Chitown_Mike

This is how you make a ride 100x more difficult for no reason.

I use Saturday mornings as my day for longer rides, usually 20 miles +. So today I got up late and that limited my time to ride. So my wife gave me the approval for a 1 1/2 hour ride, she had to leave, I had to watch my son. I like to "time" myself and see how fast I can get a certain distance done, this way I can see my improvement. However at the time I was riding I knew some of the MUPs would be busy so I dropped the distance I wanted to go and went out.

Well the first half of the ride I was bogging down, HARD. I thought maybe I had a pancake too many for breakfast, so I pressed on and hit the few hills and straightaways I ride on harder. Mind you I have an organized 50 mile ride tomorrow and wanted to make sure I was loose for it, I wasn't getting that feeling. So I hit my half-way point (10 miles) and I am 10 minutes behind where I want to be, and sweating to beat the band. So I turn around and start my trek back home. Well about 2/3 of the way through my ride I feel like I can't give anymore. My legs are burning, I am running out of water, I am getting really tired, I was resigning to pushing myself until I bonked out. I am also scared that I will have to bail on my friends tomorrow since I can't even do a 20 miler, even after a 30+ last weekend.

As I am ready to call my wife to come get me (and not excited about making that call) I am thinking about why the bike seems "heavy" today. Like I was in the wrong gear, had a flat, or maybe it was the wind? Well at this point the wind was behind/to the left of me and I knew it couldn't be that. Well I had been smelling some "plastic-y" burning smell the whole time, there are a few factories that I pass that are open making plastic products, but where I was at when I smelled it, there was nothing. So as I am riding I am inspecting the derailleurs, the chain, the tires and brakes, and then finally I see it.

MY FRICKIN' REAR TIRE WAS RUBBING THE FRAME!!!

So here I am, cussing at everything around me ready to punch a baby because I didn't check the wheel alignment before I left. So learn from my mistakes, when you are out and noticing your time/speed is lower than usual, check to make sure your tires aren't rubbing. Especially the left side of your rear tire since as you produce torque through the chain, it can move the wheel around.


Ok, don't leave me hanging feeling foolish, let's here your story.....

Bluish Green

I have done that exact thing you described, although you caught the problem even before I did. I had my rear axle nuts come loose and my rear axle slip loose, and I didn't correctly diagnose it until it was so loose it threw the chain. Definitely inspect those axle nuts, keep 'em tight, and check that your wheels spin freely, regularly.

My most embarrassing story along those lines is probably when I broke my seatpost clamp, 5 miles from home. My seat post had been slipping down, so I cranked hard on the clamp to try to set it better, and I sheared the thread clean off. Needless to say, the seat immediately and for the duration of the day was all the way down and flopping side to side loosely. My Option B for that commute was more bad than riding the bike that way, so ride it I did, looking ridiculous riding super low with my knees near my chin for 5 miles in traffic. To make matters worse, I took it extra slow so as not to overburden my knees more than necessary. Not a recommended way to ride a bike, for sure.

goldfinch

Today I had an organized ride, the first of the season. I was feeling kinda bummed about it going in, because last year I did the metric and this year I wasn't ready for the metric and decided to do only the 50k. Then I was bummed because my average speed for half the distance was almost a mile per hour slower than last year for the full distance.

Then, I discovered that I couldn't find my cell phone. I had someone call me and I searched the car. Nothing. I figured I lost it on the ride. I am traveling tomorrow so I had to have a phone. I ended up driving 20 miles to a Verizon store. They tried to sell me my phone for big bucks because I am only in the middle of the contract. I said not so pretty words. I apologized for the salty talk. They searched in the back and found an old cell phone that worked and sold it to me for $50. I charged up the phone and called my spouse. He had a voice mail from a police department saying they had my phone. I spent the next four hours dancing with the single man police department trying to hook up with him to get my phone. Oh, and Verizon wouldn't let me return the used one I bought today.

I know the story is boring and tedious but I had to type it out. I am still beating myself up for losing my phone. And for being in worse shape than last spring.

KittiPaws

Last week I took my cruiser to the grocery store. I bought a few too many groceries to fit comfortably in the basket, and I hadn't brought my backpack with me. So I loaded up the basket as well as I could and headed for home. As I was crossing the highway, my coil lock (which I'd foolishly placed on top of the groceries to try to keep them from falling out) tumbled out of the basket and into the middle of the westbound 2 lanes. Fortunately, it was 6:30 AM on a Saturday morning and there wasn't much traffic.

I parked my bike in the median near the left turn lane and ran to retrieve the lock. When I returned and tried to repack it into the top-heavy basket, the bike nearly toppled over. Meanwhile, cars are slowing down to make left turns and people are staring at me. Hopefully, I'm not in someone's "Funny Fat Lady" YouTube video.

