Why Do People Fall Down?

"Prisoner at War" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I mean, when it's a nice flat road, no one's around them, it's sunny,
dry, no winds...how do people just go plop! in front of you like that?

I saw this three times on Sunday's Tour de Bronx in NYC (great ride;
free food and water and no helmets required!!!)...they're not going
fast, they weren't going downhill, no one was around them (I was a
good four yards behind), and suddenly they fall. Just like that.

I fall out of my bike like once every five years due to trying to ride
down stairs or something like that. How do these people just fall in
perfectly good conditions? They weren't newbie riders either,
apparently.

Weird.

Don't know. It's a mystery. I saw it happen to a guy riding my recumbent.
No discernable rider error. No bike malfunction. No adverse road
conditions. No plausible explanation. I suspect it was caused by something
out there in the recumbent twilight zone.

Os

Brother Oswald said:

Don't know. It's a mystery. I saw it happen to a guy riding my recumbent.
No discernable rider error. No bike malfunction. No adverse road
conditions. No plausible explanation. I suspect it was caused by something
out there in the recumbent twilight zone.

Os

The last time I went flying off my bike (without a helmet, of course)
was on my 'bent, on the campus of the College of Staten Island, where
from my height and distance mistook a flight of stairs for a ramp (the
steps were big and wide and from that vantage point looked like a ramp
descent). After the first few steps I put on the break and went
flying out of my Street Machine! But not headlong like on an upright;
I went flying, but always rightside-up, and so landed on my feet
without even having thought about it.

So slamming the breaks on a 'bent doesn't seem dangerous, either! It
was actually fun...I had a good three seconds of air time! If it
weren't for fear of further damaging my bike (it was scratched, of
course), I would have done it again. =)

Prisoner at War said:

I mean, when it's a nice flat road, no one's around them, it's sunny,
dry, no winds...how do people just go plop! in front of you like that?
zzzznipppp
Weird.

You're leaving out the effect of gravitational perturbations (GPs)..
These show up unannounced, kinda like wind shear, and lob a wrench
into an otherwise ordinary day... Like people who carve level notches
into a perfectly good descent ramp.. The guy in the yellow raincoat
on Laugh-In was frequently attacked by GPs.. A couple of extra beers
will attract every GP in the vicinity until you hide in a ditch, the
lowest point around, clutching the remnants of your dignity. Pretty
much any time you stop your bike at a light and grin vacantly at a
scantily clad young female pedestrian, you can count on a GP tossing
you to the pavement. Most importantly, GPs liberate a guy from any
direct responsibility for some rather embarrassing events-- sliding
down all the stairs on shoe leather alone-- being found under a table
in a bar at closing time-- leaving a perfectly dry canoe while
fishing. Don't spend too much time wondering why. Just keep 911 on
speed-dial..

"Prisoner at War" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I mean, when it's a nice flat road, no one's around them, it's sunny,
dry, no winds...how do people just go plop! in front of you like that?

I saw this three times on Sunday's Tour de Bronx in NYC (great ride;
free food and water and no helmets required!!!)...they're not going
fast, they weren't going downhill, no one was around them (I was a
good four yards behind), and suddenly they fall. Just like that.

I fall out of my bike like once every five years due to trying to ride
down stairs or something like that. How do these people just fall in
perfectly good conditions? They weren't newbie riders either,
apparently.

Weird.

Maybe something to do with clipless pedals, or their loose pants snagging on
the bike somewhere. Maybe they got up too early. Who knows.

Not to launch another helmet debate which I have no interest in, they SHOULD
require helmets in these rides. BU they are just following NYC law, which
only require children under 13 to use helmets. I did the ride also, a great
ride, but unnecessarily a chaotic start. The cops were confused. The
marshals were confused. I was glad to have left the start line.

Brother Oswald said:

Don't know. It's a mystery. I saw it happen to a guy riding my recumbent.
No discernable rider error. No bike malfunction. No adverse road
conditions. No plausible explanation. I suspect it was caused by something
out there in the recumbent twilight zone.

Maybe he suddenly realized how uncool he looked, and the shock destroyed
his sense of balance :-)

Prisoner at War said:

The last time I went flying off my bike (without a helmet, of
course) was on my 'bent, on the campus of the College of Staten
Island, where from my height and distance mistook a flight of
stairs for a ramp (the steps were big and wide and from that
vantage point looked like a ramp descent). After the first few
steps I put on the break and went flying out of my Street Machine!
But not headlong like on an upright; I went flying, but always
rightside-up, and so landed on my feet without even having thought
about it.

