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?

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on August 23, 2017 at 6:33am

OMG. Terrifying!

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Permalink Reply by Fran Kondorf on August 23, 2017 at 10:02am

I've had a few choice ones, too. Mostly lacking witnesses, embarrassing only meself and resulting in minor scrapes or bruises at best.

But, I was heading DT on a clear, summer day last year loaded down with an extra 12-15lbs. in a bag on the rear rack. Normally, this isn't a big deal since I lug groceries, etc. all the time and know to adjust my riding accordingly. Rounding a corner at under 10mph, the front wheel slid out from under me and I went down pretty hard in the street. 2 valet guys were sympathetic and came over to check on me, explaining that some jerk's car had sprayed oil all over the street the day before like something out of a Bond film. I never stood a chance.

I was a bit dazed but the only thing hurt was my pride, thankfully.

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Permalink Reply by kb on August 24, 2017 at 7:34am

I met my friend at a bar for a drink (yes just one drink), when I unlocked I didn't notice that my handle bars had become misaligned somehow, I mounted and pushed off hard and took a swerve right into the ground and ended up with a bloody elbow. The crowd of smokers must have thought I was tanked.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on August 30, 2017 at 2:42am

LOL. I bet that's what it looked like!

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Permalink Reply by Paul Lazzaro on August 25, 2017 at 9:17am

My first time using clipless pedals (10 years ago?), I rode about 1/2 block to a stop sign, forgot to un-clip, and fell sideways in slow-mo into a flower bed. I spotted no witnesses, so I didn't have to pretend I meant to do it...

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on August 30, 2017 at 2:43am

Similar, first time I test-rode a bike with those pedals where your feet kind of slide in, I bit it hard at the very first stop sign. Lol.

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Permalink Reply by Marc A. Irwin on August 27, 2017 at 2:10am

I was on my way home from a Sunday morning ride, streets were pretty empty, I stopped at a red light, completely spaced out and didn't get my feet unclipped. I fell over on my side, rolled onto my back with my bike still attached and waving around in the air above me as a mini-van full of kids pulled into the lane behind me. The look on their faces is something I will never forget.

Marc