Shakeyone

Second ride clipless, hit a light, took one foot out and on curb, leg twitched pushed me over couldn't get other foot out fast enough. No pain just bruised ego with plenty of spectators at stoplight

iTrek

A few years ago learning to ride with clipless pedals on a brand new bike. I went around a corner hit some sand and next thing I knew I was rolling over onto my back, still clipped in, bike straight up in the air and I refused to drop it and unclip because I didn't want to scratch my bike. Thankfully, my wife was riding with me and was able to help me unclip without dropping my bike. Needless to say we've laughed a few times about that one.

TrojanHorse

Oh boy.

My first pedal incident was when I was maybe 15... I lived in Denmark and I rode my bike EVERYWHERE. I bought toe clips, attached 'em and went for a ride. It wasn't the first ride, but one day, I was in the middle of a huge intersection. I got into the left turn lane to turn left, rolled to a stop... struggled with my shoe and gently tipped over with my feet strapped to the pedal. Lots of observers.

My favorite clipless story is pure idiocy. I had diadora pedals and shoes (if they don't make them anymore, I know why) and kind of got squeezed in between the curb and a flat bed truck. he was parked, but the front of his truck was against, or over, the curb. I forget which, but I couldn't get by, so I thought I'd just grab on to the side of the truck. Well, I'm not sure why, but that didn't work and since I didn't make any effort to remove my feet from the pedals. So..... I started tipping over, flailing madly with my arms to grab that truck to no avail. This is when I discovered that there was a 6'ditch next to the road, which I entered head first. Bonked my head and landed completely upside down. Laughing. Dammit.

Oh, and once I changed wheels but didn't adjust my brakes and blew a tire because the brakes were rubbing on the sidewall of the tire. Blech.

Medic Zero

I've done that too. Brand new Vittoria Rando Pro, I was out about 40 bucks. It did give me an opportunity to try the Park boot that I had amongst my tools. Rode the rest of the way in to work and back (~25 miles), and IIRC for a couple of days after because it was holding up so well and to give me a chance to get in to the bike shop to pick up something comparable, which led to me trying a Schwalbe Marathon.

I'm sure I'll remember lots of others, but one I'm reminded of by some of the above tales:

I hadn't really ridden a bike since the 10 speed my parents had bought me for me to ride to junior high that I had hated, until about a decade later (mid-90's) when I decided I wanted to try riding a bike around town and a friend helped me purchase one by her trading in a bike she didn't use anymore to a used sports equipment store and using that towards my purchasing a used mountain bike.

This particular bike came with toe clips, which I had never seen before. I only rode it a few times for a few blocks and used the other side of the pedals before leaving to go to Burning Man. So we get there, set up camp and then go off on our bikes to explore. As we are riding along I mention to another friend of mine that I had no idea what the deal is with these toe clips. She explains that they "make pedaling easier" and suggests I try them. So I flip the pedals over as I'm riding along and slip my feet into the half cages. Did I mention we had just driven for close to 24 hours and were now at 4000' feet and I'm a flat lander? Not thinking terribly clearly. Shortly thereafter we see a couple of attractive female acquiantances of ours and come to a sudden halt. Probably by now you see where this is headed! I hit the brakes, my attention focused on the ladies, and belatedly try to put my foot down, but it is trapped in the cage. If I had ever used toe cages even once before I probably would have been able to slip out of one of them in time, but this was literally the very first time I had ever had my foot in one and I'm now mortified, falling over, in front of a bunch pretty ladies.

To add injury to insult, my 210 pound (at the time, my healthy weight) self falls directly into the rear wheel of the bike of the woman who suggested I try the toe clips, taco-ing it. Luckily that was the first year there was a bike camp there ('97) and they helped me straighten the wheel enough for her to ride around on it sans rear brakes, and I of course bought her a new wheel once we were back in Seattle, but I was much chagrined.

Wooden Tiger

I can't ride a wheelie. I got caught on video by my wife the other night on video while tumbling off my bike in the grass.

Chitown_Mike

When is it getting uploaded to YouTube?


And I love the stories! Chuckled several times.

Wooden Tiger

Yes, the stories are great!

My big crash was caught on film but not the after-affects of me rolling around in the grass, in pain. The most disappointing part of it all was that the fall looked so un-epic. The video just failed to capture what really actually happened.

I'll have my wife email me the few vids of my failures she took.

