When I was about 12, I walked into our local bike shop and touched the handlebars of a bike I liked. It fell over and took down an entire row of similar bikes parked side by side. Must have been thirty bikes all laying in one long pile. I ran quickly from the store. They're still looking for me.What's the worst crash you've ever had? How could it have been avoided?
Wrong, Engyo. Both times you entered an intersection with the assumption the car on your left was going straight. Never assume. Ever. Wait till it's clear behind you before passing through. That this is not fundamental, common bike sense astounds me. Glad you are okay, but you asked for it. And twice, too. Wow. No wonder people push for helmets. We should push for full body armor.I've been right-hooked two different times. Both times I ended up on the pavement. The second one potato-chipped my front wheel, and left me with an interesting 54-tooth chainring mark on my leg for several months.
Both could have been avoided, by the drivers of the cars paying a bit more attention. In both cases I was braking by the time I was hit, but was unable to avoid the accident that way.
London -Wrong, Engyo. Both times you entered an intersection with the assumption the car on your left was going straight. Never assume. Ever. Wait till it's clear behind you before passing through. That this is not fundamental, common bike sense astounds me. Glad you are okay, but you asked for it. And twice, too. Wow. No wonder people push for helmets. We should push for full body armor.
I would have taken the lane as my own or been watching behind me much earlier to see how the scenerio was setting up. And yes, I would have waited at any intersection for it to clear on my left IF I did not choose to take the lane and act like traffic. My way works. I've never been touched or had a close call. You already admit to the same error twice. This is not good sense.London -
Don't think I'm upset here, but do you come to a complete stop every time a car passes you on your left if you are near an intersection? That is exactly what I would have had to do in both cases per your comments. Since in both cases I was going somewhere around 15mph when the cars passed me, that would not have been an easy task.
I don't think that commuting to work on city streets is practical under this safety protocol, unless I am not understanding your comments. I basically would not be able to pass an intersection unless there were no cars to my left (in the RH lane) - which situation would not have obtained unless I had waited 2 hours or so after my quitting time to leave work.
Just curious how you would have handled or do handle such a situation.
Engyo, I like your sense of humor: UNSAFE in your signature. I giggled.Hi again, London -
Two questions: Do you commute? And if so, what sort of environment (downtown, suburb, town, country, etc.) and traffic levels do you commute in?
Hack, I watch the young guys doing stunts on bike that I could not have dreamed of 40 years ago. Then there are the motorcycle jumpers who leave the machine in mid-air and at high speed 60 feet up. Rarely do they bite it bad. Evel Kinevel (spelling?) would not be let into the same arena as modern stunt bikers. He was a missile. The new guys are acrobats. I never fail to marvel at good BMXers or moto jumpers.I've never had a crash that I would consider really bad. Heck, as a teenager, I rode my BMX bike with my hand in a cast.
The worst sounding crash was when I was racing BMX and came off in the rhythm section. I hit the ground so hard, several people later told me that they thought I broke my hip. The only damage was a golf ball sized bump on my shin that turned a pretty rainbow of colors.
Now, the one that never happened still makes me cringe. As kids, we set up a small jump in our cul-de-sac. We would pedal down a driveway and hit it at speed. One of us go the brilliant idea of putting the jump in a driveway so that we would land in the garage. I can quite clearly recall riding down my neighbor's driveway, pedaling across the street and launching off the jump. I narrowly missed cracking my skull on the edge of the garage door...
I've mellowed a bit since then.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cfSq1jVmuU"]You're old, dude[/ame].Hack, I watch the young guys doing stunts on bike that I could not have dreamed of 40 years ago. Then there are the motorcycle jumpers who leave the machine in mid-air and at high speed 60 feet up. Rarely do they bite it bad. Evel Kinevel (spelling?) would not be let into the same arena as modern stunt bikers. He was a missile. The new guys are acrobats. I never fail to marvel at good BMXers or moto jumpers.
Hi again, London -If you find watching to the rear and stopping when it looks too dicy annoying, maybe you should not be bike commuting. What you are saying to me is you're in too much of a rush getting to work to ride safely. At least you admit it. A person might have to acknowledge his particular commute is not suited to bike travel if optimum speed is a goal. Life is filled with disappointments.
That's just silly.I would like to get some comments from others regarding London's theory that one should come to complete stop when being overtaken by a car during an approach to an intersection or a driveway (unless one takes the lane) in order to prevent a right-hook. How many others ride in this manner?
Yup.That's just silly.