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murphys law

Old 12-31-07, 05:56 PM
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murphys law

So what are some of your worst commuting days? I persionally havn't had one really other than getting a huge bolt in my tire ruining my tire and innertube but that cannot be the worst thing thats happened to someone here. I've been paranoid about having something unrepairable on the road happen. BTW I work the morning shift at work 5 days of the week so I have an important shift. Well of the supervisers of another department came up to me today and said if I needed him to pick me up if I have bike problems or the weather is too bad he'd pick me up. Makes me feel much more comftorable :-). I think it helped that today the whole path I rode on was ice, what a new expierence that was. Any ways what are some of the worst commuting days you've had?
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Old 12-31-07, 06:33 PM
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This is a bit embarrassing, but...

A couple of weeks ago on my ride home, it was raining and cold, with a little bit of wind thrown in just for fun. I left work feeling pretty good, though. I went down across the first set of railroad tracks that I have to cross and headed down the waterfront. I got to the place I normally head east, where I have to cross another set of railroad tracks, to find that Burlington Northern was playing with their trains in the rail yard adjacent to the road. These trains can go forward and backward for quite a long time, so I decided that rather than waiting, I'd ride down to the next place I could cross.

When I got to that street, they were doing the same thing with the trains again! It might have been the same train, for all I know. Well, I decided to go ahead and take my route of last resort. This route runs down and puts me onto a 45 MPH road that has no shoulder at all. In fact, there's a curb right next to the right lane, with pretty much impassable terrain on the other side of the curb. I've ridden this before and I know that as long as I stay right and have all my lights and reflectors going, I'll be fine. The drivers may not really like having a bike in the right lane, but they put up with it and are generally careful to avoid me.

However, there are two places on this road where train tracks cross, and they don't cross at 90 degrees. As I said, I'd ridden this route before, so I knew they were there and what to expect and do. What I didn't count on, though, I guess, was that the tracks might be slick. I got to the first set and angled the front to cross at something close to 90. I guess it wasn't close enough. The front wheel slipped off the track and into the groove running next to the track. I flew off the bike into the traffic lane on my left side. Cars stopped and I got off the road as quickly as possible. A quick check didn't show any damage, so I got back on the bike and rode on.

A little further down the road (less than a mile) is another track crossing just like the previous. Well, the exact same thing happened. As before, I didn't get hit by any of the cars, but I knew that I wasn't 100% anymore. I knew that I was bleeding underneath my clothes, and that I had jammed my knee and shoulder. Anyway, I got back on and limped the rest of the way home. This was not one of my faster commutes.

The doctor I went to see tells me that I've got a shoulder impingement that will require physical therapy at least and possibly surgery. I can still ride, but can't lift for at least another month. I can't raise my left arm above shoulder level without some rather serious pain.

That was probably the worst commute day I've ever had. Second and third would be the times I got hit by cars, although only one required a trip to the ER.

Still, I ride. Every working day, 14 miles each way. I'd like to say it keeps me off the streets, but that's obviously wrong
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Old 12-31-07, 07:16 PM
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My worst commute days are the ones that I have to drive my car to work. I never have a bad day on the bike. Some turn out to be more of an adventure than others, but never bad.
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Old 12-31-07, 07:28 PM
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Hmmm....

I have had a few days here and there that were awful. They tend to fade as time marches on.
The one that will stick with me is my own personal black Monday.
1) A tree fell over the path I was riding on during the windstorm the night before. I was riding too fast for the conditions and my crappy light. I endoed into the tree landing on my elbow. The bike was fine.
2) Later that day I think I had a pinched nerve in my foot. It was so painful that I was unable to walk. Called my wife to pick me up.
3) On the freeway returning home we were rear ended squashing my touring bike between our trunk and a SUV bumper.

A distant second was my high speed crash last winter.
I hit a patch of sand and went flying. The end result was not one but two sprained wrists, a massively bruised shoulder, scrapes and scratches on each limb, and a headache from hell. I still finished the remaining 20 miles. I think it was due to the fact that I was not thinking clearly. I also rode the remaining 28 miles home that night since I could not lift my bike onto the train or bus rack. That one took me out of the game for a few weeks.

