[CR]Dangerous Riding and Dangerous Repairs (slightly long)

(Example: Humor:John Pergolizzi)

From: "Andrew Gillis" <apgmaa@earthlink.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <3E5EFAEA.2010002@nonlintec.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 23:48:31 -0800
Subject: [CR]Dangerous Riding and Dangerous Repairs (slightly long)

CRs:

Steve Maas' recent story about ducking (horrible pun) an assault from a red-tailed hawk reminded me of a cycling-and-mechanic adventure I had a good number of years ago. This story isn't amusing, but I hope you find it interesting, at least in the sense of 'better you than me, Gunga Din':

In 1981, when I was 24 years old, I rode three double centuries in a one month time span. I had wonderful adventures on the Davis DC, the Tour of Two Forests DC, and the LA Wheelmen Grand Tour, and I completed all of these events without accident. After these DCs, I always did a next-day 'recuperation' ride to detox my muscles and enjoy being outdoors without time and speed on my mind.

After one of these rides, (TOTF, I think) I was doing a Sunday 10am shuffle (42x19) up and down the Hermosa Beach bike path. When I approached the 22nd Street intersection from the south, (in light traffic), I slowed down to a track stand to check the almost blind T-intersection before I continued north. After a brief pause, I resumed with two strokes on the pedals and I immediately had the misfortune of having a young woman ride a roadster bicycle in front of me from the right and make a left turn across my path. She had entered an intersection, in the middle of a blind turn, without looking.

My two strokes on the pedal managed to put my front wheel into her front wheel. Just as we collided, the high school couple who were necking on the sand to my left puased from their amour and looked on with stunned horror. The young female cyclist (in her late 20s) fell onto the pavement, and knocked me down with her.

She landed on her left arm and immediately broke it, resulting in a compound fracture. I was shaken up and couldn't stand for a while. I'm glad I wore my helmet. The paramedics took her to the local hospital.

What do you say to a 30ish year old woman who enters a 'street' and rides into a blind corner without looking where she is going?

When the woman arrived at the hospital, my friend and bike shop owner Bill R. was coincidentally there in the emergency room, getting his finger looked at. He had managed to get it pinched between the chain and the chainring of a fixed gear track bike, and he was fortunate to have not damaged it too severely. He was relieved to have not suffered her accident, and he told me about the odd coincidence of being there and wondering which racing cyclist caused it all.

I survived, my Pinarello bicycle survived, and my friend Bill recovered as well. I didn't have the heart to follow Bill's morbidly humorous suggestion of putting an upside-down bicyle logo on my top tube, WW2 'ace' style. But I do I hope that the woman learned to look before leaping.

regards,

Andrew Gillis (Long Beach, CA. "Common sense is a recessive gene!")