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Exciting Wednesday night

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Australia and New Zealand
Published
21 October 2004
Last activity
24 October 2004
Original author
Tamyka Bell
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31
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  1. Didn't I have an exciting ride home.

    Had just come out of Glen Rd onto the cycle path at Toowong when I hear
    a strange crunching sound. I look back to see a woman on the street
    corner, hands over her mouth, gasping. I recall seeing a cyclist heading
    down that hill as I went up so I turn back to check. Sure enough,
    cyclist is now lying down in the middle of the road, not the best place
    to take a nap.

    He's hit the nasty little bump on the far side of the manhole cover, and
    as I recall he was heading down the hill with water bottle in one hand,
    so I figure as he dropped forward on hitting the bump it made his bike
    swerve and off he came.

    Two people who were about to get into vehicles stopped to help, I stayed
    because (1) I am a cyclist and (2) I had a bright yellow jacket on and
    it was about 5.45 pm on an overcast night. Another cyclist was waiting
    as well.

    The guy insisted he would be right to ride, he had nothing broken and
    was just groggy (i.e., concussed and just wouldn't admit it) and his
    jersey was ripped a bit. We ended up convincing him to call for a
    pickup... only because the rear derailleur had folded back into the
    spokes!

    As all this was going on, a bus driver heading up the street to the
    waiting point (around the corner from the bus stop) cut the corner a
    bit, no doubt distracted by our excitement, and takes off the right rear
    lights and bumper of a parked car. More excitement. After which I rode
    very, very carefully and gave way to anything that looked vaguely like
    it might not see me in my bright yellow jacket and lots of flashy
    lights. Rest of my commute was (fortunately) without incident.

    New slogan: If you ride alone, take your phone!

    T

  2. Tamyka Bell said:

    Didn't I have an exciting ride home.

    Had just come out of Glen Rd onto the cycle path at Toowong when I hear
    a strange crunching sound. I look back to see a woman on the street
    corner, hands over her mouth, gasping. I recall seeing a cyclist heading
    down that hill as I went up so I turn back to check. Sure enough,
    cyclist is now lying down in the middle of the road, not the best place
    to take a nap.

    He's hit the nasty little bump on the far side of the manhole cover, and
    as I recall he was heading down the hill with water bottle in one hand,
    so I figure as he dropped forward on hitting the bump it made his bike
    swerve and off he came.

    Two people who were about to get into vehicles stopped to help, I stayed
    because (1) I am a cyclist and (2) I had a bright yellow jacket on and
    it was about 5.45 pm on an overcast night. Another cyclist was waiting
    as well.

    The guy insisted he would be right to ride, he had nothing broken and
    was just groggy (i.e., concussed and just wouldn't admit it) and his
    jersey was ripped a bit. We ended up convincing him to call for a
    pickup... only because the rear derailleur had folded back into the
    spokes!

    As all this was going on, a bus driver heading up the street to the
    waiting point (around the corner from the bus stop) cut the corner a
    bit, no doubt distracted by our excitement, and takes off the right rear
    lights and bumper of a parked car. More excitement. After which I rode
    very, very carefully and gave way to anything that looked vaguely like
    it might not see me in my bright yellow jacket and lots of flashy
    lights. Rest of my commute was (fortunately) without incident.

    New slogan: If you ride alone, take your phone!

    T


    Last night an idiot in a car almost got me. I was in the last km of the ride home, on suburban streets near home when the aforementioned idiot didn't give way at the give way sign, cut the corner and almost drove over the top of me. I was lit up like a Christmas tree but I was in some way invisible to him.

    Somehow the words "you f***ing idiot" or something similarly appropriate didn't come out of my mouth. Instead all I could say was "Oi" and point at him and shake my head. He had his window down so he heard me quite clearly, and I was close enough (even though I swerved and missed him) that he could see I was not happy.

    I always think I would like to do a little selective panel damage to these fool's cars if I ever cannot avoid the collision, but I'm not sure I would have the presence of mind to do it at the time. Should I practice damaging parked cars as I ride past them on the street so that it will be almost instinctive when the collision happens?

    SteveA

  3. "Tamyka Bell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    Didn't I have an exciting ride home.

