I'm an idiot thread

Eleri
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby Eleri » Wed Nov 21, 2012 1:06 pm

I was riding in an Audax on a country road and the weather had alternated between drizzle and dry. We were 200km into the ride and I decided it was dry enough to take my rain-jacket off. Didn't want to lose the guys I was riding with so decided to disrobe whilst riding. All good until I failed to control the arms and the both flapped behind and got caught in the back wheel either side of me. As I rolled forward, they got tangled up around the brake, the bike came to a stop.

I was effectively trapped on the seat with the arms very tightly holding me to it! A bit like a seatbelt. Only problem (other than the rather abrupt stop) was that I then couldn't get off the seat to get my foot on the ground properly. I was very precariously balanced on one tippy toe whilst trying to loosen the arms of my jacket. Almost fell over, but fortunately stayed upright.

The guys "wondered where I went" but it took about 10kms to catch them. Upon hearing what had happened they helpfully advised me to get off the bike before disrobing. :oops:

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WestcoastPete
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby WestcoastPete » Wed Nov 21, 2012 1:19 pm

Just bought a star nut setter off the forum.

Found the star nut setter I'd forgotten I'd ordered a few months ago in the bottom of my tool box...

Ozkaban
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby Ozkaban » Wed Nov 21, 2012 2:30 pm

InTheWoods wrote:New Airzound turned up today. Was attaching it to bike in enclosed garage when I started to wonder how the button actually worked, and pressed button while watching what it did. Didn't realise it came from the factory pre-loaded :shock:

Everything seems so much quieter now :roll:
I did this. Except I was in my open plan office where the parcel was delivered. There were more than a few exclamations from coworkers after the thing went off followed by a rather humble 'sorry...'

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Byke
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby Byke » Thu Nov 22, 2012 11:40 pm

Family camping trip at Easter. Load my road and mountain bikes on the roof, and remember all the necessary gear for both.

Partner gets home from work and we're away. 20 minutes down the road, she asks "Did you bring the chairs?". No. "Did you bring the stove?". No. "Did you… "

Turn around and head back to get the chairs, stove, cutlery, crockery, cooking utensils, saucepans … Hey, I did remember the tent.

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Byke
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby Byke » Thu Nov 22, 2012 11:45 pm

A friend of a friend - I promise - has driven his car into his garage not once, not twice but three times with a bike mounted on his roof racks.

He's finally put together an elaborate sensor setup complete with flashing red lights and a loud alarm so he doesn't add any further to his impressive tally.

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geoffs
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby geoffs » Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:26 am

I was living in London and needed to go to the French consulate to get my visa sorted during my lunch break which wasn't long. When I carried the bike from upstairs in the pub where I was working i had to carry it with the front wheel removed as the stair case was so narrow. I got out the door and put the front wheel in and off I went. I had just done a 6month 12,000 km tour around Western Europe and was pretty fit so when I took off I was sprinting. Then I noticed I was overtaking my front wheel a millisecond before I did a face plant and fed my glasses through my left ear.
Still have the scars 23years later.
Tightening the front skewer is a good thing to do :-)

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geoffs
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby geoffs » Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:26 am

I was living in London and needed to go to the French consulate to get my visa sorted during my lunch break which wasn't long. When I carried the bike from upstairs in the pub where I was working i had to carry it with the front wheel removed as the stair case was so narrow. I got out the door and put the front wheel in and off I went. I had just done a 6month 12,000 km tour around Western Europe and was pretty fit so when I took off I was sprinting. Then I noticed I was overtaking my front wheel a millisecond before I did a face plant and fed my glasses through my left ear.
Still have the scars 23years later.
Tightening the front skewer is a good thing to do :-)

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ldrcycles
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby ldrcycles » Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:54 am

Oh OUCH :( .
"I must be rather keen on cycling"- Sir Hubert Opperman.

Road Record Association of Australia

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burger
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby burger » Fri Nov 23, 2012 12:38 pm

Forgot my work pass one day . . . realised this about halfway into work and thought no worries I'll get a visitors pass.
Get the visitors pass, no worries, go around to my building up into the change room, put down my back pack and start taking off my gear, go to open my locker . . . .

Yup that's right my locker key is attached to the pass.




but not any more . . . . :roll:
The world is round, so what seems like the end may actually be the beginning.

