What is your worst cycling experience?
- Thread starter Sandlotje
- Start date
Racing the Rás in 1985 and found myself struggling all day on 110 mile stage. I felt awful all day with an upset stomach and trying to finish the stage before being eliminated nearly killed me.
I think we need a bit of Spinal Tap-esque humour at my expense following the hit by a car by Steve. I'd just done a 10 mile TT, farked out my skull and just deflated the reebok 'pump' doohickey in my Bell Vortex aerolid to give the hat a bit more comfort as I contemplated ralphing up a pavement pizza. Well, I barfed and my hat slid forward a bit and the visor acted like a mini scoop - despositing some of it in my eyes when I stood up. Fark it burned... One weekend before April fools i was on the receiving end of the 'swap the hot embrocation for the chamois cream trick. It took a while for it to kick in and it was about 10 miles into the wind and mostly slightly uphill to get back to the car - to which I did not have the keys. I was sat in the village hall drinking free cups o' tea with toilet paper stuffed between me and the chamois. Trying to look cool on a cross course before a race and going over the bars at the top of a steep hill in my regular clothes. That was a long muddy slide... Falling off on the Christmas beer ride while making like a cowboy, trying to pop a wheelie and singing Champion the wonderhorse very loudly. Not enough beer had been consumed to dull the pain of testicles smashed into the top tube after the front wheel came down to fast and my feet slid off the top of my look pedals (not wearing cycling shoes)
For next Christmas, don't you know.
Better learn the lyrics by heart/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif
Champion the wonder horse Champion the wonder horse
Like a streak of lightnin' flashing 'cross the sky Like the swiftest arrow whizzing from a bow
Like a mighty cannonball he seems to fly
You'll hear about him everywhere you go
The time will come when everyone will know The name of.....
Champion the wonder horse Champion the wonder horse
On my first century ride i hit the wall with 22 miles to go, hadn't prepared correctly. Every hill i hit felt like everest and every flat i rode on felt like riding through treacle..PAIN..Got through it eventually but OMG it was an experience that i don't want to repeat...Laugh about it now...
I got hit by a car 2 times and flew over the engine hood. Thankfully i managed to stay uninjured. Then one time i barley made a curve on a downhill of a mountain due to a misjudgment. Then i crashed cause i didn't see a sidewalk 
but I cycling is still the best thing in the world .
but I cycling is still the best thing in the world .
I always open my garage door and ride right out. I leave the door open so when I get back I can ride right in. While out riding UPS had made a delivery of an over the range Microwave. The UPS driver was kind enough to place the package ( around 60 LBS) inside my garage. I found the package as I was making the left hand turn into my garage. I hit the box dead on and came crashing down onto my work bench. The wife came out into the garage and looked at me and all the mess strewn about the place and anounced that I surely know how to make an entrance.
Another time I was out riding and spotted a former co-worker sitting out in front of his house. I figured why not stop and say hello. I was riding down his driveway and there was just enough room for me to pass by a parked car. I did not know his grandson was playing in the car I could not see him. He swung the door open just in time to hit me broad side and sent me tumbling over onto the walkway. I did not get hurt but my saddle snapped free from both of the rails. Former co-worker or not everyone at work knows!
Driveways are Dangerous/img/vbsmilies/smilies/ROTF.gif
Another time I was out riding and spotted a former co-worker sitting out in front of his house. I figured why not stop and say hello. I was riding down his driveway and there was just enough room for me to pass by a parked car. I did not know his grandson was playing in the car I could not see him. He swung the door open just in time to hit me broad side and sent me tumbling over onto the walkway. I did not get hurt but my saddle snapped free from both of the rails. Former co-worker or not everyone at work knows!
