takingcontrol

Today was a beautiful day, a day that begs you to go out and ride, which of course I answered on my ride to the gym. It was all you could ask for, nice cool temp, no wind just a great day. After my work out as I was riding home, the day had changed....wind, and I was riding straight into it. So the first thing I learned today was that when you are the size of a small European automobile... you have allot of drag, even downhill. My second lesson of the day was at the crosswalk. I was straddling my bike waiting for the light to change, as I start to stand in my pedals MY BIKE PANTS'D ME!!! Yes that's what I said, if you have never had this happen to you this is how it goes. Straddling your bike you are almost as wide as the top tube (uber clydes like me). Your shorts have slide down just enough....as you stand in the pedals, the seat reaches out and hooks over the drawstring of your shorts. you start pedaling, your pants come down.....you pedal the rest of the way across the street so you don't look like more of a fool in the middle of the crosswalk. You reach the end of the crosswalk, stop, pull your pants up, continue riding while not looking around to see if anyone is looking at you. Lesson #2 learned make sure your pants are pulled up at the crosswalk

bautieri

Haha, sorry to hear about the bike pantsing you but I must ask why you are riding in a crosswalk and/or sidewalk?

Bad kitty

Bob A

Takingcontrol, this happened to me last summer. Out on a ride on a beautiful day. Just like you I was stopped at a light. Light turned green and the front of my saddle pantsed me when I went to get started again. Getting through the intersection was tough as I was laughing so hard thinking what this must have looked like from behind. (That is an appropriate word for this post..)

takingcontrol

I'm not sure what the laws are where you live, but in OR. according to what I read you can ride across a crosswalk, and I was coming off a bike bath onto the road.

bautieri

Then all is well, carry on

snowman40

lol......

I've had the pantsing almost happen to me. Luckily, I noticed the draft that was created and quickly adjusted.

Jim from Boston

I've had a reverse pantsing to what you describe. Occasionally the back end of the chamois pad hooks on the nose of the saddle when I rise up on the pedals from a stop. They've never come down though.

Fastflyingasian

this is the reason i switched to bibs.

EasyEd

Never been pants'd, but I hear you about the wind. I had a headwind coming home the other day, and I was working hard at 10 or 11 mph. It was a long ride home.

thorton

Had this happen to me, same scenario too. Damn loose shorts lol.

BigParm

Yup, been there. But it's usually on a trail when only the squirrels can see.

Neil_B

In PA it's illegal to ride through a crosswalk.

takingcontrol

Ok just to be clear this is the OR. law
(1) A person commits the offense of unsafe operation of a bicycle on a sidewalk if the person does any of the following

(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, a bicyclist on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk has the same rights and duties as a pedestrian on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk.

Wogster

Whether it's the law or not, the sidewalk and crosswalk are not safe for a cyclist, this is for three reasons:

1) Sight lines from sidewalks tend to be poor to non-existent. Hedges, bushes, signs and other objects that block your ability to see at intersections are often allowed to be right up to a sidewalk. This is even more common where there is a strip between the sidewalk and road.

2) Vehicle operators do not expect bicycles on sidewalks and in crosswalks, so a bicycle suddenly appears in their field of view, often too late to avoid the collision. A study done here in, Toronto discovered that a large majority of bicycle/auto collisions occurred when the bicycle was on a sidewalk.

Your actually safer on the road, if you must use a crosswalk due to the layout of an intersection, then get off your bicycle and walk through, then resume your ride. Part of the problem with sidewalks and crosswalks is they are designed for traffic moving at less then 10km/h (6MPH) which is easily exceeded on a bicycle.

Very few bicycle paths and trails that end at an intersection are built properly, they are built like a T intersection with a sidewalk on the other side, rather then as a road intersection with restricted use. I've seen a few of these, none of them are signed properly. They should be built so that they are regular road width for a short distance and then signed one way outbound, bicycles excepted.