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find_bruce
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby find_bruce » Fri Nov 23, 2012 4:17 pm

Yep the dreaded access pass. I need a pass to get into the building on the weekend. Not so long ago I had left my bike at work& took the little boy in to ride it home. I had ferried the bike & trailer down in the elevator, put the little boy in the trailer so he couldn't run away, took the bike outside, saw the doors closing & realised - my pass was in the trailer which was inside :shock: :shock:

Managed to dive back through the doors just before they closed. Not sure how I would have explained to SWMBO that the little boy was safe & secure & we could pick him up on Monday :oops:

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vince
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby vince » Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:39 pm

my turn, i decided to short cut through a service station driveway on my ride and i was playing with my computer for no good reason, my eyes were not fully on the job when all of a sudden i'm thrown onto the driveway !!!!!!!!!!!!! no , it wasn't a car that got me, it was a drain grate that my front wheel dropped into ??? unclipping and picking myself up quickly i was unaware the a car had pulled, of all people to see the incident was a couple of the local cops,
cop 1 "are you ok?"
me , standing there bleeding elbow, knee, leg etc " yeah, just a broken ego, thanks" with a laugh at my own stupidity
cop 1 "no worries" cop 2 doing better than her best not to laugh out loud.
What i learned.................. how quick you can ride after an act of embarrassing stupidity!
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bychosis
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby bychosis » Sun Nov 25, 2012 8:19 am

After adjusting the bike in the garage I often ride it out the back door for a lap of the yard test ride. Got on the bike yesterday without mounting properly, figured I would swing my left leg over once outside the door. Not sure exactly what went wrong, possibly clipped the door frame with handlebars. Resulted in head butting the door frame after dropping the bike before getting outside.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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InTheWoods
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby InTheWoods » Sun Nov 25, 2012 8:21 am

vince wrote:my turn, i decided to short cut through a service station driveway on my ride and i was playing with my computer for no good reason,
I misread that as you were playing a computer game and I was thinking well you deserve whatever comes next!! :)

I can add more :(

Putting a new tyre on rear wheel, getting it all nice and straight, logo lined up with valve etc. And then realising its directional and around the wrong way...

Riding around for the last 6 months with a spare tube and pump... and as it turns out... no tyre levers. Lucky I never get flats! (Try getting a marathon plus off without levers)

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ldrcycles
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby ldrcycles » Sun Nov 25, 2012 2:23 pm

bychosis wrote:After adjusting the bike in the garage I often ride it out the back door for a lap of the yard test ride. Got on the bike yesterday without mounting properly, figured I would swing my left leg over once outside the door. Not sure exactly what went wrong, possibly clipped the door frame with handlebars. Resulted in head butting the door frame after dropping the bike before getting outside.
Reminds me of a bloke who clipstacked while riding round his driveway, broke his leg in 2 places :( .
"I must be rather keen on cycling"- Sir Hubert Opperman.

Road Record Association of Australia

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bychosis
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby bychosis » Sun Nov 25, 2012 3:38 pm

ldrcycles wrote:
bychosis wrote:After adjusting the bike in the garage I often ride it out the back door for a lap of the yard test ride. Got on the bike yesterday without mounting properly, figured I would swing my left leg over once outside the door. Not sure exactly what went wrong, possibly clipped the door frame with handlebars. Resulted in head butting the door frame after dropping the bike before getting outside.
Reminds me of a bloke who clipstacked while riding round his driveway, broke his leg in 2 places :( .
Think I've done some proper damage to an elbow. At the time ankle and head were hurt, as the day went on... I can't extend or close my elbow fully or put much load on it now.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

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Marto
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby Marto » Mon Nov 26, 2012 2:22 pm

Forgot my water bottle today. It is maturing nicely on my kitchen bench at home. I didn't have small change to buy a bottle of water, and I thought water fountains and taps would be easy to find in a metro area, but that isn't always the case.

Another one, does anyone else check they remembered their helmet soon after riding off? When you get the fit and straps just right, and have a cap underneath, there isn't much to go by. This also goes for shorts, just in case that horrible dream comes true.
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Baalzamon
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby Baalzamon » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:02 pm

Marto wrote:Forgot my water bottle today. It is maturing nicely on my kitchen bench at home. I didn't have small change to buy a bottle of water, and I thought water fountains and taps would be easy to find in a metro area, but that isn't always the case.

