A Little Laugh-In Bike Humor

[Mark and Christine]

First let me set the stage, since I don't post here very often. I
live on Long Island and commute to work and back 5 days a week 22
miles round trip on a Tommaso AS2 with a 61 cm frame (big bike). I am
primarily a runner that bikes to cross train. I don't usually dally,
I average about 18 to 20 mph according to the bike computer.

This morning Jean was leaving the Island and had dumped about 4 inches
of rain over night. When I left home in a bright yellow rain jacket
it was a light drizzle that was tapering off. I had on my headlight
and my taillight because it was still dark. Two miles from work I
came to a place in the street that was flood curb to curb for 100 yds.
I could clearly see the line in the crown in the road and no one was
coming from behind or ahead, so I slowed down and started down the
center line. Just as I entered the flooded area an SUV pulled out of
a side road in front of me and without pause started into the flooded
area straight at me. My first thought was "****, he is going to run
right over me" but as he got closer I realized that he was just over
far enough that I was going to get splashed. So now I am thinking
"****, I'm going to get soaked', but when the wave it me it pushed me
down into the deeper water and the bike, including the drop bars, went
completely under water, followed by me. And that is when I realized
"****, if my toe clips don't release, I am going to drown." When I
stood up the water came to mid chest. I reached down and picked up
the bike (easy to find since the headlight and taillight were still
on) and waded to shore.

Amazingly, my bike computer, headlight, taillight, cell phone, and PDA
survived. The bike seemed fine, but as I was getting to work I
noticed that it was getting difficult to hold my line. At work I
found that the front tire had hit something and is now in a strange
"S" shape. The rim appears to have survived. It almost looks like
the belt (if it had one) broke on the tire.

Now I know how Artie Johnson must have felt with his yellow rain coat
and tricycle. Its funny now, it was not funny this morning.

Guess I'm driving for a few day.

Mark

 

[Bill Baka]

On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 01:08:36 GMT, Mark and Christine
<[email protected]> wrote:

> First let me set the stage, since I don't post here very often. I
> live on Long Island and commute to work and back 5 days a week 22
> miles round trip on a Tommaso AS2 with a 61 cm frame (big bike). I am
> primarily a runner that bikes to cross train. I don't usually dally,
> I average about 18 to 20 mph according to the bike computer.
>
> This morning Jean was leaving the Island and had dumped about 4 inches
> of rain over night. When I left home in a bright yellow rain jacket
> it was a light drizzle that was tapering off. I had on my headlight
> and my taillight because it was still dark. Two miles from work I
> came to a place in the street that was flood curb to curb for 100 yds.
> I could clearly see the line in the crown in the road and no one was
> coming from behind or ahead, so I slowed down and started down the
> center line. Just as I entered the flooded area an SUV pulled out of
> a side road in front of me and without pause started into the flooded
> area straight at me. My first thought was "****, he is going to run
> right over me" but as he got closer I realized that he was just over
> far enough that I was going to get splashed. So now I am thinking
> "****, I'm going to get soaked', but when the wave it me it pushed me
> down into the deeper water and the bike, including the drop bars, went
> completely under water, followed by me. And that is when I realized
> "****, if my toe clips don't release, I am going to drown." When I
> stood up the water came to mid chest. I reached down and picked up
> the bike (easy to find since the headlight and taillight were still
> on) and waded to shore.
>
> Amazingly, my bike computer, headlight, taillight, cell phone, and PDA
> survived. The bike seemed fine, but as I was getting to work I
> noticed that it was getting difficult to hold my line. At work I
> found that the front tire had hit something and is now in a strange
> "S" shape. The rim appears to have survived. It almost looks like
> the belt (if it had one) broke on the tire.
>
> Now I know how Artie Johnson must have felt with his yellow rain coat
> and tricycle. Its funny now, it was not funny this morning.
>
> Guess I'm driving for a few day.
>
> Mark

The guy with the SUV gets the dumb asshole award, but what do we give you
for trying to ride through that?
Bill Baka


--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

 

[Zoot Katz]

Wed, 29 Sep 2004 19:57:17 -0700, <[email protected]>,
Bill Baka <[email protected]> wrote:

>The guy with the SUV gets the dumb asshole award, but what do we give you
>for trying to ride through that?

