I am involved in as many as 15 accidents per week and since I'm a relative newbie, I'd say it's inexperience. Last week alone I was involved in 8 accidents, 3 involving cars, 2 involving shopping carts, 2 more involving other riders and one where I struck a moving train.

At first I thought something was wrong with my bike, like the time I hit the barbed wire fence, but the LBS said it was my fault. Or the time I was going down the street with my head tipped back, putting eye drops in my eyes. Boy, that was a mess.

There was the time I tried a short cut and rode right in to someones pool. Just 2 weeks ago I was looking at a girl wearing a bikini on rollerblades and I slammed into a street sign, then I wobbled off and went over the curb and was hit by a motorcycle.

Sometimes accidents are unavoidable, like the time I spilled hot coffee on my crotch when I was riding down that steep slope by my house. Or the time I was trying to pee into a cup when on that group ride, I took out 5 other bikes but hey, I had to pee.

Sometimes it's the weather, there was that time the wind blew me into that telephone pole.

On this mornings ride I forgot to tighten the quick release and did'nt know it until I did a wheelie to impress this hot chick. No matter how many times this happens, it's always wierd watching your front wheel rolling down the road about 60 feet ahead of you...I came down so hard on the forks it knocked the breakfast burrito right out of my hand.

You don't even have to be on your bike to have an accident. Last week on 4 different occasions, my bike came off my bike rack while I was on the freeway. Fortunately I made a quick u-turn and was able to recover the bike on each occasion, although my car got pretty messed up.

Oh! While we're talking safety, take it from me, biking and shaving don't mix. I was peddling along a couple of weeks ago, had just finished brushing my teeth and was shaving when as I was trimming my mustache I ran over a dog which caused me to cut myself. Maybe I'll switch to an electric razor.

I used to sit on my helmet because it seemed to fit nicely over my hard seat, but now I've started wearing it on my head, as a safety precaution, you guys should too.

Anyway, I'm getting better and better.

I live in Southern California and am lookiing for riding buddies, so drop me a line if interested.

....Richard