Comments on: Crash with Panache

By: joan

joan — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 15:41:36 +0000

And, as long as we’re doing Monty Python jokes, you could also roll over and say "Was there rat in that?"

By: Shari

Shari — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 05:41:28 +0000

Or you could say: "And now something completely different! A man with 3 buttocks!" – I think a Monty Python marathon is in order….

Nice blog!

By: Tom Stormcrowe

Tom Stormcrowe — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 18:10:27 +0000

Fatty, if you aren’t following it, Jill crossed the 87 mile point this morning in the Susitna! OORAH

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 17:59:36 +0000

I go straight for the ennui. Wasn’t that a choice? My goodness, but I needed a laugh today and the post and Python quotes have done me in. I’m off to wipe the tears and check out the harried lesbian mom’s blog.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 17:02:40 +0000

I like mixed stoic/humor approach of
’That is why we wear helmets!’ and biking away. Although ‘I
was pushed’ is also quite good. You forgot to mention what to do
if you are trying the stoic act (which is my default) and your bike is
too mangled to ride. I’ve had this happen, and it is quite
embarrassing!
Tim.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 14:35:22 +0000

"The Aristocrats!" – Excellent. On a par with, "It only hurts when I laugh," a line delivered rather famously by an allied pilot pulled out of a crashed P-38 in China in WWII.

The Monty Python thing is always useful. The degree to which Cleese et al have penetrated pop culture is amazing. I have a friend who is a geneticist who works in a lab studying aging. The focus of his life’s work? Why the INDY gene. Clever manipulation of the INDY gene can greatly prolong the life of fruitflies, keeping the things alive for multiples of their normal life span. INDY, of course, stands for "I’m Not Dead Yet." More on funny gene names in this poorly tabulated page here.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 13:56:17 +0000

Brand new to clipless pedals, came to complete stop to watch some deer, and gently fell to the side, bike on top of me. Then foot would not unclip. I wiggled, and kicked and twisted foot, but it was not budging from pedal. So I lay on the dirt, beneath my bike, unable to get up while husband AND deer both stood at the side of the road laughing at me. (Oh you don’t think deer can’t laugh? Ha.) Finally, with eyes narrowed I said, using the phrase that only wives can get away with, "if you EVER want to have sex again…" I was unclipped, settled on the bike and on my way within seconds, deer still standing and watching with amusement.

My very favorite after crash phrase though is "I blame you."

By: Unknown

Unknown — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 13:02:34 +0000

Ah yes….how to react to a crash.My best reaction was of course from my best crash.Back in October, we were doing a large group ride at a local trail, and we were on the night ride portion of the event. It was my first night ride, and I was pumped.At about mile 8, I found that I was coming in last, and the group was up ahead of me at a crossroads, waiting to regroup.I decided it would be funny to sprint past them and yell "It’s right behind me!" so that they might believe that there weas something evil in the woods chasing me. (it was later determined that this only works on individual riders and not large groups)The problem came when I attempted to go around them at speed….a group of 10 people takes up a lot of room in the trail, and that million HID headlamps shining all around made it hard to see….I thought there was a big log or something in front of me, and I grabbed the front brake in a panic. Over the bars time.I landed on my outstretched arm and rolled onto my back, and lay there for a while listening to the laughter, which eventually died down as they asked "Are you OK?"My natural response was "No, I can’t get up", so a few people came to investigate.OK, here’s the part that I’m still proud of today: I’m laying on the ground with a broken collarbone, there’s a guy moving my arm around to see what’s wrong with it, and I hear someone say in the background "Man, I don’t know what happened, all I saw was a blur"And then, somehow gritting my teeth through the pain, I blurt out my initial thought: "No, it was a Heckler!"I tried to transition into "stoic", but when it takes three people to lift you off the ground and get you to your feet that’s a hard lay to make, so I transitioned back and forth from humor to drama the rest of the night.I didn’t get sympathy until later though, because I didn’t find out it was broken until Monday when we all went home.In hindsight, it was fairly obvious though:http://static.flickr.com/42/88764189_baee4df2e6_m.jpg

By: Unknown

Unknown — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 10:38:09 +0000

I am sat at home nursing what was a suspected broken ankle, but has been downgraded to a minor sprain, after several technical dismounts last weekend. I think I did all three post-crash behaviours over the day.

My own favourite is to jump to my feet and throw my arms in the air like a gymnast who has just completed a particularly complicated tumbling routine.

Cheers

Tim

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 04:23:13 +0000

I try to be a good role model for my son in all things. We recently took an off-camber turn on a steep sloop, and I lost control and had to dab. I had trouble unclipping, and foolishly put my downhill foot down first, resulting in a painful tumble some twenty yards down the slope.

"Son", I said, "you had better paid attention to that just now. I don’t intend to show you how to do it again."