How about the director's cut of "Jaws" DVD?
--
zk

 

[whinds]

In article <[email protected]>, Mark and Christine
<[email protected]> writes:

>
>First let me set the stage, since I don't post here very often. I
>live on Long Island and commute to work and back 5 days a week 22
>miles round trip on a Tommaso AS2 with a 61 cm frame (big bike). I am
>primarily a runner that bikes to cross train. I don't usually dally,
>I average about 18 to 20 mph according to the bike computer.
>
>This morning Jean was leaving the Island and had dumped about 4 inches
>of rain over night. When I left home in a bright yellow rain jacket
>it was a light drizzle that was tapering off. I had on my headlight
>and my taillight because it was still dark. Two miles from work I
>came to a place in the street that was flood curb to curb for 100 yds.
>I could clearly see the line in the crown in the road and no one was
>coming from behind or ahead, so I slowed down and started down the
>center line. Just as I entered the flooded area an SUV pulled out of
>a side road in front of me and without pause started into the flooded
>area straight at me. My first thought was "****, he is going to run
>right over me" but as he got closer I realized that he was just over
>far enough that I was going to get splashed. So now I am thinking
>"****, I'm going to get soaked', but when the wave it me it pushed me
>down into the deeper water and the bike, including the drop bars, went
>completely under water, followed by me. And that is when I realized
>"****, if my toe clips don't release, I am going to drown." When I
>stood up the water came to mid chest. I reached down and picked up
>the bike (easy to find since the headlight and taillight were still
>on) and waded to shore.
>

WOW! I bet the SUV driver had a tale to tell around the ol water cooler that
morning.
I would have loved to see the whole thing on tapel

>Amazingly, my bike computer, headlight, taillight, cell phone, and PDA
>survived. The bike seemed fine, but as I was getting to work I
>noticed that it was getting difficult to hold my line. At work I
>found that the front tire had hit something and is now in a strange
>"S" shape. The rim appears to have survived. It almost looks like
>the belt (if it had one) broke on the tire.
>
>Now I know how Artie Johnson must have felt with his yellow rain coat
>and tricycle. Its funny now, it was not funny this morning.
>
>Guess I'm driving for a few day.

Naw... just put a snorkel and face mask in your commute kit tomorrow A.M.
Hmm..better put your lunch in a ziplock baggie also.

 

[Brian]

<snip>

What have we learned? Anyone?

If you're going to be one of those "year-'round" types, a set of spare
wheels is an absolute MUST...

Oh, and there is a tendency among the "ironman" set to believe that if they
can handle road conditions that are a little bad, they can handle conditions
that are EXTREMELY bad...

My motto:

"If you wouldn't walk thru it, don't ride thru it..."

Whatsa motto for you?

 

[Bill Baka]

On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 19:49:36 -0700, Brian <[email protected]> wrote:

> <snip>
>
> What have we learned? Anyone?
>
> If you're going to be one of those "year-'round" types, a set of spare
> wheels is an absolute MUST...
>
> Oh, and there is a tendency among the "ironman" set to believe that if
> they
> can handle road conditions that are a little bad, they can handle
> conditions
> that are EXTREMELY bad...
>
> My motto:
>
> "If you wouldn't walk thru it, don't ride thru it..."
>
> Whatsa motto for you?
>
>
Why not try? I did about 5 years ago when there was a road across a
field that was flooded. It started out only a few inches deep but the
farther I went the deeper it got. Being a half mile crossing I thought
I could just gear down and grunt through a little water. Problem was
that it kept getting deeper inch by inch until it was a foot deep.
That worked until I lost sight of the pavement under the water and
went off into the mud on the side of the road. Artie Johnson replay,
with a couple of rednecks watching, and when I came back they said
they liked the show. Some of us will try anything. I just went back
home and took a hot shower and watched television, being Saturday
and all things being optional. At least there were no cute girls
watching that time.
Bill Baka



--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

 

[Dane Jackson]

Brian <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> "If you wouldn't walk thru it, don't ride thru it..."
>
> Whatsa motto for you?

