"Oh Shit" moments...

Going along the towpath beside grand union canal yesterday. I was doing about 15mph, not excessive really, when I smash into a guy on a blind corner (also a cyclist). We both tumble off, and I roll toward the canal trying to keep my bike out the water. I get up and he's already left...

I claim joint responsibility, but I had to ride home with wet bartape...

Reminded me of what happened a few weeks ago! along the same canal as well, me and a friend of mine were riding along a bumpy narrow bit of the canal, i was in front and i suddenly heard a big splash, turned around seeing my friend on his back on the edge, with his bike in the canal!

we did manage to get it out, could of been worse.

To the cop shop with you, now. It's an offence just to have something like that, let alone threaten someone with it.

What's the point? Police never do anything to help those that need it.

Anyway, he was in a silver Mk 4 Golf, one of the most common cars on the road, and I stupidly didn't get his registration after the shock of being threatened with a knife.

the moment when a pram is pushed out from a concealed pathway and i over zealously use my only working brake (the front) and somersault over the unaware sleeping baby...

^ Christ.

The moment when I realised the very worn out arse section of the jeans I was wearing had worn through completely, and I wasn't wearing underwear. Laundry fail this week...

Happened to me the other week about 4 miles from home, got a bit of a sore leg! then again 10 minutes before i finished work, was worn really thin, stepped down from a stool and rip! but i at least had boxers on.

Going commando in jeans, on a bike, ouch....

The moment when I realised the very worn out arse section of the jeans I was wearing had worn through completely, and I wasn't wearing underwear. Laundry fail this week...

Happened to me the other week about 4 miles from home, got a bit of a sore leg! then again 10 minutes before i finished work, was worn really thin, stepped down from a stool and rip! but i at least had boxers on.

Going commando in jeans, on a bike, ouch....

Maybe someone needs to make you guys some ARSE stickers or patches for future ripped jeans situations.

Let's face it, C*** ones would just be wrong.

cut 'em into shorts, use the left overs to patch the hole, sorted.

Also I just remembered the moment when I was slowing for a red light and I realised that the cyclist and taxi behind me both wanted to jump it and were going to try to under- and over-take me respectively and simultaneously.

I gave the taxi driver the death glare and told off the cyclist but in that first moment I was sure one of them was going to take me out - it was at a pedestrian crossing where the road narrowed and neither of them had space (especially not the taxi).

So you decided to show them your arse. That'll learn them ;)

Wut?

I thought I'd take advantage of a day off work and head out into Essex - I'm in Stratford - on the road bike.

Towards the end of the ride - cut short because traffic was shit - a Golf overtakes just as we approach a traffic island, he realises his error and swerves towards me to avoid it. I was left with about three inches between my wheel and the kerb and his wing mirror drifting in front of my right elbow. I shout 'fucking hell, move you cunt' into his open passenger window, hoping to not die. I was terrified for five seconds or so, until we passed the traffic island and he speeded up.

He stops hard and jumps out. He's screaming about something and holding what looks like a small wooden bat. I roll past him in the other lane.

As I assume he's now going to chase me I ride up on the empty pavement and slow down. He pulls alongside, up a drive, and cuts me off. I dismount and ask him politely through the passenger window 'what the fuck are you doing mate?', he responds, explaining he was upset at my swearing and was rather intent on murdering me for it. In hindsight, the level of profanity in his explanation was somewhat ironic.

I apologise, and explain it was only a result of him nearly killing me. His tone changes and he claims he did no such thing, I explain in detail what happened from my perspective and why it's so dangerous to overtake a cyclist with an obstruction ahead. It was very civil.

He kindly accepts my apology and pulls the 'bat' up from the lap of the blonde sitting in the passenger seat. It's a brown leather knife sheath about a foot long, he takes out a hunting knife and leans over pointing it at me. He says that under the circumstances he will ignore what I had said, but on any other day he'd of 'cut me into little fucking pieces pal'.

He leans back, reverses out and drives off.

Nice chap.

That's a get the registration, 999 call, armed response unit and 5 years mandatory jail sentence.

Unless you were in shock you shouldn't have let that go so he can murder someone else.

