Originally Posted by
rat fink
That reminds me of something I would do in that situation. I've been known to ride bmx dirt jump trails on my commuter. Sometimes, to avoid sudden hazards or to make good time around town or the college campus, I ride my commute bike off of (or down) small to medium sized stairs sets, or bunny hop/jump over sudden pot holes/speed bumps.
That kind of adaptable riding style has served me well in avoid potentially ugly accident and being able to get from one place to the next efficiently. I can thank my bmx/skateboard/snowboard background for that.
Oh, I was quite practiced at bunny hopping. The problem was, that he was laid out flat with his body closer to me, and his bike on the ground just past him. As soon as he saw me bearing down on him, and right at the time I was starting my bunny hop, he curled up into a ball (still laying on his side) and put his back toward me. I couldn't react to his changing position in time, so I wasn't quite high enough in the air to clear him.
In retrospect, though, had he not changed position, I would have had the height to clear him... but I would have landed on his bike. And that would have probably been an uglier crash...
All of this was happening in the last 200 meters of the race, so everyone was sprinting and we were all traveling at 30+/- mph...