[Red Leader]

Folks were telling bike (That's bicycle, not motorcyle) stories in the "accident with dog" thread, and I wanna hear more
(Top speed, crazy accident, longest ride, whatever.)

To start the ball rolling,

I once fell asleep while riding my bike on the highway. I was about 30-40 km into a 150 km ride, when I nodded off...

I woke up still riding, and still on the correct side of the road, but I'm sure I was out for more than just a second. Scared the shit out of me, so I pulled off for a bit and took a nap.


Also, I once broke the seat off of my bike while riding up a hill between towns. I guess the post was just stressed, and suddenly failed with no warning! I had to ride another 45 minutes with a jagged metal tube threatening me from below (I stood, mind you) before I finally got to town & could replace the post.

[ February 11, 2002: Message edited by: Red Leader ]

[Rat]

My top speed is something like 65.

I have to go. My dog is (literally) dying. . (bursts into tears)

[[Shizo]]

Red Leader, that's sweet distance 150km. I've been spending every summer on bike in village-like areas with little asphalt. Bike is the best! I also had such times when riding without seat :( Now that's awful if you forget that you dont have a seat under you and try to "sit". hehe

[Dr. Bang]

I was going 20 miles per hour on my bicycle and my break fell off. Anyway, the ending wasnt nice.

[Rat]

I just stopped crying (see above), and am now ready to tell of my 230km ride this summer.

Dad and I decided to ride the Carmi subdivision of the Kettle Valley Railway (CVR) this summer. We went uphill for two days, up and down the next, down the next (that was the fun day), then up on about this / angle on the last day. Unfortunately, we didn't get to ride down that. The last day was pure hell.

If you don't know what the Kettle Valley Railway is, it's an abandoned railbed in the Okanagan parts of BC, Canada. Most of it's been restored into a hiking/biking trail. For more info: look it up.

This is my dog (see above for details):
http://www.pbase.com/image/824731

[Red Leader]

Rat: I have biked that trail too..sorry about your dog.

[Shizo]: My longest ride in 1 day was 210 km(!!)

My longest trip was from Kelowna BC to Winnipeg Manitoba (2000 km) in 18 days

Dr. Bang: Yipes!!


bikes rock!

[Rat]

I can definitely relate to that (bikes rock). I join the SPOKE bike club every year. It runs through schools in the Lower Mainland in Vancouver. I've won 3 medals - 2nd, 3rd, & 1st. The third place was for the entire 2001 season, the others were individual races. Unfortunately because of the damn teachers' thing, it's cancelled this year.

I'm on here so often cuz at this moment in time, I just desperately need to talk. That was in case you're wondering about my frequent messages.

[the_monkey]

i dont have one, but a friend of mine (waaay back in the day) had just bought this brand new bike. he was kinda a nerdy guy back then, he had huge bifocals and braces that made his mouth hang open. anyways, he was riding down our street, which for the most part was downhill. as he passed me and the group of guys, he waved at us-and rode straignt into the back of a parked car at (who knows how fast). his braces left marks on the cars window.

it was one of those hillariously funny but extremly horrible situations.

[elam]

In the fall of 86, I moved to Michigan.

So, I get on my bike and explore the neighborhood.

As I'm hauling ass on the way home, my brake handle falls off my 10 speed and drops down between my spokes.

The bike flips and I just *plant* my face into the sidewalk. I didn't even try to get up, I just layed there for what seemed an eternity.

A family that was driving by stops and calls an ambulance.

So, I'm sitting in an emergency room, with some huge fat lady next to me screaming she's having a heart attack, and her children are telling her to "shut the fuck up!".

The only thing that kept my teeth in my gums were my braces, but they still had to torque on'em to get straight again.

The next day, I started high school.
I roll in right around lunch time. So I grab a lunch and sit down at a table and start eating.

After about five minutes this dude, Charlie Bennet, who happens to be retarded, asks if he can sit next to me. As if my day can't get any worse. "Sure, man.", I say.

He keeps asking me if I got beat up, as did everyone else I met for the next two weeks.

All the friends I eventually made thought I was retarded before they met me.(still do)

[Sedone]

I have a few funny bike stories.

When I was about 12 I visited my cousin, who lived on top of this big ol' hill. We thought it would be fun to hop on one of those little bmx bikes, y'know, the ones made for 6 year olds, and haul ass down that hill. It was actually pretty fun for while, until my cousin decided to go for one more round. As he reached the bottom he skidded on some gravel and the next thing you know the little bike goes flying off into the trees, and he's skipping like a stone down this paved road. He was hurt pretty bad, but dammit if I didn't laugh my ass off.

Around the same age, I was riding my bike home on the first day of school. I had this shiny new mongoose I wanted to show off to all the 12 year old girlies. I guess I should've been paying more attention to the road because I ran over a glass bottle of all things. So I came crashing down and planted my belly on one of the handlebars. The world went black and when I came to, there was a crowd of kids and a teacher around me. That was the first time I ever passed out.

I'm sure I'll think of some more.

