Phil85207

On the way home it got real windy and across the road came this large white plastic kitchen bag. I thought I had missed it but alas, no such luck. It good two of us about 30 minutes to extricate the derailiure and cassette from the bag. Thank goodness it was only 104 degrees at the time. Luckily there was some shade by the little tree that supported the bike.

NOS88

That's one way to keep your cassette clean; wrap it in plastic. Glad it didn't take you down.

OldsCOOL

Dang near hot enough to melt the bag off the bike, wasnt it?

Glad you didnt wind up in our War Stories thread

doctor j

That happened to me once. Not only did it get tangled in all the works, but also it caused my rear wheel to come to a quick dead stop and warped the wheel a bit.

billydonn

Far out. Glad you are okay.

miss kenton

Good grief! It looks like it has beenhermetically sealed!

Artkansas 

Glad you got the bag out. Isn't it strange what trouble some innocent objects can be. Once I ran over a packet of half and half from Mc D's. The fat from the half and half lubed my rim and made it nearly impossible to brake.

You mention an important point for summer riders. If you have to make repairs in the heat, first find shade. You get less cooling standing still than when you are riding, and if you are having to stop mid-ride, you are already hotter than the average person. Drink plenty of water too.

I'm glad it all turned out well.

WC89

I've seen it happen while watching Paris-Roubaix Bicycle Race on TV, in the late '80s. 2 riders escaped from the pack, all alone and approaching the finish line. Each watching the other trying to figure out a tactic to beat the other, when a small plastic bag blew into one's rear derailluer, leaving him stuck in the gear he was in (not the gear he would choose to do the final sprint in), sealing his fate. When the sprint started to the line, his now fixed-gear-bike was no match for the other rider who wound up a gear or two higher, to easily take the victory.

az_cyclist

I had something similar happen to me on the Desert Classic on May 5. There was a trash bag on Carefree Hwy that blew into my bike as we rode by. I thought it just caught my toe, but when I stopped found it starting to wind around my rear axle. Not a big deal, except the effort required to catch the paceline again.

qcpmsame 

Giro D'Italia's Pink jersey wearer, Garmin-Barracuda's Navardaurkus, came close to this with his Giro leader's riding jacket last week. He was trying to hand it off to a domestique and it slipped into the rear wheel at the brake. Luckily he felt it and managed to pull it back and with some help from the other rider they pulled it out without stopping. I'd have been flat on my butt and sliding along if that was me.

Bill

dbg

Very cool pic. Can you post a larger version somewhere. I'd like to use it as a background somewhere. (Presumptuous request. Any advice on watermarking or copyrighting? Anyone? Buehler? Anyone?)

Bob Ross

Five years ago a cycling mentor gave me one of those wonderful nuggets of advice that you remember for life:

"If when you're riding you see a plastic bag being blown towards you, STOP PEDALING!"

The derailleur hanger you save could be your own.

ping jockey

I have a good friend who was riding on a rainy, windy day wearing a plastic rain poncho when the wind caught the end of the poncho and it wrapped around the rear derailleur bring him to a halt.
This was some 20 years ago before any of us knew about cycling rain gear.

locolobo13 

Blowing loose waste always makes me nervous. I had a friend who bought a new Mustang a few yrs ago. She ran over a blanket in the road. Unknown to her it got caught 'tween the front hub and tire. Long story short the resulting fire totalled her mustang.

trackhub

Uh, did anyone read the title of this thread, and think of "Letters to Penthouse"? Just sayin....