Driveways are Dangerous/img/vbsmilies/smilies/ROTF.gif
My worst day of cycling was better then my best day at work!!!
the worst thing about cycling is the routine abuse from other road users, too many incidents to mention, non of which stand out as terrible but taken together they can get you down.
ohh ...when I remember, the most interesting to know how it happened ... it was a drop in such a way as if the bike wanted to go on without me, as if he flew from under me ... in the end I sat on the tarmac and kept the bike for a wheel, which was between my legs
To be honest my worst day cycling was more like my weirdest day of cycling, was when I found a dead cyclist. So I'm only telling the story because it's weird. I was riding up a mountain road in California when I spotted a cyclist laying in a field of weeds down an embankment with his bike. So I stopped and went down the slope and checked his pulse, but his skin was cold to the touch and no pulse. I didn't move the guy for fear of possibly destroying a crime scene but noted no injuries other then scrapes evidently from the fall. I had to get on my bike again and rode about 3 miles to find cell service so I could 911 on the cell, then went back and waited. The next day I found out the man apparently died of a heart attack while riding and died immediately, and his body had laid there for about 5 hours.
We all have crashes and get hurt sometimes but that comes with the territory so I don't consider those really bad days, more like unfortunate days, but fortunately I've had very few crashes in my 40+ years of riding.
We all have crashes and get hurt sometimes but that comes with the territory so I don't consider those really bad days, more like unfortunate days, but fortunately I've had very few crashes in my 40+ years of riding.
That must have been a distressing thing to stumble upon, Froze.
Poor guy dying of a heart attack at the side of the road./img/vbsmilies/smilies/redface.gif
It wasn't really distressing since he wasn't in pain anymore, it would have been more distressing if he was barely alive and in major pain. I had a friend who ran everyday for about 20 years, ran in marathons and all sorts of other races, died of a heart attack on a jog. No one really knew why he died that way because they found nothing wrong in the autopsy to cause the attack. There has been a theory that some doctor came up with that suggested that a runner running, or a cyclist riding at near max heart rate has something happen unexpected like a car or semi honking it's horn, scaring the person and the heart rate goes way past the max rate and the heart stresses out. Not sure how reliable that theory is though.
The guy I ran into evidently had the attack while on the bike, died probably still on the bike because they said he died instantly, then his bike carried him off the road and crashed then tumbled about 50 feet down the embankment. I offered to go see the wife and be the one to tell her about her husband since I was a fellow cyclist like him, but law enforcement said they would have a woman officer go out to see her.
At least they both died while doing something they enjoyed. None of us are getting out of here alive so if we can pass on while doing something we enjoy thats a good thing. If our end is brought about by the wreckless actions of others while out doing what we enjoy that is a terrible trajedy.
I have a few, all bad /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif
One was a bad crash that I had whilst young which resulted in a painful injury that didnt heal very quickly too, some skin was "removed" from my arm...
Another bad one was when I crashed on a car once but I didnt get very injured.
Another bad one was when I crashed on a car again but went to the hospital in order to check for injuries.
Another bad one was riding with some other cyclists on an "earth hour" event ride, where some "radicalized" cyclists started verbally attacking and harassing car drivers on the street, On the same day we also had an accident where two cyclists crashed and instead of actually trying to check if anything bad happened a guy started to verbally assault one of the crash participants (which seemed that was hurt too). I actually felt stressed and embarassed being around them at that point.
Another bad one was whilst cycling on a bike lane a guy had parked his car on it and was chatting on his phone. So I politely asked him if hes going to move his car and this resulting in him verbally attacking me and threatening to assault me.
One was a bad crash that I had whilst young which resulted in a painful injury that didnt heal very quickly too, some skin was "removed" from my arm...
Another bad one was when I crashed on a car once but I didnt get very injured.
Another bad one was when I crashed on a car again but went to the hospital in order to check for injuries.
Another bad one was riding with some other cyclists on an "earth hour" event ride, where some "radicalized" cyclists started verbally attacking and harassing car drivers on the street, On the same day we also had an accident where two cyclists crashed and instead of actually trying to check if anything bad happened a guy started to verbally assault one of the crash participants (which seemed that was hurt too). I actually felt stressed and embarassed being around them at that point.
Another bad one was whilst cycling on a bike lane a guy had parked his car on it and was chatting on his phone. So I politely asked him if hes going to move his car and this resulting in him verbally attacking me and threatening to assault me.