    Sounds like it! Yesterday was all pain for me.

    Wednesday's are my "hard" days 'cept for races.

    I saw a funny incident this morning at the gym. This
    dude riding a cheap mtb. Obviously a newb, he's
    riding around the carpark and takes an easy, slow
    corner.. but he doesn't turn! Doesn't lean, nothing..
    So, by now he's overcooked it and 'slowly' runs
    into a tree. He hit it at a shallow enough angle to
    scrape along and continue.. He was smiling and
    so were the 5 people that watched him. I don't
    think the SAAB/Beemer(?) owner who's car was
    parked right next to the tree would have been..

    Quoted message said:

    New slogan: If you ride alone, take your phone!

    Fo shizzle (oh not this again!)

    hippy

  4. "SteveA" <[email hidden]

    Quoted message said:

    I always think I would like to do a little selective panel damage to
    these fool's cars if I ever cannot avoid the collision, but I'm not
    sure I would have the presence of mind to do it at the time. Should I
    practice damaging parked cars as I ride past them on the street so that
    it will be almost instinctive when the collision happens?

    Practice makes perfect!

    Just remember cagers are very protective of their
    cars and will want to hurt you should you ding it.
    All I'm saying is... have a good escape route..

    hippy

  5. SteveA said:

    I always think I would like to do a little selective panel damage to
    these fool's cars if I ever cannot avoid the collision, but I'm not
    sure I would have the presence of mind to do it at the time. Should I
    practice damaging parked cars as I ride past them on the street so that
    it will be almost instinctive when the collision happens?

    SteveA

    It's an instinct you either have or don't.

    DaveB "who had it last night"

  6. On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 at 00:01 GMT, Tamyka Bell (aka Bruce)
    was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

    Quoted message said:

    He's hit the nasty little bump on the far side of the manhole cover, and

    Grrr. Anyone find that ditch over the width of the city-bound lane on
    Burwood road near Swinburne annoying?

    I've got blood blisters out of it, but never fallen off... yet.

    Of course the council ignored me the one time I called. Might be time
    to give them another call.

    --
    TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
    What did you type in wrong to get it to crash?

  7. Tamyka Bell said:


    As all this was going on, a bus driver heading up the street to the
    waiting point (around the corner from the bus stop) cut the corner a
    bit, no doubt distracted by our excitement, and takes off the right rear
    lights and bumper of a parked car. More excitement.

    Wasn't a silver Corolla wagon was it? My Mum has a unit in Sandford
    (whatever) there and often parks her car out in the street.

    Sounds like you're going from St. Lucia to the city?

    Are you studying?

    When I stay at my Mum's I often run along the river in either direction. I
    often think I'd like to ride it but I never get to take my bike down. Oh
    well... one day.

    Cheers,
    Brad

  8. DaveB said:


    SteveA said:

    I always think I would like to do a little selective panel damage to
    these fool's cars if I ever cannot avoid the collision, but I'm not
    sure I would have the presence of mind to do it at the time. Should I
    practice damaging parked cars as I ride past them on the street so that
    it will be almost instinctive when the collision happens?

    SteveA

    It's an instinct you either have or don't.

    DaveB "who had it last night"

    Good for you DaveB, give 'em hell!

    From someone who is occasionally a cager due to being a female living
    well away from the city who commutes past areas where cyclists
    frequently get mugged and/or raped and thrown into the river/creek. It's
    kinda funny, when I give way to cyclists they look amazed. Then they see
    my bike in the back and it all makes sense.

  9. Brad Hubbard said:


    Tamyka Bell said:


    As all this was going on, a bus driver heading up the street to the
    waiting point (around the corner from the bus stop) cut the corner a
    bit, no doubt distracted by our excitement, and takes off the right rear
    lights and bumper of a parked car. More excitement.

    Wasn't a silver Corolla wagon was it? My Mum has a unit in Sandford
    (whatever) there and often parks her car out in the street.

    Don't think so. That being said I think the car was too close to the
    corner and was actually illegally parked.

    Quoted message said:

    Sounds like you're going from St. Lucia to the city?

    Yep, headed to New Farm for circus training.