[Gimbal8]

omg do I have some bike stories...but I'll just tell a couple because I'm a long winded babbler and the stories are probably boring anyway.

I used to live right next to a major interstate highway (I-95) and there was this overpass that allowed pedestrians to cross over right near the end of the street where I lived. It was a fantiastic little structure when I was a kid. Basically there where these two spiraled cement walkways that rose up over I-95 on either side and a cement walkway that connected both ends. Chain link fence was used instead of walls. It probably rose a little over 2 stories high and there where about 3 or so full revolutions of the spiral from top to bottom. We used to go down it on our bikes, our skateboards, you name it.

This one particularly unfortunate day I was heading home from a friends house on my bike. The trick was to go as fast as you can but slow enough to keep your turning radius from getting too wide and hidding the outside fence. As usual I made it all the way through really fast, but for some reason I screwed up when I was exiting the overpass where there was a 90 deg corner. My handle bar just barely clipped the chain link fence and it spun my handle bar 90 degrees which made me start to flip.

I probably would have landed flat on my face if it wasn't for the fact that the handlebar, still turned 90 degrees, broke my fall by hitting me square in the chest. It knocked the wind out of me so bad I couldn't move or breath. My hands couldn't reach the ground so I was just being held above the ground by my handlebars for what seemed like and eternity before I got enough strength in me to shift my weight to one side and fall off. I had a hideous circular cut/bruise in the center of my chest for weeks.

The other story I have to tell is about the ugly duckling bike my friend loaned me while he used my 10 speed to get to and from work for about a month. He gave me this bike that was about 2 sizes to small for me and I had to peddle a couple million revolutions just to move a foot (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration but you get my point). Anyway, I used to travel about 10 miles just to go to this big arcade on the weeekends. I put my bike in the bikerack (next to about a dozen nice looking bikes) without locking it up because I figured nobody would steal it. I walk out of the arcade about 2 hours later to find a couple of cops talking to some rather upset arcade patrons who had all of their bikes stolen. Apparently a van back up to the bike racks, someone jumped out with bolt cutters and tossed all the bikes in the van then took off.

Sitting alone, unmolested in the bike rack was that stupid looking bike I rode in on. The only one that wasn't locked up. I was kinda hessitant at first but with everyones eyes on me I got on my undersized bike and squeekily rode off.

[Briareos]

Bicycles are evil

*shivers*



[ February 12, 2002: Message edited by: Briareos ]

[Lunatique]

Hehehe. Funny stories.

Rat-- I'm so sorry about your dog. That picture is REALLY cute. I lost my cat years ago(died in my arms), so I understand your pain. Don't worry, I hear that doggie heaven is the coolest place.

My bike story:

When I was riding with my sister(I was 10, she was 15)on my blue BMX bike, I noticed a street vendor selling parrots(very colorful). So, I turned my head to look, and when I turned back to face the front, I smacked full speed into a parked taxi. I flew forward and my TEETH landed on the trunk of the taxi. One of my front tooth was shattered to little pieces, which I had to spit out endlessly, and I broke another front tooth in half. When I got home, my mom was extremely pissed because it costs a lot of money to go to the dentist(she didn't even bother to ask if I was ok). Anyway, I have a crown where that tooth used to be.

Another time(I was 11), I was carrying my little brother(he was 6) to go mail out a proof of purchase for a GI JOE action figure(so we could get a cool windsurfing GI JOE that was not for sale in the stores). Halfway there, my little brother(who was sitting in the middle bar, side ways) accidentally got his foot caught in the wheel. So, both of us flew up and I landed on my face. His foot was in severe pain from getting caught in the wheel(I don't remember if he broke anything), and half of my face was gone(the skin). I was bleeding out of my face and looked like a mutant freak from a horror flick.

I asked him, "Does it look serious enough for immediate medical attention?" He just looked at me and nodded quietly. So, we knocked on the door of this old lady(we crashed in front of her house)and asked for some hydrogen peroxide. Of course, she FREAKED OUT when she saw my face. Then we went home and it took over an hour for my sister to pick all the gravel/pebbles out of my torn, fleshy, sticky face. It was really gross.

I stayed home for a loooong time after that(it was winter vacation)because I didn't want to go out looking like Freddie.

Luckily, it healed over just fine. *whew*

I'm not even going to talk about the time the handle bar slammed into my nuts. . ..

[ February 12, 2002: Message edited by: Lunatique ]

[Rat]

Thanks, Lunatique.

Why the hell did I volunteer to go to school after that??? Jesus, or as my mom said (to my sister): "Fuck Jesus Christ!" replied directly by: "Why'd she want to?" (hehe, true story).

Anyway, I keep remembering funny/painful bike stories (and I'm only 14!). Once, my friend and I were messing around disabling the brakes on my bike, and then my other friend came and asked if she could have a ride. We reconnected the brakes, and she started riding. Little did we know at the time, but one of the cables hadn't been put back together right. It was the back brake, and she went to stop and flipped over the handlebars. Luckily it was on grass and she has an incredibly hard head. She wasn't hurt.

