10 biggest goofs on a bike
November 30th, 2005 by Tim GrahlGene over at BikingBis.com has a great list of ten goofs he’s made on a bike. My favs:
- Inappropriate handlebar tape removal: While coasting down a hill in Del Puerto Canyon near Modesto, I tried to yank off a piece of tape flapping from the handlebar. The abrupt change in direction sent me over the handlebars and helmet first to the pavement. The bike’s momentum didn’t stop and it flew over the top of me with one foot still strapped in the pedal. I ended up with a gouge in my hard plastic Bell helmet, rash on one shoulder and two elbows, and a groin so sore I could only take baby steps for a week.
- Loosen toe straps before stopping: On a Hekaton Classic put on by the Valley Spokesmen in the Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore (CA) area, I availed myself of a huge buffet at the lunch stop. Five miles later I coasted to stop at a light, forgot I hadn’t loosened my toe strap, and tottered over onto my side. Some kids in a car that also had stopped at the light started laughing. Can’t blame them.
- Bunny hop on slick pavement: Another time in Patterson (at the foot of Del Puerto), I came upon a fallen palm frond which I decided to bunny hop. I’d never tried this before. The pavement was slick from drizzle and a light coating of silt. I cleared the frond but the bike slid out from under me and I hit the pavement. A passing car saw me fall (I was on the shoulder), hit the brakes, did a complete 360 on the same slick silt, and sent a roadside garbage can flying. The woman then rolls down her window and asks if I’m OK. I thought she was going to shoot me!
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I’ve never done anything stupid on a bike. Well, maybe once. Out for a ride on our tandem, I was distracted by a woman washing her car in a bkini. i didn’t notice the four inch wide, four inch deep trench that plumbers or electricians had dug across the road. We flatted both tires. Lucky for me we had two tubes. Wife, who never saw bikini gal: “What happened?” Me: “The sun was in my eyes.”
My friend was so enraged by the action of a motorist that he hurled an apple (I’m still not sure why he had an apple in his jersey pocket) at the car. Since every action has an equal an opposite reaction, he was on the ground seconds later.
Probably my most recent stupid move: I changed tube on my fixed gear bike but then neglected to tighten rear-wheel nuts adequately.
I was trackstanding at an intersection looking cool waiting to make a left turn. With a gap in oncoming traffic I put the hammer down, my rear wheel popped out and down I went right in the middle of the street.
Recovery was kinda slick, actually. I landed on my feet, caught the frame and the wheel before they fell over, and ran to the sidewalk.
There was a whole hydrangea head stuck in my front wheel and it was bugging the crap out of me. I nudged it with my right foot. Nudged it again. Kicked it and then my foot got caught in the wheel and I went over the handlebars.
Got away with nothing my some skinning, some sore joints and a kind of mashed foot (was wearing Chuck Taylors, which are, of course, canvas).
I’m not a cyclist, just somebody who bikes to get places…
Still, stupidest bike accident ever.