    Quoted message said:

    Are you studying?

    Researching, postgrad.

    Quoted message said:

    When I stay at my Mum's I often run along the river in either direction. I
    often think I'd like to ride it but I never get to take my bike down. Oh
    well... one day.

    I like the little bit of dirt on the road side of the path for running
    on, it's just uneven enough to make you stronger and be more gentle. I
    didn't like running on the slanted path, it gave me ITB friction
    syndrome. These days heaps of people run on the dirt, I'm scared the
    council will try to pave it!

    Why don't you take your bike down? You should, it's a challenge on the
    path especially in peak hour. The best bit is near QUT where, if you're
    heading back towards Toowong, you can ride RIGHT NEXT TO the river, with
    no railing, on quite a narrow stretch...

    T, who has too much to say for someone who is so busy.

  10. On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 at 02:08 GMT, DaveB (aka Bruce)
    was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

    Quoted message said:
    SteveA said:

    I always think I would like to do a little selective panel damage to
    these fool's cars if I ever cannot avoid the collision, but I'm not
    sure I would have the presence of mind to do it at the time. Should I
    practice damaging parked cars as I ride past them on the street so that
    it will be almost instinctive when the collision happens?

    SteveA

    It's an instinct you either have or don't.

    DaveB "who had it last night"

    Story?

    --
    TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
    This plane is not equipped with vertices.

  11. On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 at 01:57 GMT, hippy (aka Bruce)
    was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

    Quoted message said:

    "SteveA" <[email hidden]

    Quoted message said:

    I always think I would like to do a little selective panel damage to
    these fool's cars if I ever cannot avoid the collision, but I'm not
    sure I would have the presence of mind to do it at the time. Should I
    practice damaging parked cars as I ride past them on the street so that
    it will be almost instinctive when the collision happens?

    Practice makes perfect!

    Just remember cagers are very protective of their
    cars and will want to hurt you should you ding it.
    All I'm saying is... have a good escape route..

    I thumped on some moron's window a few weeks ago, some weeks after
    being knocked off my bike and assaulted by 4 thugs in a stolen vehicle
    (so I was still a little sensetive to morons in cages). I thumped on
    his window, because he got [censored] at me slowing down as I was
    approaching a red light, and so decided to accelarate into my lane.

    And because I thumped his window, he screamed off, pulled over, got
    out of his car and started pushing me around. "If you have damaged my
    car, your paying for it." Heh. I guess his windows are deformable?

    It was only about 50m from a parked police RBT unit with flashing
    lights. I guess some people are just too damn stupid?

    --
    TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
    Your fault (core dumped)

  12. Tamyka Bell said:

    I like the little bit of dirt on the road side of the path for running
    on, it's just uneven enough to make you stronger and be more gentle. I
    didn't like running on the slanted path, it gave me ITB friction
    syndrome. These days heaps of people run on the dirt, I'm scared the
    council will try to pave it!

    I like the path that goes through the uni. but it's not long enough. I
    sometimes end up going right aruond past St. L. golf course. I know what
    you mean about the path, I ran from Glen Rd. to the corner of Queen (I
    think) and Eagle in the city and back, it was a good run but I pulled up a
    bit sore the next day.

    Quoted message said:


    Why don't you take your bike down? You should, it's a challenge on the
    path especially in peak hour. The best bit is near QUT where, if you're
    heading back towards Toowong, you can ride RIGHT NEXT TO the river, with
    no railing, on quite a narrow stretch...

    Mountain biking huh? My mountain bike is an antique (for that matter so is
    my road bike, but in better nick) and is rarely exposed in public still, I
    guess I could drag it down one day. I had visions of going for a blat into
    the city on the road bike early in the AM one day. Or the other way but not
    sure where to go once I get to the GC.

    Cheers,
    Brad

  13. "Tamyka Bell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]

    Quoted message said:

    Didn't I have an exciting ride home.