My new motto is no riding without the appropriate gear and to pay attention. I just have to accept the fact that I am a klutz with awful luck and ride accordingly.
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Old 12-31-07, 07:40 PM
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Summer 1974. Drunk unlit cyclist hit me headon at night. I was moving rather fast attempting to catch up to Tom Martin, who had pulled ahead. At that time, 19 years old, I really have no idea what kind of speed I might have had on. I was probably really moving. The drunk's front wheel slammed into mine and slid into the axle. Front end of my rather nice British racing frame folded up. Collapsed 1/2 the handlebar. Examination the next day suggested I flew 45 feet. Landed on my head. Lot about 1/2 pint of blood, light fracture in my skull, separated shoulder. Was double strapped and my feet didn't come out, so my bike twisted down onto me as I landed. Really torqued up my legs. Hurt. Still can feel some of the injuries. Worst commute ever!
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Old 12-31-07, 07:53 PM
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I was flying on my bike traveling south on 6th st crossing Vine when a guy thought it was "OK" for him to turn a right onto 6th from Vine right in front of me! I tried my best to jet to the right but my rear wheel slid in a pile of street sand, your know, that sandy crap that builds up on the side of a busy road? so I manage to avoid slamming into him but I do drop onto my right side while still straddling the bike! me and the bike sliding on my right side for about 10 feet! I stop only because I slam into the curb! KABAM!! I see two cars coming toward me and to my surprise they block me from the rest of the traffic! one right in front of me and one on the side! they both hit the hazard lights get out and proceed to help my up! a really nice lady and a cool guy ask if Im OK and Im just fine cept for feeling like an idiot for loosing control! I try to pick up my bike and the rear wheel is wedged in the sewer! the guy helps me pull it out I give the wheel a spin and its fine too! the lady wrote down the license plate number of the idiot, and they both stay till they know Im out of harms way! I thank them and even invite them to lunch on me but they both have some place to be and go their way. Not a bad day but both very scary moment and very cool to know that there are nice people out there.
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Old 12-31-07, 09:44 PM
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When I graduated college I lived in my office for 3 months before my summer lease started with some friends, and I stored my junk in a friends mobile home 17 miles from town. I'd commute a couple times a week to do laundry and catch some sleep on a real bed.
Well, one morning I was on my way in and some guy in a very large (maybe F250, lifted) truck made a no-slow right on red from the cross traffic lane to my left. He was going so fast he crossed the center line and smashed into the back end of my bike.
Broken wheel, busted pannier, all my stuff strewn across the road, I'm laying there bleeding from hitting the pavement and sliding, and the guy had the audacity to get out and threaten to sue me over the repair costs to his truck.
I assessed my damages (road rash and broken bike parts, but no broken me parts) got up, and told him that I was going to throw my bike through his windshield if he didn't shut up. He sped off and even after filing a police report, nothing was ever done. I'm pretty sure he was a family member of someone on the local force. Gotta love living in a dinky little hick town.

Worst episode, ever!
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Old 01-01-08, 08:12 AM
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Wow, my tales pale in comparison - I suppose that's a good thing. I've had a couple of wipeouts, and I was doored at low speed recently; fortunately, damage in all three cases was light.

Probably the commute with the most individual problems was a few months back. I had one evening where I left the office and went out to my bike, only to find that the rear tire had flatted. When I removed the tube, I realized that my rim tape had a big hole in it that had uncovered a spoke hole, which the tube was bulging into until it broke. Lacking a real boot, I slid a $20 in there (all I had), put in a new tube, and headed for the bike shop. Half a mile down the road (and still a mile from the shop), I turned onto a major road and accelerated - and snapped my right pedal. The bearings just broke in half, so that the pedal was attached to the spindle by some scraps of plastic. I set out to walk the rest of the way, hoping that nobody would notice the ridiculous cycling tights I was wearing. Maybe 500 feet from where my pedal broke, as I was skulking along trying to look incognito, staring at the ground, I almost tripped over a couple of people I know. Worse, they were walking in the same direction as me, all the way to the bike shop. Argh!
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Old 01-01-08, 09:03 AM
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Never had a REALLY bad day, like you guys. Worst for me was the infamous triple flat.

I'm riding along and my rear tire goes mush. I get off and see it's goatheaded to hell. So, I patch it up using every one of my patches for the job and set off riding again. About a half mile down the road it appears as though my front tire is mush. I have no more patches, and I see the goathead in there so I reason that if I leave it I can just pump the tire and ride half a mile at a time...much quicker than walking! I proceed to pump it tight, hop on and shove off only to find my rear tire is goatheaded to hell and flat again, too!

I was about 4 miles from the office, no patches and doubly flat. This was like a couple other really bad double and triple flat days I had with NO patches, too!

Goatheads never cease to amaze me. After that day I went out and bought Slime tubes AND Mr. Toughy's. Haven't had a goathead puncture since.
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Old 01-01-08, 10:07 AM
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They are pretty horrible here. Hence the reason 90% of my flats are on the platte trail in fall.
I am going to switch over to armadillos on my fixed gear soon.
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Old 01-01-08, 10:51 AM
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One of the worst was a day that started nice and warm and ended at 11 F. Cold damned ride home

Another was the day that ended in freezing drizzle. At least I keep a rain suit at work. Crackled like pork rinds when I got home and straightened up. It was kind of fun

The next to the worst day was the day that a lady jaywalked...ran really...into me in Downtown Denver. Perfect body check that put me on the ground with her on top of me. She asked if I was fine and I mumbled something. She jumped up and said okay and ran off to find her friends. I ended up with a good case of road rash and a bent crank.

The worst day was on my way to college about 3 weeks later. Due to the street configurations, I had a short ride on Colfax Ave...a 6 lane urban road in Denver. It wasn't too bad since I was riding downhill at a good rate of speed...pretty close to the speed limit of 35 mph. At an intersection, I saw the car sitting at the light for a left turn and thought he saw me. Next thing I knew there was a white car in front of me and I couldn't stop. I smashed into his right front fender, came out of my shoes, slide across his hood and yelled "Oh, *****!" at the same time he did. I remember seeing the white of the hood give way to the black of the pavement and a swirl of colors as I slide off the hood and did a shoulder roll on the ground. I came to a stop sitting up and looking in the direction I was going. My handlebar bag slide to a stop under a car that was waiting for the light.

I looked down at my right knee which looked like it had been through a meat grinder but, strangely, didn't hurt. A woman ran up and asked if I was alright at about the same time she turned a rather odd shade of green. The rest of it was a whirl of people who didn't know what to do, me telling them and finally having a ambulance show up.

I got 4 days in the hospital, a new bike, a very interesting scar and a knee that still has no feeling in it. I still have the old bike pretzel in my garage

I was kind of late for class
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