Comments on: Near Misses

By: TIMOTHY

TIMOTHY — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 00:13:37 +0000

I had a spectacular near-miss similar to your Leadville experience. It was one of my first night rides – I got too high on a bermed corner coming down a steep trail, panicked and grabbed too much front brake. The bike nose wheelied and I somehow managed to unclip and hurdle the handlebars. I landed on my feet and reflexively reached back and caught my bike by the seatpost. When my buddy came up I was standing there holding my bike by the seatpost, stunned. I’m still not sure how I did it, but I really wish I had in on video. It would’be been great to see in slo-mo!

By: Tom Stormcrowe

Tom Stormcrowe — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 19:28:50 +0000

Last near miss I had was with a Lincoln Navigator. Jackass was driving under the influence of a cell phone when he ran me over the curb and I couldn’t huck it high enough in the pinch and I did a tumble/flip/slam/slide across the pavement just behing the mammoth SUV! I ruined a helmet and the B@st@rd knew he got me ’cause I slapped the sid eof his vehicle to getr his attention as he was crowding me and all he did was flip me the bird! Ruined a helmet, picked the gravel out of my armand leg and slowly rode home because my cell phone was smashed in the crash as well and couldn’t call the wife!

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 16:59:22 +0000

dug – and here i thought you were a purist. i dub dug subterfugist

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 15:23:52 +0000

nathanv, think about it. i carry the blackberry, get to the top of a climb, stop for a drink, send an email to my boss, and like magic, riding is working. i would be able to go on way way fewer rides without being connected.but now, sniff, it’s broken. it’s harder to fake a business call when you’re coughing up a lung than to type out a quick email while you enjoy the view from the top of the mountain. corollary: you get good coverage from the wildcat lift at alta too.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 15:08:43 +0000

Dug–I guess I am just lucky. I have been run off the road numerous times with lots and lots of near misses. Maybe the mountain bike thing kicks in–I have been able to run out of most of them, or at least roll out. I did skid about 10 meters on my but once…that hurts. When Fatty told me about your crash, I wondered why that lady was picking her nose whilst driving the Alpine Loop. I hope there isn’t bad karma around an announcement that I haven’t been hurt on the road bike. I am on it much more these days than I am on the Mt.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 13:56:04 +0000

nothing constructivejust here for the amazon gcnow go eat somethingp.s. dug what was you blackberry doing on a ride…for shame

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 08:27:41 +0000

I get adrenalin just _reading_ this stuff! WOW!

By: TCP

TCP — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 04:46:34 +0000

Fatty,Thanks for the techinal feedback. It worked for me. Keep up the good blog. It’s a bright spot in my day and a great way to procrastinate.AC

By: Harry

Harry — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 03:22:23 +0000

Speaking of near misses, just two days ago I was out for one of my normal rides and I nearly got cleaned up by a car. I was heading downhill through a roundabout at about 40kmph, and a car coming from the left didn’t look at all. Naturally I slammed on the brakes, my rear wheel locked and I got a bit of skid action but I managed to stay upright and just miss the front of the car, which thankfully had slammed on the brakes itself by that stage. Scary stuff, but strangly enough I almost found it funny afterwards…

By: TCP

TCP — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 00:33:47 +0000

Fatty,Great post today. It explains why I gravitated to road biking so stronlgy after being a mediocre mountain biker for years. A big crash that landed me in the hospital destroyed my confidence and it never fully recovered. You really captured the essence of what it is to ride.How do you post full-sized pictures in the middle of your blog entry instead of those little links at the bottom?Thank you,AC