Crashed, boo-hoo, but hear my rant!
 

I'm not trying to solicit sympathy or brag or whatever, just wanted to rant about why I crashed and maybe hear what some of you may have done about it...

Going slow on the bicycle path by the coast, and I round a blind curve slowing down even more. As I make the tight turn, I'm probably down to 8 mph, there's a cleaning lady dumping out her yellow mop bucket right onto the bike path. I hit the soapy puddle and I'm down.
The cleaning lady looks the other way and goes walking back to her building. I get up, my legs are bloody, clothes shredded, my Chorus brifters scratched, chipped, and twisted inward.

I'm pissed and embarrased, so I say "Soap water??!!! Are you kidding me!?!" To which the lady starts freakin in spanish and english "no soap! No soap!"

I'm pretty sure other cyclists were wiping out on that turn too judging from her reaction.

I'm hurt, pissed, and embarrassed (there were witnesses, none of whom offered any assistance) asian lady with big dog stood by laughing as I bled. (Her friggin pit bull barked and lurched at me, nice touch)

I'm sure this dumb cleaning lady didn't do it on purpose, and I decided to just ride home before I got too stiff to make it back (16 miles)

Thank goodness for my leg warmers and heavy duty gloves, or I would be much worse off. serious road rash, bruised knee and palms, shreded clothing was the cost.

I chalked it up to hazards of cycling, but some think I should have called the cops on this woman...

Thank goodness my bike and I are OK, otherwise I probably would have escalated the situation.

And I just finished my popcorn.

Should have called the cops because you can't ride a bike? That's a good one... must be a OC thing.

Sorry about the fall!

Where was this, exactly? It'd be nice to know. Maybe I'll bring my laundry by... :)



[counting down to "real cyclists never touch a bike path" comments in 3... 2... 1...]

something along the lines of illegal dumping of solvents/Cleaning products.

Dunno that you should have called the cops, but I would have pointed to the bucket, pointed to the water, and pointed to the crashed bike and yelled "No! No! No! No! No!"... followed by some more incoherent cursing.

Yet another example of the bike gods b**ch slapping someone for riding a road bike on a bike path.

Yeah...here we go.
I was on the bike path (for just this section, less than mile) because I was riding alone and the traffic through this part of LA is unreal. (I'd say most of you would have taken bike path if you were there alone)

Calling the cops because its a dangerous and negligent thing to do. Pour soap water on a turn on a bike path. Some call it civic duty!

Anyways, I just rode home as I said. But did I do fellow cyclists any favors by not reporting this? That's kinda what I'm driving at here... I do enjoy the usual smart ass replies though ;-)

seriously, it's illegal to dump waste on public property, including used cleaning products.

Hermosa Beach is in LA.

I'm not a fan of litigation, but the woman's action is so overtly negligent she'd deserve to be hauled into court. Of course, without any real damages...

Glad you are ok.

I can't find your hermosa beach, but here's what fremont has to say about it
http://www.ci.fremont.ca.us/PublicSa...galDumping.htm

http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/illdump/
here's LA

:lol:

I ride the bike path all the time, from the Marina into PV and back. It's nice to not have to deal with cars for ~35 miles of a 40 mile ride.

Where in Hermosa Beach did this occur?

you shoulda said "puta madre"

or something to that effect.

glad to hear you're fine tho.

Or you coulda sued the employer of this domestic employee, who is much more likely to be able to afford to replace those fancy shmancy biker togs than the wash water dumper... and much more likely to give a **** since they actually have something to lose.

Or you could have identified the potential hazard, dismounted and walked across safely. There have been plenty of times I've dismounted and carreid my bike across in order to prevent a mishap!:thumb:

Heck, Once at the end of the SART (HB side) I encountered a barrier of rocks a bunch of stupid teens placed on the trail. I took the time to dismount and remove the large boulders for everyone's safety. Only takes a few seconds to prevent and a few mintues to help.:p

As far as serving the cycling community, it would have been nice for you to notify the company she works for. They would likely post a memo or hold training just to avoid the liability. If you know which building she came out of, a letter to management would still be effective. Otherwise, you would have had to watch the lady to see which building she came out of.

Sued for what? What are his damages?

Thanks for the supportive comments!
Sh1t happens, shoulda slowed even more, shoulda said somethin, shoulda this, shoulda that, goes through my head as I sit here digging sand out of my gashed knee...
BTW first time apply real Aloe directly on road rash: Highly recommended! Forms a nice dry film over the wound and makes it easy to wear pants, sleep with blanket, etc!

Yeah its a nice bike path, (not a MUP like some folks may be thinking, its supposed to be for bicycles only). It was near Marina, I was trying to avoid the holy hell of Lincoln/Washington/Venice.
On a side note (to those quick to point out I deserve it for riding on a bike path)
I ride the road almost exclusively. But when the road is this fked up, and there is a perfectly good bicycle only path right there, I can see how drivers would think WTF if I insisted on riding through the traffic jam.
Cycling advocates worked hard to secure a safe bike only path, why not use it when it makes sense. (I'm not talking about riding 20 mph during a weekend, wizzing past children. This was mid day on a week day, almost deserted)

Well, if he was wearing all assos clothing or a full Rock Racing kit, that might be a dollar figure worth a lawsuit :D

My Campy Racing Bib Shorts and Carbon Fiber Chorus brifters agree!
;-)

Let the shopping begin!