First Close Call On My Fixie.
 

whats up guys had a close call awhile ago and thought id tell you about it. i built my first Fixie and was super pumped to learn to ride it. ( a lot harder then i thought lol) i was on a side street about to cross the highway to go to the store on the opposite side. as i was making my way over a my chain popped off and a car flew by me making me velar right. lol i find my self going down the wrong way on the center lane of the highway no chain with cars coming at me. keep in mind i have only have a front brake no chain and im brand new to the fixie world (also i cant seem to skid to slow down to this day). nearly crapped my pants. i coasted down for about 30feet. there was a break in the cars so i quickly turned left into the store parking lot. soon as i pull in there is a cart boy so just smiles and said "nice". i smiled back acting like i ment to do it..... well that was my story hope it made some people smile. i will also work on my skids to control it better.

Glad you made out ok. That said, pretty hilarious. The worst I've done was fall at at a stoplight when first learning how to use pedal straps.

Glad you're ok! Your front brake is the fastest way to stop though (aside from hitting a parked car or something) sounds like a bit of practice is in order.

Chain looked pretty good in your pics. Did the rear hub move, causing the chain to come off? Or maybe the rear nuts were tightened enough after replacing the tires from the pothole incident.

You lead an exciting and dangerous life. ;)

Glad you're okay.

i moved the chain after the pic. that pic was before i ever got on it. i built it then took the pics. i give credit to all fixie riders it is much harder then i thought and a crazy workout..... my Build. http://www.bikeforums.net/singlespee...l#post16885846

Thats pretty scary. Its good that you're okay. Did you use the front brake?

yes very very lightly i didnt wanna go over the bars on the highway.

that is pretty scary. I can sympathize. I am perhaps the only fixed gear rider who has been taken down by a flock of geese.

I know that feeling. I had my chain fall off once too. Was going down hill and hit a small pothole, the chain popped right off. Luckily I was already on the shoulder and had a front brake.
Make sure you frequently check your chain tension and rear axle nuts.

Next time you ride, find a nice quiet street and do some practice stops just using the front brake. Start easy but then make progressively harder and harder stops and you'll find that there's no need to use the brake "very very lightly." In fact you can make a much faster stop using only the front brake than you could by doing a full skid with the rear wheel - and you can do so without coming anywhere close to going over the bars.

Cross the highway to get to the store? Must be very different where you are from. One simply does not cross highways in San Diego. There are medians you can't get over if you wanted to. Must be a small town you live in

Nope. East coast. Some of the smaller highways have stop lights.

"Highway" is a poorly defined term. In most state vehicle codes it is explicitly defined as any public right-of-way intended for vehicles to travel on. So the quiet residential street with a 25 mph speed limit is legally a 'highway' in California and many other states. OTOH, most people use the term more restrictively, for example limiting it to major arterial roads, frequently only to those that have some state or federal 'highway' number assigned to them. Still others use the term only for limited-access roads such as the interstate highway system. Without further clarification, it's easy for one person's comments about 'highways' to be misinterpreted by others who are using a different definition.

What you're referring to is a freeway.

Freeway vs Highway - Difference and Comparison | Diffen

Dude, i've had this arguement 100 times with my girlfriend.

Depends, if you go far enough north on California 101 you'll find the freeway runs right through some towns. (Not trying to be a smartass)

Highway 9, that runs from Big Basin, through Felton to Santa Cruz is a really awesome ride on a motorcycle. Not sure I'd do it on a bike though....

CA 101 is a highway, not a freeway.

That section of CA 101 is considered a highway, not a freeway.

Bah you are correct, still imbibing caffeine over here.

You ever wonder why you drive on the parkway but park on the driveway?

Nope.

How can they charge tolls on a freeway?

Learned something new. I always used the two words intermittently. But I've honestly never used the word highway in regular speech. I never hear anybody use that word either.

It's more of an east coast thang.