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Bicycle incidents without any helmet relevance (add yours), a safe thread even for AHZ with a sense of humor
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Andre Jute
Jul 9, 2014, 11:09:37 AM7/9/14
to
We rarely get snow and ice on roads have usually melted by the time I rise. I don't commute, so I have no urgent need to ride my bicycle when the road surface is dangerous.
But black ice can happen to anyone. It happened to me on a really beautiful sunny winter's day because a bit of road subsidence on a well known hill caused a run of water in the shade of a bunch of blackthorns (a pedalpal claims their proper name is whitethorns, go figure) over the road which the sun never reached and I couldn't see. Fortunately I was going up; downhill it would have turned very nasty indeed. My bike skidded but, because it is a mixte, and my reflexes are still rather fast, I managed to get both my feet on the road, and bike and I slid back twenty or thirty feet before we found purchase. I was wearing my helmet (I'm partial to the fetching Bell Metro and Citi helmets, and German pickelhaube from WW1), but it didn't save me from the black ice; my lawyers are still writing to Big Helmet, claiming damages for psychological wear and tear.
Seriously though, that was pretty dangerous. I stopped a couple of cars. In one was a woman separated from her children, who'd already tried all the other roads to the top of this hill and found them impassible and dangerous. I told her to hug the crown of the road, not to engage a low gear, and to steer into any skid. She said two farmers who pulled her out of a ditch already told her, then asked me to tell her again. Her husband told me on the street a few days later that she made it and was brewing up a tub of sloe gin for me. The other driver was a jerk-up. He told me he paid for a four-wheel-drive Audi and knew how to drive it. Down the road a bit first the police accident truck and then an ambulance passed me; I guessed he overestimated his skill. A few days later I inspected the damaged ditch and hedge where he crashed his Audi.
See, it is safe for the anti-helmet zealots to come out from under that bed they keep falling off. Well, not right now, but when the black ice goes. Dunno when that will be, though.
Andre Jute
Off to ride. Maximum goodwill, happy campers, even to anti-helmet zealots.
But black ice can happen to anyone. It happened to me on a really beautiful sunny winter's day because a bit of road subsidence on a well known hill caused a run of water in the shade of a bunch of blackthorns (a pedalpal claims their proper name is whitethorns, go figure) over the road which the sun never reached and I couldn't see. Fortunately I was going up; downhill it would have turned very nasty indeed. My bike skidded but, because it is a mixte, and my reflexes are still rather fast, I managed to get both my feet on the road, and bike and I slid back twenty or thirty feet before we found purchase. I was wearing my helmet (I'm partial to the fetching Bell Metro and Citi helmets, and German pickelhaube from WW1), but it didn't save me from the black ice; my lawyers are still writing to Big Helmet, claiming damages for psychological wear and tear.
Seriously though, that was pretty dangerous. I stopped a couple of cars. In one was a woman separated from her children, who'd already tried all the other roads to the top of this hill and found them impassible and dangerous. I told her to hug the crown of the road, not to engage a low gear, and to steer into any skid. She said two farmers who pulled her out of a ditch already told her, then asked me to tell her again. Her husband told me on the street a few days later that she made it and was brewing up a tub of sloe gin for me. The other driver was a jerk-up. He told me he paid for a four-wheel-drive Audi and knew how to drive it. Down the road a bit first the police accident truck and then an ambulance passed me; I guessed he overestimated his skill. A few days later I inspected the damaged ditch and hedge where he crashed his Audi.
See, it is safe for the anti-helmet zealots to come out from under that bed they keep falling off. Well, not right now, but when the black ice goes. Dunno when that will be, though.
Andre Jute
Off to ride. Maximum goodwill, happy campers, even to anti-helmet zealots.
jbeattie
Jul 9, 2014, 4:40:41 PM7/9/14
to
We also get this sort of stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knkq_f7iikU (I don't think that's Oregon, though). Gives you an opportunity for boot skiing/skating. When it sneaks up on you during a ride, you're toast. And for Frank, by "sneak up" I mean riding on the west slope in Spring, hitting a shaded area and . . . surprise!
-- Jay Beattie.
Andre Jute
Jul 9, 2014, 6:34:43 PM7/9/14
to
On Wednesday, July 9, 2014 9:40:41 PM UTC+1, jbeattie wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 9, 2014 8:09:37 AM UTC-7, Andre Jute wrote:
>
> > We rarely get snow and ice on roads have usually melted by the time I rise. I don't commute, so I have no urgent need to ride my bicycle when the road surface is dangerous.
