Fixed Down!

Tony B said:

Well I suppose it was inevitable really...

Thursday night, out for a spin on my fixed cog, climbed out of my street, at
the top on the flat I went for the brake and bugger, the cable was out of
the lever. (I think it came adrift cos the QR had undone itself, seems OK
now after a bit of adjustment).

So, no bother, a bit of backwards resistance stuff and we stopped, tried in
vain to get the cable back in but it was difficult, without a spanner to
loosen it off so I turned and headed back for home, only 5 mins away, down
the big hill....

Why on earth I decided to ride back down the next road to mine, which is
hard enough to walk up, I dunno. Anyway the bike picked up speed horribly
fast, the ninety degree turn at the bottom loomed, I tried slowing but at
such a fast speed it was bloody impossible to time the back pressure
properly, then I lost my footing in the LH pedal. Balls to this, thinks I
and I looked for somewhere suitable for a tactical dismount.

A likely looking drive off to the left, with huge soft-looking bushes to
crash into, that'll do it! So in we go, head on with a last-minute turn to
take the impact broadside. Perfect!

I rolled around on the driveway for a bit, then scarpered before anyone came
out. Well, I hadn't damaged anything in the garden so there didn't seem any
reason to hang about, besides I must have looked a right 'nana!

I walked the last three humdred meters home :-0 and checked the bike out; a
wiped out toestrap, a loose crankarm and the brake cable to sort. Luckily,
no damage to anything else, beyond a bit of scuffing on the crank laquer.
Oh, and minor cuts to both my inner ankles...

What fun. I really am old enough to know better...

What's wrong with sticking your heel in between the rear tyre and the
frame, or grabbing the front wheel with your (hopefully gloved) hand?
That's the traditional way to stop a runaway bike.

"Zog The Undeniable" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:40e7e5c5.0@entanet...

Quoted message said:

What's wrong with sticking your heel in between the rear tyre and the
frame,

('Scuse if this was meant as a joke.) Ever tried this with the cranks flying
round at 200RPM???!!

Quoted message said:

or grabbing the front wheel with your (hopefully gloved) hand?
That's the traditional way to stop a runaway bike.

:-o !!

To the OP - don't worry - you only ever do that once!

The first time I rode fixed was about 20 years ago, on an early C20th road
bike which had a very primitive brake and no toe straps. I lost both feet on
a steep descent, and the brake was hopeless. The end result was similar to
yours, except that I found a ditch instead of a hedge!

"Tony B" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What fun. I really am old enough to know better...

Nice one Tony, enjoyed the story and the happy ending ;-)

AFAIC you're never too old. As I was out in the Peaks one day discussing
MTB widgets with my mates it occurred to me that although now 51 some
aspects of my life are the same as when I was 15, only the numerals are
transposed.

Pete

Simon D said:

"Zog The Undeniable" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:40e7e5c5.0@entanet...

Quoted message said:

What's wrong with sticking your heel in between the rear tyre and the
frame,

('Scuse if this was meant as a joke.) Ever tried this with the cranks flying
round at 200RPM???!!

It works on a freewheeled bike, but I can see the problem now.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

or grabbing the front wheel with your (hopefully gloved) hand?
That's the traditional way to stop a runaway bike.

This is actually used. Think of grabbing the tyre to clean grit off
(lots of people do this) but grip harder.

The messengers use something called a "skip stop". Basically you
unweight the rear wheel completely, lock it using the cranks, then brace
yourself and let it down again. The tyre does the braking. It works on
the principle that once the tyre is sliding, the friction is
insufficient to force your legs round.

Tony B:

Quoted message said:

What fun. I really am old enough to know better...

Sounds like you got off lightly. Now don't do it again! (as if you needed
telling)

d.

Zog The Undeniable [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Simon D said:

"Zog The Undeniable" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:40e7e5c5.0@entanet...

Quoted message said:

What's wrong with sticking your heel in between the rear tyre and the
frame,

('Scuse if this was meant as a joke.) Ever tried this with the cranks flying
round at 200RPM???!!

It works on a freewheeled bike, but I can see the problem now.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

or grabbing the front wheel with your (hopefully gloved) hand?
That's the traditional way to stop a runaway bike.

This is actually used. Think of grabbing the tyre to clean grit off
(lots of people do this) but grip harder.

The messengers use something called a "skip stop". Basically you
unweight the rear wheel completely, lock it using the cranks, then brace
yourself and let it down again. The tyre does the braking. It works on
the principle that once the tyre is sliding, the friction is
insufficient to force your legs round.

The downside being that the heat from the friction melts your tyre and
with the reduced traction you won't slow down fast enough. A variant on
this is to flick the back wheel out as you go and "plant" the inside
foot so that you slide sideways. This will give you a slightly greater
contact area. Fundamentally though... it's gonna hurt!

Jon

Zog The Undeniable said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

or grabbing the front wheel with your (hopefully gloved) hand?
That's the traditional way to stop a runaway bike.

This is actually used. Think of grabbing the tyre to clean grit off
(lots of people do this) but grip harder.

But remember to grab in front of the forks. Otherwise you get a broken hand
and a broken neck.

...d