Joe's mention of his Stingray reminded me of this: in 1977 I was living in Charleston WV and had a yellow Schwinn Stingray. Black banana seat and those high, high "monkey bars". Behind our house, there was a church, and we would often ride our bikes in the parking lot, bunny hopping, and jumping off the edge of the asphalt, which dropped sharply about 2.5-3ft as it transitioned into an undeveloped, weedy and rock-strewn lot. I don't know what inspired me, but I got it in my head that if secured my mom's large umbrella to the very back of the seat (in addition to the seat post, there was a long, vertical arc of cheap metal that attached at the rear drop-outs and rose up to stabilize the seat), I might perhaps sail loftily over the drop-off, momentarily weightless, and alight gracefully to the weed-lot below. Needless to say, my vision, as well as my bike and I, came crashing down, as the umbrella only served to produce enough drag to keep my rear-end up, briefly holding my bike in a nose-dive position before I was severely re-introduced to terra-firma. Hey, at least I had a dream!
On Sunday, March 22, 2020 at 11:40:51 AM UTC-4, Tirebiter ATX wrote: > > Video was hilarious. Thanks. > > On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 10:36 AM Leah Peterson <jonasa...@gmail.com > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> I have loved this thread; it really has been so instructive and also - >> please don’t take offense - entertaining. >> >> I now have a name for those yellow things in the road (“road turtles”) >> and know that I should never get near them in the rain. I will never, ever >> race my best friend lest she turn her bike in front of me and send me >> flying. I will certainly never attempt a wheelie. >> >> In all seriousness, these stories as well as the COVID pandemic have made >> me more careful - now is not a good time to need a hospital. I usually ride >> helmet-free but I’ve been wearing one more often just as an extra layer of >> safety. Helmets come with certain annoyances, particularly for women, and >> because I can’t ever just be serious, I catalogued it in the video below. >> >> I don’t have a crash story to contribute, but what I have I give to you. >> Also, don’t we just need to laugh these days? >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CEF6EBE8-EC7F-4B39-9F63-91FF11CC492C%40gmail.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CEF6EBE8-EC7F-4B39-9F63-91FF11CC492C%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> >> >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >> On Mar 21, 2020, at 8:46 AM, SurlyProf <john.m...@sjsu.edu <javascript:>> >> wrote: >> >> >> Reading about all of these injuries and browsing X-rays makes me realize >> how lucky I've been in my 45-50 years of riding a bike. In all that time, >> I've only been in 3 crashes (all, of course, involving cars with clueless >> drivers). >> >> In the '80's, I bought my first really nice "Italian" bike at a sidewalk >> sale in Huntington Beach (1/2 price!). I'd been out of college for a year >> or so and hadn't owned a bike since my last one was stolen freshman year. >> It was an '86 Bertoni Corsa Mondiale in metallic lavender (in Italian they >> called it, "God-awful purple"). Loved that bike but thought it might have >> been cursed. Within a month or two I had two crashes in the same weekend! >> The first happened as I was riding down in the Newport/Balboa area. I was >> probably cruising at 25+ mph when I was passed by a van. The van barely >> went another city block when it took a right turn in front of me. I hit >> the brakes and slid the bike sideways like I was doing a hockey stop. I >> must have hit the side of that van at 10 mph. The whole incident seemed to >> happen in slow motion. I even remember the fear in the elderly woman's >> face as I slammed into the van right next to her. Looked like a couple >> driving their in-laws around the area. I'm sure this incident made an >> impression as I did given the huge Wile E. Coyote-shaped dent I put in >> their side. They slowed and saw that I was still on the bike and, I guess, >> assumed I was OK and drove off. I quickly unclipped and put a foot down >> and then heard the lunchtime host at the restaurant on the corner where it >> happen say (in a fantastic Jeff Spicolli voice), "Du-u-u-de... I can't >> believe you stayed on the bike!" >> >> The next day I went out for an easy ride to loosen up my severely bruised >> hip and shoulder and was right-hooked by a pick up truck. That time, I was >> not so lucky. I flew over the handlebars onto the pavement as I heard the >> squealing of tires as they tore off. My rear wheel was completely taco-ed >> which I didn't bother repairing for at least a month since I thought the >> bike was cursed. Fortunately, because of the previous day's accident, I >> was wearing a helmet that second day. Could've been a lot worse. >> >> I loved that bike and kept it for another 25+ years. Wish I'd held on to >> it for riding Eroica. Still had all the original Shimano 600 gruppo >> (obligatory bike-geek statement). >> >> John >> Niles, CA >> >> On Sunday, March 15, 2020 at 3:40:10 PM UTC-7, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! >> wrote: >>> >>> On a recent thread, we veered off topic things that might cause crashes. >>> Stories began pouring in, and they were fascinating and useful. I think we >>> should have a new thread here where you can contribute your experiences and >>> the rest of us can learn a thing or two. For instance, I didn’t know a >>> fender unsecured at the seat stay could cause a crash and now I do. I’ll be >>> fixing mine forthwith! >>> >>> I feel fortunate not to have any stories to contribute here, but please >>> share yours with us. Some of them might even be funny. (We’ll be laughing >>> WITH you.) >>> Leah >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/BD1Gu46EX-o/unsubscribe >> . >> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/ab862540-d996-436a-8eab-a5df8c5a8419%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/ab862540-d996-436a-8eab-a5df8c5a8419%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CEF6EBE8-EC7F-4B39-9F63-91FF11CC492C%40gmail.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CEF6EBE8-EC7F-4B39-9F63-91FF11CC492C%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/619db942-d5bd-40c2-b238-b351a9af1e17%40googlegroups.com.
