Lessons from downhill crash I was taking my usual morning ride before dawn on an 'adventure' road bike. It is a very steep hill with bends (Ditchling Beacon, East Sussex, England). I was descending and noticed (too late) some debris on the road and applied the brakes on the first corner. My front wheel skidded, and I hit the road and slid quite some distance with very unpleasant consequences. No bones broken but a cracked helmet, torn clothes and some very nasty grazes and bruising. I have been riding a road bike for less than a year and obviously this is down to my lack of skill and judgement as a rider. I would like to learn from this experience. Factors I have considered are:


Light. A better front light may have allowed me to see the debris earlier thereby braking before the bend, maybe not. Can you recommend a good front light?
Braking technique. Perhaps I should not have used the front brake at all. I didn't think I applied it excessively, the bike just seemed to go before I realised it.
Tyres. The tyres I have are mainly smooth with a very slight tread at the edges. Are there tyres that would prevent this kind of accident more than others?
Clothes. My head hit the road very hard and the helmet saved me from serious injury I'm sure. However, as I was going downhill at speed I slid for some distance. When I came to rest I had large holes in my cycling trousers, gloves, tops and skin. Are there clothes that offer more protection without limiting movement or comfort?
Experience. Assuming I want to continue riding downhill, in the dark, on less than perfectly clean and dry roads, what techniques should I aim to learn and how best should I learn them?
To ride in the dark is difficult.  You should have a decent head light on your helmet so it tracks your vision, and a handlebar light that tracks where your front wheel is aiming.   In addition you should have a secondary front light and two back lights for redundancy.  We don't make product recommendations here, but that would be the minimum.

To increase your awareness, consider riding UP the track that you plan on coming down later.  This way you'll be moving much slower and have a better chance of spotting obstructions before you come through.

Also consider not doing crazy speeds on downhills.  The road rules say "Don't outdrive your lights" so you should be able to stop in the distance illuminated.   Perhaps you should leave the downhill leg until the sun is higher ?

Braking technique - if you were doing a hard brake on a turn, and your front wheel slid out from under you then its all over, you're going down.  Some more tread on your front tyre may have helped, as would lower pressure in the front tube.  Another technique, you could overweight the front wheel to make the side lugs dig in and regain grip, or you could unweight the front wheel and try to stop it pushing, and therefore regain grip.   All this has to happen really quickly, we don't generally react fast enough.

Clothes - your outerwear did its job, and took all/most of the sliding damage.  I suggest you slap some patches on the damaged bits, and on the knees, and call it your Riding Gear.   No point dressing up all pretty for a ride (unless you're into that sort of thing)   My favourite riding pants have canvas on the knees, over a patch of woollen blanket, and some light cotton on the inside of the knee,  They're butt-ugly but totally comfortable.  

Finally experience - you've just acquired some.  Sadly it was painful.

You should also give your bike a close look and service.  Standard crash damage to look for includes:


Wheels out of true, rim damage, broken spokes and loosened nipples.
Disk Brake rotors no longer flat, or rim brake pads slightly out of position
Gears out of whack - bent derailleuruer hanger is very common.
Mudguards/fenders out of position, or plastic bits cracked.


Also give the bike a service and lube, and look for damage while doing it.