5.21.2007

bicycle fender-bender

Okay, it wasn't technically a fender-bender because I don't have fenders on my bike right now. But if I did, it would be completely bent out of shape. On my way to work I cross over a bridge and then ride down a circular ramp to exit it. I often lean towards the inside and fly down the ramp as fast as possible; hey, small pleasures right? Well, I did that today, only to find a large pile of sticks right at the bottom of the ramp. I saw the sticks and made my front end light to roll over them, but one of them magically wedged itself into the space between my wheel and fork; stopping my tire dead and effectively throwing me over the front of the bike at around 15-20mph. Well, the bike came with me because I was clipped in. After a tuck, roll and slide I got up and dusted myself off while inspecting the damage. Somehow I was completely unscathed. A little dirty, but otherwise fine. A full wedding party that was having a picnic accross the street witnessed the whole thing, and I think they were a little dissapointed when they realized I wasn't dead. My front wheel didn't fare as well unfortunately. I took a picture of the stick-in-fork (see above; notice how far the wheel is bent) and then worked it out as delicately as possible. It was in there pretty good. The rim is bent and the wire that attaches my computer and it's sensor is wrecked, but the spokes are all there, my body is intact and I gave the wedding folks something to talk about, so all is well. After adjusting the brakes I was able to wobble to work but It wasn't pretty to watch. I had to get a ride home from Amanda. At least I wasn't on the Hydrogen bike or I might not be here to talk about it. Boom.

1 comment:

Yokota Fritz said...

Ahh, that's pretty impressive. I've had rocks stuck in the space between tire and stays, but I've never thrown a stick like that.