>
> > But black ice can happen to anyone. It happened to me on a really beautiful sunny winter's day because a bit of road subsidence on a well known hill caused a run of water in the shade of a bunch of blackthorns (a pedalpal claims their proper name is whitethorns, go figure) over the road which the sun never reached and I couldn't see. Fortunately I was going up; downhill it would have turned very nasty indeed. My bike skidded but, because it is a mixte, and my reflexes are still rather fast, I managed to get both my feet on the road, and bike and I slid back twenty or thirty feet before we found purchase. I was wearing my helmet (I'm partial to the fetching Bell Metro and Citi helmets, and German pickelhaube from WW1), but it didn't save me from the black ice; my lawyers are still writing to Big Helmet, claiming damages for psychological wear and tear.
>
> > Seriously though, that was pretty dangerous. I stopped a couple of cars. In one was a woman separated from her children, who'd already tried all the other roads to the top of this hill and found them impassible and dangerous. I told her to hug the crown of the road, not to engage a low gear, and to steer into any skid. She said two farmers who pulled her out of a ditch already told her, then asked me to tell her again. Her husband told me on the street a few days later that she made it and was brewing up a tub of sloe gin for me. The other driver was a jerk-up. He told me he paid for a four-wheel-drive Audi and knew how to drive it. Down the road a bit first the police accident truck and then an ambulance passed me; I guessed he overestimated his skill. A few days later I inspected the damaged ditch and hedge where he crashed his Audi.
>
> > See, it is safe for the anti-helmet zealots to come out from under that bed they keep falling off. Well, not right now, but when the black ice goes. Dunno when that will be, though.
>
> > Andre Jute
>
> > Off to ride. Maximum goodwill, happy campers, even to anti-helmet zealots.
>
> Half-mile from my office: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCoxOReXlHI
Holy Moses, that's a quarter million in damage right there.
> On Wednesday, July 9, 2014 8:09:37 AM UTC-7, Andre Jute wrote:
>
> > We rarely get snow and ice on roads have usually melted by the time I rise. I don't commute, so I have no urgent need to ride my bicycle when the road surface is dangerous.
>
> > But black ice can happen to anyone. It happened to me on a really beautiful sunny winter's day because a bit of road subsidence on a well known hill caused a run of water in the shade of a bunch of blackthorns (a pedalpal claims their proper name is whitethorns, go figure) over the road which the sun never reached and I couldn't see. Fortunately I was going up; downhill it would have turned very nasty indeed. My bike skidded but, because it is a mixte, and my reflexes are still rather fast, I managed to get both my feet on the road, and bike and I slid back twenty or thirty feet before we found purchase. I was wearing my helmet (I'm partial to the fetching Bell Metro and Citi helmets, and German pickelhaube from WW1), but it didn't save me from the black ice; my lawyers are still writing to Big Helmet, claiming damages for psychological wear and tear.
>
> > Seriously though, that was pretty dangerous. I stopped a couple of cars. In one was a woman separated from her children, who'd already tried all the other roads to the top of this hill and found them impassible and dangerous. I told her to hug the crown of the road, not to engage a low gear, and to steer into any skid. She said two farmers who pulled her out of a ditch already told her, then asked me to tell her again. Her husband told me on the street a few days later that she made it and was brewing up a tub of sloe gin for me. The other driver was a jerk-up. He told me he paid for a four-wheel-drive Audi and knew how to drive it. Down the road a bit first the police accident truck and then an ambulance passed me; I guessed he overestimated his skill. A few days later I inspected the damaged ditch and hedge where he crashed his Audi.
>
> > See, it is safe for the anti-helmet zealots to come out from under that bed they keep falling off. Well, not right now, but when the black ice goes. Dunno when that will be, though.
>
> > Andre Jute
>
> > Off to ride. Maximum goodwill, happy campers, even to anti-helmet zealots.
>
> Half-mile from my office: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCoxOReXlHI
> We also get this sort of stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knkq_f7iikU (I don't think that's Oregon, though). Gives you an opportunity for boot skiing/skating. When it sneaks up on you during a ride, you're toast. And for Frank, by "sneak up" I mean riding on the west slope in Spring, hitting a shaded area and . . . surprise!
I enjoyed that moment on the black ice, but I wouldn't want to hit even a little patch of it unawares at downhill speed.
Andre Jute
* ...wherefrom my instinctive sympathy with Dan's riding style.
Dan O
Jul 9, 2014, 8:36:50 PM7/9/14
to
On Wednesday, July 9, 2014 1:40:41 PM UTC-7, jbeattie wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 9, 2014 8:09:37 AM UTC-7, Andre Jute wrote:
> > We rarely get snow and ice on roads have usually melted by the time I rise. I don't commute, so I have no urgent need to ride my bicycle when the road surface is dangerous.