So slamming the breaks on a 'bent doesn't seem dangerous, either!
It was actually fun...I had a good three seconds of air time! If
it weren't for fear of further damaging my bike (it was scratched,
of course), I would have done it again. =)

I did more or less the same thing myself, a few years back, on the
University of Florida campus. Except in my case I was on a mountain
bike, so (1) I didn't have the poor-point-of-view excuse for my
mistake, and (2) instead of flying into an upright position, I flew
over the handlebars and smacked my cheek on the pavement.

I think I better re-evaluate my position on the relative safety of
recumbents versus upright bicycles...

--
Mark Shroyer
http://markshroyer.com/

"Michael Warner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Brother Oswald said:

Don't know. It's a mystery. I saw it happen to a guy riding my
recumbent.
No discernable rider error. No bike malfunction. No adverse road
conditions. No plausible explanation. I suspect it was caused by
something
out there in the recumbent twilight zone.

Maybe he suddenly realized how uncool he looked, and the shock destroyed
his sense of balance :-)

Now that could be. At the time our unlikely test rider was wearing a
florescent yellow spandex pro bike racer outfit advertising a telephone or
some such with goofy sunglasses and helmet that made him look like a alien
from outer space. It was enough to make Superman laugh. The recumbent gods
probably smote him down just to end the embarrassment of it all.

Mark Shroyer said:

I did more or less the same thing myself, a few years back, on the
University of Florida campus. Except in my case I was on a mountain
bike, so (1) I didn't have the poor-point-of-view excuse for my
mistake, and (2) instead of flying into an upright position, I flew
over the handlebars and smacked my cheek on the pavement.

Oooohh!!!!!

I had a few over-the-handlebars on various uprights, too...luckily,
none of them required a helmet! So that's why I never felt like I
needed a helmet.

Quoted message said:

I think I better re-evaluate my position on the relative safety of
recumbents versus upright bicycles...

I was told that the HP Velotechnik SMGTe was a very bad design where
the slamming of brakes was concerned...but it was so comfy I had to
get one! And then I found out that it's not dangerous at all in that
respect, and that was the only respect in which it would have been
dangerous.

I've even gone downhill very fast in the rain once...it was a good six-
degree gradient hill at least...I pumped the brakes a bit and not
totally slammed them, but I was still "upright" all that time...I
skidded for about five seconds! This was that big hill in Tarrytown,
NY, by that college and convent, if another knows what I'm talking
about...it's a T-intersection, and the coffee shop I would have
crashed into had folks looking out their window at me, LOL....

I ride around NYC and let most everybody try out my 'bent...so far,
there's only been one guy who didn't pick it up within a minute's
time...and everybody instinctively recognizes how safe it is, from a
physics-of-the-road standpoint (decreased vantage is a serious issue
one will need to master with time, however)....

Quoted message said:

--
Mark Shroyerhttp://markshroyer.com/

Brother Oswald said:

"Michael Warner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Maybe he suddenly realized how uncool he looked, and the shock destroyed
his sense of balance :-)

Now that could be. At the time our unlikely test rider was wearing a
florescent yellow spandex pro bike racer outfit advertising a telephone or
some such with goofy sunglasses and helmet that made him look like a alien
from outer space. It was enough to make Superman laugh. The recumbent gods
probably smote him down just to end the embarrassment of it all.

You know, this is the kind of thing that used to make me wonder if I
had ESP or something (LOL)...I was watching that girl go by, checking
out how her ass sat on her saddle, and at that point is when she took
a spill! Thing is, she was already like four yards or so ahead of me
(she flew by me as I was remounting after a call-of-nature pit-stop),
and I had just started pedaling and checking her out when she flew off
her bike and rolled across my path very neatly to the side of the
road!

The other case that Sunday was this couple, and I saw it just as the
guy was trying to steady the girl and her fall caused them both to
sink. That was cute, seeing a couple crash together like that, as if
on a tandem, hehe. =)

Hehehe...actually, you reminded me of a possible explanation: they
needed to use the restroom!

Did anyone else notice the long-assed line at the *MENS' ROOM* at the
first rest stop??? ROTFLMFAO!! The ladies' room had absolutely NO
LINE!