My personal motto would be:

"I can't figure out if I'm stubborn or stupid."

Aside: I was highly amused when we had some snow this last winter to
be one of the few people who showed up in person to work. It was only
mildly terrifying to bike down Eastgate way holding fast my front brake
as I rolled/slid down the compact sheet of gritty snow/ice. It's the
first time I ever felt my *front* tire start to skid out.

Still, once I got off the main roads, it was more bumpy than scary.
Kinda fun, and I'm sure I burned off huge amounts of calories pushing
/skiing through the snow.

Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking to
the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out " -
looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
And the crowd was stilled. One elderly man, wondering at the sudden silence,
turned to the Child and asked him to repeat what he had said. Wide-eyed,
the Child raised his voice and said once again, "Why, the Emperor has no
clothes! He is naked!"
-- "The Emperor's New Clothes"

 

[Claire Petersky]

"Dane Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Brian <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > "If you wouldn't walk thru it, don't ride thru it..."
> >
> > Whatsa motto for you?
>
> My personal motto would be:
>
> "I can't figure out if I'm stubborn or stupid."
>
[snip]

> Still, once I got off the main roads, it was more bumpy than scary.
> Kinda fun, and I'm sure I burned off huge amounts of calories pushing
> /skiing through the snow.
>
> Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking to
> the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out " -
> looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"

You must admit, though, that Seattle area residents are complete snow wimps.
A few inches, and the whole city closes down.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

 

[Dane Jackson]

Claire Petersky <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Dane Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>
>> Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking to
>> the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out " -
>> looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"
>
> You must admit, though, that Seattle area residents are complete snow wimps.
> A few inches, and the whole city closes down.

Absolutely true. Though some of that can be attributed to the lack of
plows/salt trucks. We really don't have the facilities to handle the
rare snow that actually sticks to the ground.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Hark, the Herald Tribune sings,
Advertising wondrous things.

Angels we have heard on High
Tell us to go out and Buy.
-- Tom Lehrer

 

[Mike Kruger]

"Dane Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking to
> the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out " -
> looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"

On a similar day last winter I was biking to the train station on the winter
bike (fenders, studded tires).

I passed by the house of another member of my local bicycle club. He was
clearing off his driveway so he could get his car out. It was such fun to
call out "Hey, it's another great day for a bike ride" as I rode past.

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> writes:

> You must admit, though, that Seattle area residents are complete snow wimps.
> A few inches, and the whole city closes down.

I don't think that white stuff we get in the PNW is really snow.
At best it might be described as a snowlike substance.

Real snow goes ~whiff~ when you kick it, sending up a cloud of
loose, individual flakes. Our stuff just sticks to your shoe
and gets your foot wet.

I've seen many a person from places where they get real snow
shake their heads in bemused and somewhat contemptuous dismay
at our flounderings. But when they try to show us how getting
around in it is done right, they do no better. They think it's
snow just like they're used to, but it isn't.

In re mottos: mine's in my .signature, below. It originally
came to me when I was concocting file format conversion programs,
with a heavy reliance on my intuition and phenomenal good luck.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

 

[Peter Cole]

"Dane Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote>
> Aside: I was highly amused when we had some snow this last winter to
> be one of the few people who showed up in person to work. It was only
> mildly terrifying to bike down Eastgate way holding fast my front brake
> as I rolled/slid down the compact sheet of gritty snow/ice. It's the
> first time I ever felt my *front* tire start to skid out.

> Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking to
> the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out " -
> looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"

My favorite response when someone says "You're riding a bicycle in this!?"
Is to reply: "Yeah, it's much too bad to drive." Funny thing is, with
studded bike tires, it's often true!