> >
> > But black ice can happen to anyone. It happened to me on a really beautiful sunny winter's day because a bit of road subsidence on a well known hill caused a run of water in the shade of a bunch of blackthorns (a pedalpal claims their proper name is whitethorns, go figure) over the road which the sun never reached and I couldn't see. Fortunately I was going up; downhill it would have turned very nasty indeed. My bike skidded but, because it is a mixte, and my reflexes are still rather fast, I managed to get both my feet on the road, and bike and I slid back twenty or thirty feet before we found purchase. I was wearing my helmet (I'm partial to the fetching Bell Metro and Citi helmets, and German pickelhaube from WW1), but it didn't save me from the black ice; my lawyers are still writing to Big Helmet, claiming damages for psychological wear and tear.
> >
> > Seriously though, that was pretty dangerous. I stopped a couple of cars. In one was a woman separated from her children, who'd already tried all the other roads to the top of this hill and found them impassible and dangerous. I told her to hug the crown of the road, not to engage a low gear, and to steer into any skid. She said two farmers who pulled her out of a ditch already told her, then asked me to tell her again. Her husband told me on the street a few days later that she made it and was brewing up a tub of sloe gin for me. The other driver was a jerk-up. He told me he paid for a four-wheel-drive Audi and knew how to drive it. Down the road a bit first the police accident truck and then an ambulance passed me; I guessed he overestimated his skill. A few days later I inspected the damaged ditch and hedge where he crashed his Audi.
> >
> > See, it is safe for the anti-helmet zealots to come out from under that bed they keep falling off. Well, not right now, but when the black ice goes. Dunno when that will be, though.
> >
> On Wednesday, July 9, 2014 8:09:37 AM UTC-7, Andre Jute wrote:
> > We rarely get snow and ice on roads have usually melted by the time I rise. I don't commute, so I have no urgent need to ride my bicycle when the road surface is dangerous.
> >
> > But black ice can happen to anyone. It happened to me on a really beautiful sunny winter's day because a bit of road subsidence on a well known hill caused a run of water in the shade of a bunch of blackthorns (a pedalpal claims their proper name is whitethorns, go figure) over the road which the sun never reached and I couldn't see. Fortunately I was going up; downhill it would have turned very nasty indeed. My bike skidded but, because it is a mixte, and my reflexes are still rather fast, I managed to get both my feet on the road, and bike and I slid back twenty or thirty feet before we found purchase. I was wearing my helmet (I'm partial to the fetching Bell Metro and Citi helmets, and German pickelhaube from WW1), but it didn't save me from the black ice; my lawyers are still writing to Big Helmet, claiming damages for psychological wear and tear.
> >
> > Seriously though, that was pretty dangerous. I stopped a couple of cars. In one was a woman separated from her children, who'd already tried all the other roads to the top of this hill and found them impassible and dangerous. I told her to hug the crown of the road, not to engage a low gear, and to steer into any skid. She said two farmers who pulled her out of a ditch already told her, then asked me to tell her again. Her husband told me on the street a few days later that she made it and was brewing up a tub of sloe gin for me. The other driver was a jerk-up. He told me he paid for a four-wheel-drive Audi and knew how to drive it. Down the road a bit first the police accident truck and then an ambulance passed me; I guessed he overestimated his skill. A few days later I inspected the damaged ditch and hedge where he crashed his Audi.
> >
> > See, it is safe for the anti-helmet zealots to come out from under that bed they keep falling off. Well, not right now, but when the black ice goes. Dunno when that will be, though.
> >
> > Off to ride. Maximum goodwill, happy campers, even to anti-helmet zealots.
>
> Half-mile from my office: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCoxOReXlHI
>
> We also get this sort of stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knkq_f7iikU (I don't think that's Oregon, though). Gives you an opportunity for boot skiing/skating. When it sneaks up on you during a ride, you're toast. And for Frank, by "sneak up" I mean riding on the west slope in Spring, hitting a shaded area and . . . surprise!
>
Our wet climate spends a lot of time hovering right around the
>
> Half-mile from my office: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCoxOReXlHI
>
> We also get this sort of stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knkq_f7iikU (I don't think that's Oregon, though). Gives you an opportunity for boot skiing/skating. When it sneaks up on you during a ride, you're toast. And for Frank, by "sneak up" I mean riding on the west slope in Spring, hitting a shaded area and . . . surprise!
>
cusp of freezing. You can be on liquid wet, then due to so
little or much as a bit of slope or windbreak or any number
of other things suddenly be on frozen wet. Freezing fog is
common.
We have glorious nice weather and moderate extremes, but the
tricky nature of the icing is part of the deal.
Dan O
Jul 9, 2014, 8:40:08 PM7/9/14
to
the same global latitude with big oceans to our "left".
Duane
Jul 9, 2014, 8:53:13 PM7/9/14
to
What amazes me is to find myself at 45 n. Still feel like a 30 n 90 w
guy.
--
duane
Andre Jute
Jul 10, 2014, 9:56:41 AM7/10/14
to
Andre Jute
On "the green and beloved isle"
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