I guess roles really do reverse after middle-age!!

dale said:

You're leaving out the effect of gravitational perturbations (GPs)..
These show up unannounced, kinda like wind shear, and lob a wrench
into an otherwise ordinary day... Like people who carve level notches
into a perfectly good descent ramp.. The guy in the yellow raincoat
on Laugh-In was frequently attacked by GPs.. A couple of extra beers
will attract every GP in the vicinity until you hide in a ditch, the
lowest point around, clutching the remnants of your dignity. Pretty
much any time you stop your bike at a light and grin vacantly at a
scantily clad young female pedestrian, you can count on a GP tossing
you to the pavement. Most importantly, GPs liberate a guy from any
direct responsibility for some rather embarrassing events-- sliding
down all the stairs on shoe leather alone-- being found under a table
in a bar at closing time-- leaving a perfectly dry canoe while
fishing. Don't spend too much time wondering why. Just keep 911 on
speed-dial..

Prisoner at War said:

I mean, when it's a nice flat road, no one's around them, it's sunny,
dry, no winds...how do people just go plop! in front of you like that?

I saw this three times on Sunday's Tour de Bronx in NYC (great ride;
free food and water and no helmets required!!!)...they're not going
fast, they weren't going downhill, no one was around them (I was a
good four yards behind), and suddenly they fall. Just like that.

I fall out of my bike like once every five years due to trying to ride
down stairs or something like that. How do these people just fall in
perfectly good conditions? They weren't newbie riders either,
apparently.

Weird.

People fall down because they are not riding a trike. 🙂

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?

Prisoner at War said:

Brother Oswald said:

Don't know. It's a mystery. I saw it happen to a guy riding my recumbent.
No discernable rider error. No bike malfunction. No adverse road
conditions. No plausible explanation. I suspect it was caused by something
out there in the recumbent twilight zone.

Os

The last time I went flying off my bike (without a helmet, of course)
was on my 'bent, on the campus of the College of Staten Island, where
from my height and distance mistook a flight of stairs for a ramp (the
steps were big and wide and from that vantage point looked like a ramp
descent). After the first few steps I put on the break and went
flying out of my Street Machine! But not headlong like on an upright;
I went flying, but always rightside-up, and so landed on my feet
without even having thought about it....

I did this on my RANS Rocket when I hit a patch of sand while riding
along an unpaved trail. No harm, no foul.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?

Bell (Helmet?) south Ijit 2.0 - Global Warming Edition ® said:

...
Not to launch another helmet debate which I have no interest in, they SHOULD
require helmets in these rides. BU they are just following NYC law, which
only require children under 13 to use helmets. I did the ride also, a great
ride, but unnecessarily a chaotic start. The cops were confused. The
marshals were confused. I was glad to have left the start line.

If you do not want to start a helmet debate, why do you put in a
gratuitous advocation for a device that has never been shown to be
effective in preventing serious head trauma or death?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?

Tom Sherman said:

Bell (Helmet?) south Ijit 2.0 - Global Warming Edition ® said:

...
Not to launch another helmet debate which I have no interest in,
they SHOULD require helmets in these rides. BU they are just
following NYC law, which only require children under 13 to use
helmets. I did the ride also, a great ride, but unnecessarily a
chaotic start. The cops were confused. The marshals were confused.
I was glad to have left the start line.

If you do not want to start a helmet debate, why do you put in a
gratuitous advocation for a device that has never been shown to be
effective in preventing serious head trauma or death...

....except by many of those who've used it?

Bill "sentence finisher" S.

Gravity, maybe?

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

There was a guy with a hand-cranked trike...I was happy to see him.

But I don't know what the big deal with trikes is...'bent bikes are
already safe enough. Why a trike, exactly? What real advantage does
it offer? So you needn't worry as much about balance (except on
turns, I guess!)...so what?

Tom Sherman said:

People fall down because they are not riding a trike. 🙂

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?

Bill Sornson said:

...except by many of those who've used it?

Bill "sentence finisher" S.

Otherwise known as a placebo effect??

"Prisoner at War" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

There was a guy with a hand-cranked trike...I was happy to see him.

But I don't know what the big deal with trikes is...'bent bikes are
already safe enough. Why a trike, exactly? What real advantage does
it offer? So you needn't worry as much about balance (except on
turns, I guess!)...so what?

Tom Sherman said:

People fall down because they are not riding a trike. 🙂

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?

I think it is something you just have to experience. The fun quotient is
enormous.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Prisoner at War said:

There was a guy with a hand-cranked trike...I was happy to see him.

But I don't know what the big deal with trikes is...'bent bikes are
already safe enough. Why a trike, exactly? What real advantage does
it offer? So you needn't worry as much about balance (except on
turns, I guess!)...so what?

Ride a well designed tadpole trike for an extended distance. You will
either get it, or you are a lost cause. 😉

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?