The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

[Red Rider]

This week's dumb cyclist - me. Riding home last night, combination of wet tram tracks, thin tyres and general inattention well that's just a recipe for disaster and so it proved. Bike slid out from underneath me and my right wrist took pretty much the whole impact of the fall. End result - multiple fractures to the wrist, 2 plates, 12 screws and a second night at The Alfred (composing this from my hospital bed as we speak).

And to make matters worse, just spoke to the physio and I'm not allowed to even think about getting back on the bike for a minimum of six weeks.

That sucks! Hope the wrist heals well. As mentioned, make the most of it, it's great fun watching movies or bike races while riding on a trainer or on the gym bike.

[g-boaf]

This week's dumb cyclist - me. Riding home last night, combination of wet tram tracks, thin tyres and general inattention well that's just a recipe for disaster and so it proved. Bike slid out from underneath me and my right wrist took pretty much the whole impact of the fall. End result - multiple fractures to the wrist, 2 plates, 12 screws and a second night at The Alfred (composing this from my hospital bed as we speak).

And to make matters worse, just spoke to the physio and I'm not allowed to even think about getting back on the bike for a minimum of six weeks.

Ouch - not good. Try a bike on the trainer instead. That should keep you in some fitness for the time being.

Hope you mend quickly.

[jasonc]

what other wonderful lines can I use...

Wave a cigarette at him and ask if he has a light?

oh man, that is a winner! I'll buy a packet of fads

[Cowcorner]

Not good , any one that has had a fall will sympathise. Just as a matter of interest, did you unclip OK or was that a contributing factor.
I have some SPD"s on order but a bit apprehensive re an emergency stop or accident.

I actually use toe clips and was still both feet in at the time - that's the really dumb part. This particular section crosses behind the tram depot in South Melbourne so the path traverses where the trams enter and exit. Usually I'm through that section with no worries, but of course didn't allow for the wet weather. Under the conditions I should have loosed at least one foot. Oh we'll hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[Cowcorner]

Seriously ouch!

Out of curiosity, did the break occur because you extended you arm (and hand) to break the fall? Palm to ground first?

That's exactly how it was. I've come off in the past but usually not with both feet clipped in at the time - this time the palm/wrist took the full impact. I actually didn't know I'd done any damage until I tried to get up and got the resultant crunching and numbness up the right arm.

Funnily enough the admission guys at the hospital said they had another cyclist in the week before - same location, same result. At least I'm not the only klutz.

Just waiting for post-op X-rays to be done then I can go home (yay). I'll probably miss the Endone though.

[Summernight]

Ouchies. Heal well and fast, Cowcorner. Didn't you have another incident recently too with a MM?

[Lizzy]

Yow, better luck next time cowcorner

[Cowcorner]

Ouchies. Heal well and fast, Cowcorner. Didn't you have another incident recently too with a MM?

Funny you should mention that Summernight - I was thinking the same thing while I'm in here. It is almost exactly a year since the previous one. Must be something about April I think. Bit different however - the last one was all MM and only four hours in hospital whereas this time I've done more damage and got no one to blame but myself.

[KenMac02]

Locked my bike up at a pole to go to the shops at Burwood & come back to find someone else has locked their bike over it...

And by over it I mean he has literally jammed his cycle over mine, entangling the brakes & digging deep scratches into my bike in the process.
One week I've had the bike - 2nd hand but in great condition & I just put 2 coats of polish on it protect the paintwork - bloody furious.

Worst thing about it is that there was unused poles right down the street, the nearest 10 feet in either direction - that's probably less than the distance from the couch to the fridge for most people.
Inconsiderate pr*ck...

[il padrone]

So how did you get you bike out? Wait until the other bike-owner returned? Did you give him/her a serve??

Fly on the wall stuff

[Percrime]

If someone had done that to me I would have walked to the nearest hardware shop and bought a hacksaw

[Mulger bill]

If someone had done that to me I would have walked to the nearest hardware shop and bought a hacksaw

You planning on removing the lock from the bike or the bike from the lock?

