On the way back from work my gears weren't working too good so I rode slower than usual, not relishing the sound of the gears clicking. Then my handle bar snapped near the stem just to the right. As the weight suddenly went from neutral to left-skewed, I only had a couple of seconds to apply power to straighten my balance and to see if I could make it to the grass verge where I could have a controlled crash.

I made it and I did have a controlled crash.

If the handlebar had snapped on the left of the stem then my weight would have skewed right and in front of the lorry that was overtaking me at the time.

(In the UK we drive on the wrong side of the road).