Eventful commuting this morning
 

So my commute this morning was anything but dull.

First 30 minutes was nothing special but after that...

- Got my first flat. No big deal, I have a tube and 20 minutes later (first time changing tire on roadside so took me longer than usual), was back on the road.

- Almost got hit by a car door opening about 5 minutes later. Good thing I keep a safe distance from park cars otherwise I had no time to react and would have hit the door.

- Almost got hit 5 minutes later while crossing a three 5 lines road (2 on my left and 3 on my right). I had the green light, all lines with cars were stopped and as I reached the middle line of the three right side lines, a car zoomed by and turn right on the last line without stopping. Had to brake hard to avoid being hit. She turned to a school parking lot and I followed here. Stopped by her side and told her she almost hit me and need to stop at the red light before turning. She apologized. I told he to be more careful next time and went on my way.

- As I was going back on my path, I turned the corner of the school and didn't realize there was lots of gravel on the pavement. Bike slid and I flipped. Landed on my hands and rolled twice. I have a scratch shoulder, forearm and calve.

All this in the last 15 minutes of my commute, the part where I'm most of the time on roads and not bike paths. I so much prefer bike paths!

TL&DR: Got a flat, almost hit twice and flipped my bike...

Bad things usually happen in triplets, so you're good for the rest of the day.

oh man! take a taxi home

LOL, my wife told me after the third event I should have called a taxi!

I want to commend you for your dedication!

"Almost" doesn't count. A flat and a crash, so only two so far. Definitely take a cab home.

Tell us how the rest of the day went and if you rode home OK! We'll be waiting. :)

I see what you mean. Hmm. Two near misses/hits could be counted as one, no? Yeah, on second thought, better take that cab.

Years (and years) ago at work I decided I would rather have one project with a lot of problems, than one problem with a lot of projects. I suppose that goes for commutes, too. Glad you're relatively okay.

I have not ridden without an event in so long I have come to consider it a part of cycling. I am glad you survived your three.

He never replied back. I hope he's OK. :(

Bosh, it was only 10 hours - that's only enough time to convince his spouse to let him bike commute the rest of the week.

don't jinx it! :innocent:

Probably sheltering in place right now.

The cab slid out, breached a fence and plunged into a canal. OP escaped, but his bike sank to the bottom. Waiting until daylight to salvage the cab, his insurance agent informed him that loss in a cab ride wasn't covered. It would've been better (from the insurance perspective) if he had damaged the bike in an earlier car accident. Oh, the irony...

I'm here! Ride back home and this morning were uneventful, except I think I bent my RD bracket on the fall. Chain has trouble finding the right gear now :(

Get that fixed. There is a special tool for aligning the derailleur hanger, so the LBS is your next stop. You don't want your derailleur going into your spokes.

I've attached a flat pry bar to my RD hanger with a C clamp and straighten it. I've then reattached my RD and using a weighted string, can confirm my two pulleys are now aligned. Switching gears was again smooth this morning :)

Im so greatfull we have bike paths everwhere here in the netherlands.

Stuff happens. keep riding!

No plan on stopping, except for careless drivers lol

If you eat a live toad for breakfast every morning, the odds are very good that nothing worse will happen to you all day!
:lol:

If you ride outside the door zone with plenty of clearance, then you weren't almost hit by an opening car door. You avoided it properly. :thumb: