Six Unknown Bike Facts
I have been tagged by RBK.
Since I am a good sport I will play along. At least partially. I do find it interesting to read these things when other people do them but I don’t really care about tagging other people. The rules are shown below:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.-Check
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6). Check
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below). Check but tweaked to require they be regarding bicycling.
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them. Skip
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. Skip. See #4
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up. Will do.
Here is my list of six unknown bicycling related facts about me. At least unknown to most people.
- I estimate that in about June of 2012 I will have logged 100,000 miles on a bicycle since 1994.
- I was once shot in the arse with a BB gun by 3 juvenile delinquents. They took off running leaving their bike behind. A couple who were walking nearby and saw the incident picked up their bike. The man said if they wanted the bike back they would need to come see him.
- I have had three very dangerously close calls with automobiles. No major injuries but I did end up on the hood of a car. More importantly, no major bicycle damage. The time I ended up on the hood, a car was turning left in front of me. I didn’t collide with the car but I stopped so fast that I did an endo, flew off my bike, along with my panniers and ended up on the hood.
- I have had about half a dozen or so crashes on my bike since 1994. One was using toe clips and having them too tight when I came to a stop light. Talk about embarassing. Once I slipped off the edge of a stretch of road where there was some construction and the drop off was in the middle of the road and it was dark. The rest were on either snow/ice or after a rain. What does that tell you about riding in inclement weather?
- I once found a bird from a pet shop in a box while bicycling.
- I was riding home from work one day a few years ago when I saw three 13 year old boys who I taught in Sunday School. They had just finished building a jumping ramp for their bikes. “Hey brother Red how about trying our ramp?” I told them I would if they lowered it by half. They did. I did. I landed it and really wowed them but I don’t recommend this for men pushing 50. It was quite a jolt. I might do it again sometime but I think it is better to try practice runs at a lower level. I think I got lucky.
As stated above I won’t tag any others. But if any of you cyclists out there read this I would be interested in some unknown bicycling facts about your bicycling experiences.
November 26th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Thanks for being such a good sport.
Your list items #3 and #4 further confirmed my determination never to be on two wheels in the city.
What did you do with that bird in the box?
November 26th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
RBK: I guess #3 and #4 weren’t exactly ringing endorsements for bicycling. But consider this over 80,000 miles and about 15 years. I know people who have been hit by cars while walking on the sidewalk.
And one thing to remember about falling. Once you have had your first fall your realize they aren’t so bad after all.
November 26th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I stiill remember my first fall. I tried to jump a curb. Random, spur of the moment decision. I wound up flying head over heels and landing with my bike on top of me bcause my feet never came out of the pedals. I havn’t jumped a curb since.
November 26th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I find them interesting too, so I guess I should at least contribute once in a while. I will do my posting this Friday, but will not tag anyone either.
November 26th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
RBK: I forgot to answer the bird question. I think we called a school that was nearby to see if a child had taken it to school and lost it. No success there. I think we then took it and gave it back to a pet store.
November 26th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
First time I recall flying off my bike I was about 11. I had gotten pretty good at going really fast then standing up on the middle bar of my bike and balancing on it while I went down the street standing up. This lasted until one night around dusk I hit a pothole while doing my crazy acrobatics. I flew off my bike and landed on my face. I then skid across the road a few feet. Luckily I was close to my friends home. I went back and rang the doorbell. When my friend’s mom answered the door she almost passed out because my face was completely red, covered in blood, and dripping down my torn clothes. She got me inside and cleaned me up. In the end I only had a good sized cut on my forehead. Its amazing how much blood can come from the face. I don’t recall ever attempting to “surf” on my bike ever again. Maybe I should try that again someday
November 30th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I got shot in the butt with a shotgun south of Provo (it didn’t break skin, but it left a bunch of little bruises on the backside of half of the Y cycling team). Unfortunately there was no one there to hold the guy’s pickup hostage. We called the police who took about 30-45 minutes to show up. They found the footprints in the snow and concluded that the person was shooting at us and not the water fowl. That concluded the investigation. I currently ride by that spot each way on my commute.