Gimme a few more hours and I'll probably remember a few others, I'm an avid biker!

[Dr.Squirley]

OK, so my dad and i are riding in the rural areas of the maine, about as rural as you get...really... I have my Mountian bike because i expected dirt roads and the like, my father on the other hand has his nice german road bike because, well thats the only bike he himself owns. Ok, so were riding down a hill of sorts, and entering a covered bridge. Hes keeping up with me pretty well, untill i look over and hes gone. I look back and he lieing face down on the bridge, the bike has sort of fallen on top of him. Basically his thin racing wheels had fallen in between the boards on the bridge and gotten stuck propelling my father sharply down for him to meet the wood. His helmet stopped his nose from being broken but you can see where the planks of wood impacted the helmet and where the gap was that caught the wheel. Uh, moral of the story is wear your helmet, or dont move to maine.

[Rat]

I'm just gonna keep comin' back.

I just remembered another one. This one didn't happen to me, my friend told me about it:

His friend had one of those top-of-the-line bikes, y'know, the ones that cost about $5000. Well, he was riding it off this huge jump and, well let's just say, he didn't exactly make the landing. His $5000 bike was reduced to a $0.50 bike, while he had something like a broken wrist and some cuts and gashes. I flinched just hearing about it. *shudder*

More stories coming (I think). I have a million hidden in the dark crevices of my brain.

Oh yeah, my sister once rode her bike into the back of a car - unfortunately, she wasn't hurt.

[[Shizo]]

Dr.Squirley, i disagree.
The moral of this story is: Buy a new bike!

[Rat]

I'm baaaaaack....

Either that or give up on the "bike" theory totally (GASP!!! Did I just say that???)

Dad once rode his bike into my dog. Dog was fine after that, but lately, well if you read some of my previous posts, you'd know.

Oh yeah, I think the kid's parents may've killed him.

[edraket]

Wow cool.
I competed for a few years on the mountainbike. Up to expert level. So I could probably tell stories for three days in a row.

This is one of the best however. Because of a heart disease I had had to stop racing. After almost two years that was pretty much dealt with and I decided to try to compete in this local race again. After the start I was pretty much in the front (I was in the lowest class). We were probably going at like..35 mph when in the first turn this geeko that had somehow managed to get up there in the front didn't know how to take the turn and crashed into me from the side. I fell.. I had like thirty people run me over. Noone got hurt except for me. I broke my elbow and was pretty much wrecked allover. I never really took up the sport after that. Too disillusioned.
But... There is a definate positive side to all this. Two days later I was really bored and so I started talking to someone on icq.
That someone was from Long Beach CA. I ended up visiting her and she me. She's now my wife and lives here with me in Holland.

[[Shizo]]

WHAT! You met your wife on icq? Did you do one of those "buddy search" thingies cause i wanna try that. Hehe scary.. visiting someone in CA from Holland who you only know by icq :0

[jome]

Over here in Belgium, motorists really try to do everything to run you over, scoop you up, or at least try to graze you. In a land of 10 million inhabitants, every year 10000+ people die in traffic. That's a lot compared to Sweden: about the same number of inhabitants, and only 850 deaths a year.
So numerous are the times that I went over someone's hood, clipped a side mirror, or scratched a door.
This is in a town area. Cars don't drive too fast and I never really got hurt. In fact, I can say that I stopped being afraid of 'em. I love to damage a car realizing it's not my fault he didn't see me coming, then stand up and drive away. Bike-guerrilla.
I must warn you though, monday morning is no time to play games with agressive, caffein-laden motorists... And don't fool with housemusic-lovers.

Most unfortunate accident was when a car ran me off the road, and I crashed into another car that was standing still. I left a note for the owner, because I had to do an exam in fifteen minutes. I did very bad at the oral exam, but the teacher admitted there were some mitigating circumstances. After all, I was still slightly bleeding on both hands -and shaking too- when I had to answer questions about medieval literature.

[atomicmonkey]

I'm laughing pretty good listening to these. My story is all about me being a dumbass as a little kid, but what the hell, we all do some stupid things...

I got this sweet ghostbusters bike attachment from mcdonalds or something. Anyway, you hook it on to your handlebar and when you ride and the wind hits it, it starts spinning and stuff. I was so happy when I started to see it work, I was just looking at it and not paying attention to where I was going. Well, I ended up crashing head first into a big mail box unit. I can't really remember how much it hurt, but I do remeber I was really sad because the ghostbuster thing broke :/.

[edraket]

Shizo..actually She was going to come to holland for this student exchange thing anyways. Which is how she found me. To ask about what art museums to visit and stuff.
So I got to see her once or twice while she was here. (At one point she was staying 15 minutes away from me but her host family wouldn't let her see me)
We hit it off so well that I decided to fly to CA as soon as she went back.

I know a lot of people that actually found their girlfriend through icq. People think it's pathetic. But it's just such an easy way to find someone that you have common grounds with. And also a very safe way to get to know each other and be completely honest about yourself.