[human909]

Funnily enough the admission guys at the hospital said they had another cyclist in the week before - same location, same result. At least I'm not the only klutz.

Its not about being a klutz, its probably the opposite. You haven't had enough practice falling!

That is a common way to fall, and a very common way to break wrists. Falling off a bicycle is relatively rare but severe and unless you have had year of falling practice then it can get damaging quickly.

[KenMac02]

So how did you get you bike out? Wait until the other bike-owner returned? Did you give him/her a serve??

Fly on the wall stuff

His lock was actually threaded through my lock so just had to dig around under the bike & reach into the centre of the mess to unluck mine in the middle, then thread it through everything (nice graze on the arm from it). Trying to untangle the brakes without ripping things up was worse...

Thought about going looking for the jerk - or just wait around to give him a piece of my mind - but figured the result probably wouldn't of been pretty & not likely to go down well in the middle of the main street ...

[outnabike]

It would have been worth watching from a distance if you mistakenly double locked his bike with your lock. Hang the expense....

[BianchiCam]

Yep, would've done that too. Asshat!

[il padrone]

Would have been a crying shame if you had left a buckle in his rim

[bychosis]

Would have been a crying shame if you had left a buckle in his rim

That could be considered a bit harsh, letting all the air out of tyres doesn't cause any lasting damage though . Perhaps giving the gear adjusters a few urns for good measure would make one feel better too.

[ianK]

I actually use toe clips and was still both feet in at the time - that's the really dumb part. This particular section crosses behind the tram depot in South Melbourne so the path traverses where the trams enter and exit. Usually I'm through that section with no worries, but of course didn't allow for the wet weather. Under the conditions I should have loosed at least one foot. Oh we'll hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Wow, I think I fell at exactly the same spot in somewhat similar circumstances a couple of years back (broke the elbow in three places - like you I now sport some cute stainless steel screw). Hope you heal quickly and can be back up the bike soonish.

[herzog]

Wow.

[jasonc]

I'm going to put this here, til it's proved otherwise:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... 42618&p=16" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Story: 3 cyclists wavering in and out of 2 lanes in front of me about 50m short of a roundabout. I'm conscious of their totally oblivious and reckless riding so slow to about 10kph behind them in the right lane waiting for them to choose a lane. Beep horn to one cyclist in front of me who suddenly realises what he's doing and he moves into left lane. Zero contact. Not even an issue. Fine.

Dribble remaining 25m up to roundabout, come to complete stop to give way to other cars and aforementioned cyclist slams fist into left side of my car. I get out of car. Second cyclist in group rides around the back of my car and then starts smashing into the right hand side of my car. Not once but twice. Smashes right side view mirror to pieces.

Again, zero contact by me with these cyclists. I'm the one who's been totally responsible and alert to the point of actually avoiding any accident with these air brains and this is what I get. Unreal. Any wonder there's a call for regos on bikes. Reported it to the cops but coz I can't identify them it's all pretty much pointless.

[alexander]

Total asshat (love that word by the way) this morning. Jumps the red at the costco corner inbound on footscray rd path. Neglects to see the guy turning right off fooscray rd into the costco rd. Nearly goes across the bonnet of the car. Luckily the driver saw him in time and pulled up, and only stopped short of the DC by 1m.

I yelled at the DC, telling him that he shouldn't be jumping reds and he was a complete tool, he looked a bit offended and I could tell he didn't like being told off.

[Ignoto]

Too many stories to read, not enough video to watch.

[ColinOldnCranky]

I love people like this. They make me look so much smater.

This one has to score really high on the dumbness scale. Jacket sleeves do not coexist well with spoked wheels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlPM2fwO ... detailpage

[outnabike]

I love people like this. They make me look so much smater.

This one has to score really high on the dumbness scale. Jacket sleeves do not coexist well with spoked wheels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlPM2fwO ... detailpage

The funny thing is if you are going to do that for fun, keep the jacket on to protect your arms. Just stick your foot in the spokes.