    Didn't you just. I went for my first ride on Beach Rd on Tuesday to try out
    the new clipless gear (ouchie! mega-calf cramps!). On the way back up to
    St Kilda I saw a station wagon on the other side of the road that had
    clearly had a stack and a bike and a guy in lycra, so oh-oh, I think, car
    hit bike. I turn around and go back so I can see properly. Nope, bike is
    OK, the cyclist stopped because he's got a mobile and he's presumably
    ringing a tow truck and/or an ambulance for the clearly distressed lady
    sitting on the nature strip. Now, that begs the question: how the hell did
    a car end up in that position? It was fair dinkum 90 degrees to the road,
    it had somehow hit the tree dead-on, so there was bits of Subaru front end
    everywhere, and then it had bounced back far enough to block both southbound
    lanes. I'm damned if I can work it out. But the bike was OK.

    --

    A: Top-posters.
    Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

  14. TimC said:
    Quoted message said:


    It's an instinct you either have or don't.

    DaveB "who had it last night"

    Story?


    Naah you never know who might be reading and I don't use an anonymous
    postign method like cyclingforum. But I suspect the end result was a
    dent in the roof. Unusually though it was on behlf of both drivers and
    cyclists, I just happened to be the most able to demonstrate the level
    of unhapiness with what had happened.

    DaveB "yeah yeah I'm a bad ambassador for all cyclists"

  15. "TimC" <[email hidden]

    Quoted message said:

    Grrr. Anyone find that ditch over the width of the city-bound lane on
    Burwood road near Swinburne annoying?

    and how!

    Quoted message said:

    I've got blood blisters out of it, but never fallen off... yet.

    Hmm I think there is a clear path through.. I haven't hit
    anything hard for a while now...? <struggles to remember
    the road he uses every frickin' day.. >

    Quoted message said:

    Of course the council ignored me the one time I called. Might be time
    to give them another call.

    I actually emailed them about the last lot of holes I was
    hitting around the same spot. They fixed it up after a month
    or so. I was quite happy :-)

    hippy

  16. "DRS" <[email hidden]

    Quoted message said:

    Now, that begs the question: how the hell did a car end up in that


    position?

    Beach Rd., drugs, lack of sleep, speed... crash.

    hippy

  17. DRS said:

    "Tamyka Bell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]

    Quoted message said:

    Didn't I have an exciting ride home.

    Didn't you just. I went for my first ride on Beach Rd on Tuesday to try out
    the new clipless gear (ouchie! mega-calf cramps!).

    [snip]

    --

    A: Top-posters.
    Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

    Sore calves? Either cleat position or seat height - first guess is that the cleat position is a little far forward... Some clipless shoes ride higher (see LOOK for a good example) than 'flats', shortening the effective seat height. The cyclingnews Fitness Q&A section has some good articles about fit.

    Ritch

  18. Tamyka Bell said:

    Didn't I have an exciting ride home.

    [snip crash story]

    New slogan: If you ride alone, take your phone!

    T

    Sydney's drought* has turned my smooth running bike into a coffee grinder. My highlight of last night's ride home was looking at the BoM's radar and seeing a huge line of rain coming in. I dashed out from work and made it home about 20 minutes before it hit. Thank goodness for the BoM!

    Ritch

    *p_ssing rain all week.

  19. ritcho said:

    Sore calves? Either cleat position or seat height -

    Ritch

    sounds more like a common thing you can get when first taking up clipless pedalling IMHO.
    All of a sudden you also pull up, thus using calves that have happily gone along for the ride previously. Is this your first foray into clipless DRS?
    PS adjust seatheight to allow for new distance between shoe and pedal(axle)

  20. On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 at 03:15 GMT, hippy (aka Bruce)
    was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

    Quoted message said:

    "TimC" <[email hidden]

    Quoted message said:

    I've got blood blisters out of it, but never fallen off... yet.

    Hmm I think there is a clear path through.. I haven't hit
    anything hard for a while now...? <struggles to remember
    the road he uses every frickin' day.. >

    Theres sometimes a path to the left, right next to the gutter, but
    usually there is a car parked over it, or two cars 10m from each other
    either side of it, so you would have to swerve in then out again to
    miss the ditch. Naturally, I don't like swerving to miss a ditch.

    --
    TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
    [On being overcaffeinated...] Yes, this is possible - symptons include
    the sun being too loud and grokking in full what Adams meant by
    "unpleasantly like being drunk". -- Steed @ ASR

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