Our sense of humor is funny. Pun intended. About 10 yrs ago, travelling with work, I purchased an $80 bike at the big box store. Way cheaper then a rental bike. Their mechanic and I checked it out and I was good to go.

In front of the store I mounted from a dead stop as always planning on balancing with the handlebars until rolling. We forgot to tighten the handlebars. Rolled right off the bike.

I'm laying on the ground laughing my tail off and notice a family sitting on the bench in front of the store. They all had deadpan expressions. Not even a hint of a smile. Managed to stop laughing, gave them my best smile as I took the bike back in the store to borrow a wrench. I still laugh at that incident.

Amazing how some have to pick everything apart whether it is of consequence or not. Why not just leave it alone and move on?

Because threads like this are why Al Gore invented the internet.

I can't tell if this is supposed to be an existential question, or if you're literally asking why I responded to the OP's post.

It's a bike forum on the internet where bike related things get discussed. The OP posted a story and (I assume) is seeking some discussion about that scenario and the elements described. That's what I'm doing.

Also this.

Really now. Define "cyclist."

Being an Orthodox Cyclist, I generally consult the Cyclismic Oracle for such issues of doctrine, but this forum is supposed to be non-denominational. .

I understand. I'm just waiting for a response. After I get a response, I may have to petition bike forums to remove the BMX section from the forum, or at least add a disclaimer that they are not real cyclists.

I will also have to amend my personal history as a BMX racer. I will add an asterisk to my credits indicating I was not a real cyclist during that period of my life, and the long rides I also took on my BMX bike, as well as local commuting did not qualify me as a cyclist. A double asterisk will be added to indicate I did not wear a helmet while riding on the street, but did wear gear to race.

Unfortunately, the points you make have been, and will continue to be, lost on many.

And your observation kind of links into my post in #21 above. I guess the desire was to include several hot button items in the made up story to generate as many responses as possible. But doing that usually makes things smell. Also, as in this case, they can be totally irrelevant to what allegedly happened. Again, perhaps that was to garner more responses. Maybe oversight when creating the story. Either way, to me, it makes things smell. OP needs to work on their subtlety.

Feel free to think superficially about what you read. In this particular case, you are part of the Op’s target audience. And feel free to move on yourself rather than getting on people for making cogent points, even if you think they are not so.

if someone doesn't laugh when you fall it means your old and could have broken a hip or something

I'm not clear on whether it's riding a BMX that's disqualifying or using a BMX for transportation without gloves. I'll get back to you after my Magic 8 Ball gets back from the shop.

I thought the same thing. Labeling a bike riding person as a non cyclist and making a point of no helmet or gloves as if that is an important factor .... maybe in qualifying as a "cyclist"? Based on all the personal examples of helmets "saving my brain" etc. we should score this one for helmets not needed for safely crashing.

Amazing how you would post this in a thread where you just described some people as "desperately deserving" to wipeout and savoring the schadenfreude when they do. I swear, freaking half of the posts on BF are by people whose response to being criticized for being judgmental is to complain about how judgmental people are being by judging their judgmental posts. I believe that's an accurate description of how convoluted this stuff is.

Not only right on, but fun to read!

Out of context but nice try. Ha HA

I say nah you're good. In a situation like that I usually end up laughing as hard as the person who saw me do it.

There is no hell.

If going over the handlebars, putting out your arm, locking your elbow, then using your hand to cushion your fall puts you at a risk of a broken clavicle.

I once had a large stick go into my front spokes on my mountain bike and send me over my handlebars. I kept my hands on the bars and tucked in my head. The result was a half somersault from which I jumped up and did a tah-da pose. If he would've tucked in his head, you might have ended up clapping instead of laughing. With a little BMX bike, he might have been able to complete the loop and land back on his wheels. That would've been cool...

Based on the thread title, I thought the OP put a Shimano gruppo on a Colnago or Pegoretti.

I'm usually on the other end of the odd reactions to accidents. A few years ago I was running with a 14 year old that kept stepping off the side of the paved path and I was concerned she would roll an ankle. I moved her to the other side of the path where there was no drop-off and I almost immediately stepped of the path and rolled an ankle. Her first reaction was to laugh a bit before asking if I was OK. She is 17 now and we still run together. A few weeks ago we were running in the dark in the rain when I misjudged the depth of a puddle. She laughed at that too but I will agree that it was funny.

Guys. This was just something I observed yesterday. I'm nowhere near creative enough to fabricate a story like this. Ultimately, I'm glad the guy was OK. And actually, I feel bad about laughing at this guy's bad luck. I do not take delight on other people's misfortune, and this thread was more about my personal failure than a comment on the rider (beyond his preparedness). Considering what happened, I still don't know what instigated the guy to crash. I'm just glad it wasn't really serious.
And the comment about being a cyclist and wearing the gear, well I guess for many that's still a personal preference. But if you're an adult man, wearing jeans, a t-shirt and no helmet and no gloves, but you're riding a child's BMX bike, I'm going to assume you're not a cyclist. I'm sure there are the occasional exception, but 9 times out of 10, I don't think that's an unfair assumption.
As for me, I've bounced my melon off the pavement a couple times. And even with a helmet, I ended up with a splitting headache. I cannot imagine how bad it would have hurt without some kind of cushioning. And I always wear full gloves. Again, personal preference, but I find it minimizes road rash on one of the most highly innervated surfaces of the body. What's my "target audience"?
Ya, that could easily describe me.
The point was this was an adult man riding a child's BMX bike as transportation. If I didn't make that clear, then that's on me. If you're looking to be butt-hurt, that's on you.
You don't have to believe in the concept to use it in a cultural reference.

Oh ya, and the name is "Jennifer", so I'm OK with "she" or "her". No need for the "they" nonsense.

Yes there is. Audie Murphy went there and came back.

Given that you recently expressed a desire to see the president fall into traffic, I’d say that delighting in others’ misfortune is on-brand for you.

Maybe you’ll get lucky and this thread will be similarly deleted.