is accurate then it's a whole other world out there. This might have been posted on here before but if you want to watch an MSF instructor's head explode have em checkout this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Doy_7sOoM

Slow, Look, Lean, Roll turns into Slow, Watch out for that guy on the bicycle, speed up to avoid that city bus with 20 people hanging off the side, oh "crumb" I caught my flip flops on that manhole cover...

Thanks forum filter for changing c r a p to crumb... Really... really?

What a cluster f*** that was. I lived in Japan for 12 years and it wasn't like that. There's no lane markers or anything. You need nuts of solid rock to ride in those kinds of conditions.

Korea isn't that bad, there is usually 1-5 bikes at any given large intersection....

I wonder how it is riding bikes in Japan....In korean driving laws are routinely ignored, but in general it's not super crazy....If you stall your bike or do an emergency stop you won't get run over by a speeding bus.

In China it was crazy becuase riders usually split lanes into incoming traffic! I almost got ran over on a motor-taxi by a bus when he cut across lanes.

[bandit600]

I've been to India several times (only had the balls to ride a motorcycle twice), it's not that bad everywhere or all the time but that video definitely gets the point across that riding in most western countries and japan is a different experience than asian countries that have a high ratio of 2 wheelers to cars and not much ability to enforce traffic laws.

Regarding your incident, I echo what others have said, to be careful (obviously), vigilant and keep your bike in top shape (tires properly inflated, brakes maintained well, engine tuned up, etc...) so that you have the best tools available to avoid this in the future.

Best of luck, and rubber side down!