Most Embarrassing Moment On A Bike

Ok, we've all had them. I had mine last December on my way to watch the State CX races at Montrose. It was winter and snowing quite heavily. My cap had dropped in front of my eyes and having very little sleep the night before, I spaced out for a brief moment. In that moment, I almost crashed into a parked car. Looked up in time to swerve out of the way and bruise my legs in the process. 

So that's my story. You? What have you done? Did anyone see you?

Views: 1324

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ernesto Lube on July 26, 2017 at 1:15am

Hit a mailbox with my face in Wisconsin. I was riding to work November 2007 - it was icy going down a hill, my front wheel slipped and I immediately fell, crashing on the wood post of a mailbox with the right side of my face, getting some good scratches on my glasses and breaking my helmet. My own fault. 

Permalink Reply by TonyP on July 26, 2017 at 1:48am

Did anybody see me!?

Lotsa years ago I wasn't riding much, eating too much and got, how should I say, fat. Well when I did ride I smashed myself into cycling apparel that didn't really fit.

I was still a member of a club, and at the one of the club meetings one of the members put on a slide show, and one of the slides was me, on my bike, photographed from the rear, looking every bit  like a plumber nosing around under the sink. If you know what I mean,

Hint...I was wearing shorts, wool shorts, not bibs. I didn't even own a pair of suspenders.

Permalink Reply by David Henri on July 26, 2017 at 2:58am

A few years back I used to ride with a club.  I was clipped in, and didn't get out in time, went down right at the curb.  The club rules were that if you went down like that, you had to stand up and bow to the group, while they gave you a standing ovation.  All in good fun!

Permalink Reply by Fuegofan on August 18, 2017 at 8:05am

That's almost identical to mine, except that I wasn't with a club.  I hit the brakes and then realized I was still clipped in.  I unclipped my right foot and did my best impression of Wile E. Coyote's feet going really fast over nothingness, which, as I tipped to the right, resulted in my right calf getting sliced with really pretty "s" forms by my chain ring on my way to landing on my right side.  Getting the grease out was no fun, and I suspect that my wife, who saw the whole thing, had some fun scrubbing it out.  

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on July 26, 2017 at 4:05am

Back when you could ride Southport through the Finkl Steel area, I was doing so late at night. I knew I needed to cross those train tracks that are embedded in the road, and for some reason I estimated that the right way to do that would be to have my wheels meet the tracks at the slightest angle possible, rather than as perpendicularly as possible. LOL. Lesson learned!

Permalink Reply by David Barish on July 26, 2017 at 4:11am

long ago riding to  work with  a  cup of coffee in my right hand on  a  sidewalk going  about 8 mph after having just left  the apartment where I  lived.  I was getting on  the  street a block ahead.  Using my left hand I  braked as a  pedestrian  was on the  walk ahead of me.   I  vaulted over the  front of the handlebar and my face plant was rewarded with a  cup of hot coffee landing  on top of me.  The pedestrian was entertained when  it became clear that the only injury was to  my pride and the paint on my bicycle.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on July 26, 2017 at 4:18am

hmm... so many from which to choose. Probably the most embarrassing was riding into a parked car on a quiet residential street in broad daylight - and the car's owner was on his front porch and saw the whole thing. 

Permalink Reply by trash panda on July 26, 2017 at 9:59am

I had just gotten my clipless pedals adjusted and my cleats put on my first pair of cycling shoes at the Bike Lane. I left and went through that residential area just west of the shop to get used to being clipped in. As I came up to the stop sign in front of the fire station at Prindiville and Stave, I didn't clip out in time and toppled over.

There were several firefighters standing outside who saw the entire thing, laughed at me, and walked inside.

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on July 26, 2017 at 10:49am

!!! omg

Permalink Reply by David Henri on July 27, 2017 at 3:41am

That's hilarious!  I wish I could have seen it.  Hope you were ok.

Permalink Reply by Matt on July 27, 2017 at 7:13am

My second most embarrassing moment, if only because fewer people witnessed it, was very similar to this.  I used to commute to Crystal Lake from Lincoln Park, and would get off the Metra at Pingree.  They have a ramp from the station to the parking lot, and in the middle of winter once I rode down the ramp and then tried to turn right.  There was some black ice, and as I turned I went down, sliding on the ice for a while as the cars behind me had to stop and wait for me to get back up.

Permalink Reply by Dave Jacque on July 27, 2017 at 3:13am

Stopped for some pedestrians crossing the street in downtown Naperville on a Friday evening, got a little nonchalant about getting out of the clipless pedals, and went down like a felled oak tree in front of about 200 people. (No bows or standing ovations.)

RSS

Groups

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service