 

[Zoot Katz]

Sat, 02 Oct 2004 17:08:29 GMT, <hgB7d.156700$MQ5.105339@attbi_s52>,
"Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking to
>> the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out " -
>> looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"
>
>My favorite response when someone says "You're riding a bicycle in this!?"
>Is to reply: "Yeah, it's much too bad to drive." Funny thing is, with
>studded bike tires, it's often true!
>

I like calling out to other cyclists, "Hey, you can't ride a bicycle
in this weather. You must be crazy!"
--
zk

 

[Claire Petersky]

"Zoot Katz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sat, 02 Oct 2004 17:08:29 GMT, <hgB7d.156700$MQ5.105339@attbi_s52>,
> "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking to
> >> the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out " -
> >> looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"
> >
> >My favorite response when someone says "You're riding a bicycle in
this!?"
> >Is to reply: "Yeah, it's much too bad to drive." Funny thing is, with
> >studded bike tires, it's often true!
> >
>
> I like calling out to other cyclists, "Hey, you can't ride a bicycle
> in this weather. You must be crazy!"

My favorite is to smile and call out, "Nice day for a ride, isn't it?" when
it's one of those winter days of it being in the low 40s and hammering rain.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

 

[loki]

"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:%[email protected]...
> "Zoot Katz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Sat, 02 Oct 2004 17:08:29 GMT, <hgB7d.156700$MQ5.105339@attbi_s52>,
> > "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >> Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking
to
> > >> the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out
" -
> > >> looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"
> > >My favorite response when someone says "You're riding a bicycle in
> > >this!?"
> > >Is to reply: "Yeah, it's much too bad to drive." Funny thing is, with
> > >studded bike tires, it's often true!
> > I like calling out to other cyclists, "Hey, you can't ride a bicycle
> > in this weather. You must be crazy!"
>
> My favorite is to smile and call out, "Nice day for a ride, isn't it?"
when
> it's one of those winter days of it being in the low 40s and hammering
rain.

My favourite when people goggle in disbelief that I've cycle-commuted in
the rain:

'I understand your concern and I know it is a probelm for most people.
However, I've been very obsevant for the warning signs and not once have I
ever melted. I guess I'm lucky that way.'

--
'The sea was angry that day my friend'
-george costanza

 

[Chris]

You folks see other riders? I never see anyone else other than cars,
trucks and busses durring my commute.
Sorry,
Chris

On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 17:31:51 -0400, "loki" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:%[email protected]...
>> "Zoot Katz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > Sat, 02 Oct 2004 17:08:29 GMT, <hgB7d.156700$MQ5.105339@attbi_s52>,
>> > "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > >> Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking
>to
>> > >> the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out
>" -
>> > >> looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"
>> > >My favorite response when someone says "You're riding a bicycle in
>> > >this!?"
>> > >Is to reply: "Yeah, it's much too bad to drive." Funny thing is, with
>> > >studded bike tires, it's often true!
>> > I like calling out to other cyclists, "Hey, you can't ride a bicycle
>> > in this weather. You must be crazy!"
>>
>> My favorite is to smile and call out, "Nice day for a ride, isn't it?"
>when
>> it's one of those winter days of it being in the low 40s and hammering
>rain.
>
> My favourite when people goggle in disbelief that I've cycle-commuted in
>the rain:
>
> 'I understand your concern and I know it is a probelm for most people.
>However, I've been very obsevant for the warning signs and not once have I
>ever melted. I guess I'm lucky that way.'

 

[Peter Cole]

"Zoot Katz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sat, 02 Oct 2004 17:08:29 GMT, <hgB7d.156700$MQ5.105339@attbi_s52>,
> "Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Plus the comments I overheard as I cycled were amusing. Guy walking to
> >> the busstop, talking on his cellphone - "Yeah, it's pretty bad out " -
> >> looks up "There's someone out here on his bicycle!"
> >
> >My favorite response when someone says "You're riding a bicycle in
this!?"
> >Is to reply: "Yeah, it's much too bad to drive." Funny thing is, with
> >studded bike tires, it's often true!
> >
>
> I like calling out to other cyclists, "Hey, you can't ride a bicycle
> in this weather. You must be crazy!"

I like to say: "Great day for it, yah?"