CliftonGK1

Out riding with a teammate the other day, and I decided to have a go at a log skinny which I've fallen off dozens of times. (I've only made it around this one corner on the thing maybe 1 out of every dozen attempts.)
I fell off, again, with my rear wheel sliding off and leaving my front wheel hanging up top about 18" high. So I pitched off the back of the bike and onto my back, as I have many time before. (I wear an EVOC protector pack, so this is a practiced move for me.) Anyhow, my hydration bladder was nearly full, and the impact blew the slider seal off the top. My ride partner said water shot out the top of my pack when I hit the ground, and when I stood up, the water *in* the pack leaked out and soaked my trousers.
All in all, it was pretty danged funny. No bike damage, no personal injury, just some soggy gear and an amused teammate.

Chitown_Mike

I know the leaky water bladder feeling, I played paintball a lot and have a vest with a bladder in it, well crawling through some brush and I might have pop it, because it leaked all over me. Now laying down, in the dirt, in 90+ degree weather, sweating, means you have very warm water trickling down your crotch and making mud. It was nasty and funny at the same time.

But glad you didn't get hurt....well other than pride I am sure. Wish we had some trails like that in the flatlands of Chicago.

jerseyJim

My Front derailler isn't shifting right so I turn the bike over on the side of the road to adjust it. Adjust.... Test.... All good... So I grab the bike to turn it over.

Only problem is that the back wheel is still spinning and and my 18mm wide finger gets pulled into the 8mm wide gap between the tire and the seat tube and sticks there.

Hurts like a mfer. Try to turn the wheel and instead of sliding my finger is turning to the wider portion. Totally stuck. Standing there bent over finger crushed in pain. A rider goes by... "Everything good?" "Yeah".... I lie too embarrassed to admit what I did. So finally I just closed my eyes and yanked the wheel hard figuring I was going to rip my finger off.

Well my finger was still there and it took about a week for the dent to go away but I was able to finish my ride so I guess it's all good.

ClydesMoose

I did the thing in the OP. Down to the "God, why am I sucking so hard today" feeling.

gitarzan

I got a few.
one time I had just taken out my old Raleigh that I had just put new tires on. It has those old flat sided 27inch rims. Apparently I had not seated the rear tire well. I went out for about three miles, and about a half mile from home I heard a bulb blub blub sound and felt some bumping feelings. I slowed down intending to stop when POP! The rear inner tube popped and sprayed anti flat goo all over the bike seat trays. I walked it home in shame.

AWB

First time riding on one of the local bike ways, I had just adjusted my brakes as they had been quite spongy.
Passed another cycling and he said something that I didn't hear, so without thinking I turned around to see what he had said.
By the time I had turned back around I was at the off ramp connecting to the roadway, the ramp also dropped about 6 ft at the end to bring it level.
Started going down the ramp (only around 8-9ft in length) and noticed a car almost level with the exit, so without thinking squeezed the brakes hard, front brake must have been adjusted slightly more than the back.
Ended up somehow launching myself over the handlebars and landing feet first in front of the front wheel with my hands still death gripped on the brakes behind me and the rear wheel up in the air.

Lesson has been learned, if you don't catch what another cyclist said, don't look backwards!

PhotoJoe 

Here's my embarrassing story: I still wear Diadora shoes. Probably from the same era!

TrojanHorse

ha! Probably. I had Carnac after that... there's another name you never hear anymore.

I'm still lurking, waiting for your ultimate super embarrassing event. You keep letting me down but I'm patient.

PhotoJoe 

Fine. When I was a kid, I "raced" bmx. Never hard-core, but we had fun.

There was an open field near my house that we build "The Bowl". This was a hole about 100 feet deep (probably more like 5 feet in grown-up measurements) that had a near vertical launch. We used to get HUGE air on my Mongoose. OK, again, probably two feet of air, but it felt like we needed oxygen masks! Anyway, I landed hard one day, and ended up sitting on the rear wheel, while it was spinning. Think about the direction the wheel would be spinning and what happens if you sit on that. Yup, Crotch, right into the seat tube. Adding insult to injury, crashed hard because I lost all semblance spacial awareness due to pain!

That's about the most embarrassing I got - other than being generally slow!

PhotoJoe 

Oh wait. I rear-ended our own car once. Not paying attention and BAM, up over the trunk and slammed onto the rear window. Bent the frame so bad you couldn't straighten out the handlebars.

iTrek

PhotoJoe, LOL at landing on rear wheel. Used to get some air on my dirt bike so I can only imagine.

Shellyrides

Get up to go on a early morning ride. Load the bike in the truck predawn. Get to trail head and unload bike to find out that you have loaded your teenage daughters bike NOT your own.... Feel really glad you where my your self and not riding with someone.

Wooden Tiger

That's great!

Chitown_Mike

The real questions is, did you ride it? And does she have a better bike?