Another one, does anyone else check they remembered their helmet soon after riding off? When you get the fit and straps just right, and have a cap underneath, there isn't much to go by. This also goes for shorts, just in case that horrible dream comes true.
I wear a bandana under my helmet. Just under a km from home and I'm zipping down a short 10% hill I start thinking I'm feeling very cool up top, hand reaches up, no helmet ARRGH I gotta climb up that hill now!
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find_bruce
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby find_bruce » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:16 pm

Marto wrote:Forgot my water bottle today. It is maturing nicely on my kitchen bench at home. I didn't have small change to buy a bottle of water, and I thought water fountains and taps would be easy to find in a metro area, but that isn't always the case.

Another one, does anyone else check they remembered their helmet soon after riding off? When you get the fit and straps just right, and have a cap underneath, there isn't much to go by. This also goes for shorts, just in case that horrible dream comes true.
Marto, whilst I will accept that leaving home without wearing shorts would fall within the scope of this thread, I call BS on the suggestion that you "forgot" :wink:

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Byke
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby Byke » Mon Nov 26, 2012 9:52 pm

bychosis wrote:Think I've done some proper damage to an elbow. At the time ankle and head were hurt, as the day went on... I can't extend or close my elbow fully or put much load on it now.
Not long after I had had a knee reconstruction I visited a mate in Canberra. I borrowed a bike from a friend of his who had been living in Switzerland for a few years - long enough that he'd set his bike up with European brake routing (left to front, right to rear). Because of my reconstructed knee I was more nervous about his SPDs, which I'd never used before, and after practising unclipping multiple times went for a gentle ride around the lake along the bike paths.

Saw a car approaching so 'gently' applied the brakes. 15 years of muscle memory betrayed me, though, and I went over the handlebars.

Lying on the ground my knee seemed okay, and whilst i had a bit of a headache my head seemed okay. My arm was a bit sore…

Could barely sleep that night and went to the hospital the next day. Tiny hairline fracture in the elbow, but boy did it sting.

Lazyweek
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby Lazyweek » Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:10 pm

This probably belongs in this thread-

I was riding along a path tonight and noticed quite a bit of deris across the path from the weekends storms. Because of this I am paying close attention to the path in front of me so I don't run into any small branches. All of a sudden a get a big wack on my helmet and wobbled around thinking "what the hell was that," then I fell off. Turns out the fence was hanging out across the path at head height which I didn't notice as my lights were pointed downwards. After hitting the fence, it also turns out that I hit a witches hat which is probably what made me fall off.

Lesson learned: Maybe I need some more powerful lights.

cp123
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby cp123 » Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:34 pm

I was competing at a Veterans Athletics thing on the weekend. Another competitor was doing a hammer throw and did a complete misthrow and it piffed well out of the sector. I saw it coming for me and went FAAAARRRRRRRK as i didn't want to get clobbered by a 4 kg lump of steel so i leapt out of the way but put my arm up in self defence (instinct?) to protect my head. THUNK! I have barely been able to move my wrist for the past 4 days although an x ray said my wrist wasn't broken. i can't even ride a bike as it wouldn't be safe. plus it would currently kill. c'mon Dr Time - do your thing.

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jacob_T
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby jacob_T » Tue Dec 25, 2012 5:52 pm

Currently stopped on the side of the road waiting for the support car (friend) to bring my helmet. Was so excited to ride today forgot to put it on.

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ILMB
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby ILMB » Wed Dec 26, 2012 12:17 am

jacob_T wrote:Currently stopped on the side of the road waiting for the support car (friend) to bring my helmet. Was so excited to ride today forgot to put it on.
I think it was just a subliminal message that you'd prefer to not have to wear a helmet :wink:

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elStado
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby elStado » Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:09 pm

I only just realised the other day that a cable connecting my rear lights to my front dynamo hub had broken.. who knows how long I've been unknowingly riding around in the evening with no rear light thinking I was all sweet. I now quickly check all my lights are working and the cables are connected properly before I head off in the evening.

And last week I rode 3/4 of the way to work before spontaneously realising that I had left my security card (to access my building) on my desk back home... I had to turn around and get it, and do the commute all over again. Thankfully my commute is only ~8km long though. It more annoying rather than a physical effort.
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il padrone
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Re: I'm an idiot thread

Postby il padrone » Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:20 pm

One of the bonuses of running a light set with standlights. After every night ride I have a visual check when I dismount that the tail-light was working as it glows reassuringly.
Mandatory helmet law?
"An unjustified and unethical imposition on a healthy activity."

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