I bought a geared road bike the other week, having not ridden a bike with a freewheel for about 3 years. First couple of times on it felt like it was broken, kept forgetting that I could stop pedalling if I wanted to, but when I did I instinctively felt like I had to 'balance' on the pedals resulting in some weird back/forth pedal wobble. It took me about a week to get used to it.
This morning I decided to ride the fixed into work, remembering straight away why I prefer it. What I didn't remember was that I couldn't freewheel, which surprised me quite a bit when I stopped pedalling and launched myself out the saddle, bike stopping suddenly and endo-ing as my weight went over the front, luckily rescued it and mumbled under my breath "I'm a fucking idiot", much to the amusement of Tommy Walsh of Ground Force fame who was walking his dog.

much to the amusement of Tommy Walsh of Ground Force fame who was walking his dog.

Quoted for posterity

I had a few buckaroo moments like that when i first rode fixed, brings back some funny memory's.

A couple of days ago I was riding my ssmtb pretty aggressively and on a sharp bend I was so used to riding fixed I carried on pedalling and of course my pedal hit the ground, which pretty much catapulted my rear end of the bike upwards and sideways into the opposite traffic lane, but somehow I held it up and heard a woman in the car in the opposite lane say "oh shit".

At that time I thought I was going to be on the floor

Appropriate avatar

^^ Appropriate avatar
^ Thankfully not appropriate avatar

<-- result of a dooring

Had one last night. I was approaching a crossroads with a car signalling to turn right (I'm in Germany at the minute). As I was heading straight on, and the lights were changing, I moved out to overtake him. As I drew level, he suddenly swerved to the left and came really really close to taking me out - he ended up pointing towards the top left corner of the crossroads, I ended up a couple of inches from his bonnet. Either he didn't look at all before his reckless maneouvre, or he actually tried to take me out.

He started gesturing at me that I should have been on the other side of him, I realised I knew more German swear words than I thought.

The worst thing is that technically, he had a point - for some stupid fucking reason, it is custom here even more than in the UK that cycle lanes, where they exist, go straight on past cars that are turning right. The amount of times that's very nearly gone wrong for me means I'm wary of them when there is a cycle lane, let alone on quiet roads like the one this happened on. If I'm behind a car, at night, which is already moving off and turning right, there's no fucking way I'm going to dart up the inside of it as he was suggesting I should have.

Also, my flatmates here are keen cyclists and say the straight-on-while-cars-turn-right system usually works because Berlin drivers know what to look out for, which is why hire cars in Berlin all have Munich number plates - so regular cyclists know to treat them, as they do other foreign-plated cars, with caution. This dickhead who tried to knock me off had a Romanian number plate, even more reason why I shouldn't have been going up the inside.

It's morning, I haven't slept. The child is waking.

two separate ones last night riding home at about midnight

going down Grays Inn Road to Chancery Lane, black cab does a u turn, no indicators and at pretty high speed, half a second earlier and he'd have had my head smashing through his side window into his

then at the lights opposite Royal Courts of Justice Prius type car swerves fully into left hand lane as i am literally along side of him somehow managing to miss me

and not an oh shit moment but for the second consecutive night have been behind a black Addison Lee which decided to turn left onto Vauxhall bridge with no indicator - assume it's not the same guy

Just back from a week cycling around Normandy, only to learn of the "priorite a droite" rule when I got back. This explained a variety of "oh shit" moments that happened, people pulling out without looking, stopping on roundabouts, etc. It strikes me as the most illogical road rule I've heard of.

Just back from a week cycling around Normandy, only to learn of the "priorite a droite" rule when I got back. This explained a variety of "oh shit" moments that happened, people pulling out without looking, stopping on roundabouts, etc. It strikes me as the most illogical road rule I've heard of.

Had to intervene when my buddy was having a bust up with a taxi going round the Arc de Triomphe. Not the best place to discover the archaic quirks of foreign road rules.

which is why hire cars in Berlin all have Munich number plates - so regular cyclists know to treat them, as they do other foreign-plated cars, with caution.

Very interesting - clever Germans!