Bummer. Anybody else have Bummer stories?



fixedgear14

New Member
Jun 26, 2009
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Hey guys!
I haven't seen a thread on here to post unlucky stories, so I figured I would start one. :)
Mine isn't too bad... I was out biking with a friend, and we weren't training or anything, just cruising along for fun, talking about random ****... then we decided to have a little drag race on our bikes, so I tryed to take off on my fixie... the bottom bracket shifted, and I could feel the pedals moving really unsteadily, and hear lots of noises :D. I knew I should have replaced the bottom bracket about a month ago... and being the careless idiot I can be, I decided I would keep riding and not think anything of it. Not smart... When we started climbing about a half mile down the road, I was standing on the pedals to try to get up the hill... Then the bottom bracket decided to go... So the chain fell off and I hit my balls on the top crossbar :eek:. I tryed to put the chain back on, started pedalling again, and it came back off :(. I picked it up and started walking... Didn't have a phone... and I decided I would try again when i noticed that the chainring was wretchedly crooked... The bottom bracket finally gave out, had to carry the bike about a mile around my neck :mad:... I guess I should be glad it wasn't more like 4 or 5 miles... Oh well... Anybody else have stories? I would love to hear them :D
 
My bummer story happened about 25 years ago. I was doing my Saturday routine which was swimming for 40 minutes at the pool then riding the hill around my apartment complex. I was seeing how fast I could go up and down the hills when I spotted a car behind me a ways back. I decided to go as fast as I could going down the hill to beat the car. My front wheel fell through a separation in the pavement a dropped down to about the axle. wheel was wedged in so I flew over the handlebars, kissed the pavement, broke off my front two teeth, since I didn't want to skin off all of my face, I got my arms in front and skinned both arms.

I lost my keys so I had to go to the apartment office to get into my apartment, they weren't open yet so I had to wait 15 minutes. Asked where the closest hospital was and started to drive in that direction.

Couldn't find the hospital so I stopped a cop, he would only lower his window an inch to talk to me and pointed me in the right direction.

At the ER, I remember the only thing that I told the doctor was not to cut off my cycling shorts since they were too expensive.

All in all, not too bad, two broken teeth, torn lip, scratched face and skinned arms, no broken bones

Worst of all I started a new job on the following Monday.
 
I had met with him the Friday before, so when I walked in on Tuesday morning covered in bandages, all he said was "How does the other guy look?"

Not a bummer anymore, it makes a really funny story when meeting people.
 
My bummer story took place about a week ago, I went to my LBS (thank God I work there)...I was test riding a few singlespeeds. I am trying to make a leap in the direction of car-free living, but cannot figure out which bike to pick. I rode the Trek Soho S, the Trek District, and then a Redline Monocog 29er. On the 29er I rode up and down the street, trying to feel how it handled compared to the others, then I decided to swerve up a driveway onto the sidewalk, and instantly I saw a car about to back into me from the next driveway. I swerved from the sidewalk to the road, caught a huge lip in the driveway, and flew over the bars. My shoulder, left arm, and both hands have road rash. Luckily the only damage to the bike was the bar end.

My boss was very understanding, because he broke his collarbone on a test ride when he was younger.
 
Hi, my bummer story happened 3 days ago. I started out riding this past April, I'm 50 and started riding for health sake. I was riding to and from work, about 10 miles each way and many hills. Everyone I knew criticized me for riding on the rode. I live in Connecticut and decided to try the Cheshire Bike path. The path is 12.8 miles start to end and I have been doing it daily since May. Three days ago I was on my return about one mile into it. This area is in the south end of Hamden right on the New haven line. I was passing 4 teens with three bikes when one of them jumped infront oj me and hit me square in the face with a loaded backpack. The hit took me off the back of my bike. He tried to take my bike so I grabbed him and through him off, got my cell phone out and called 911. The 4 teens took off and the Hamden police responded in minutes. They caught the kids but the bummer hear is I'm very hesitant to ride the path now. I was doing so well, riding hard and getting strong. I went on the path to be safe and this happens.
 
MichaelCT said:
Hi, my bummer story happened 3 days ago. I started out riding this past April, I'm 50 and started riding for health sake. I was riding to and from work, about 10 miles each way and many hills. Everyone I knew criticized me for riding on the rode. I live in Connecticut and decided to try the Cheshire Bike path. The path is 12.8 miles start to end and I have been doing it daily since May. Three days ago I was on my return about one mile into it. This area is in the south end of Hamden right on the New haven line. I was passing 4 teens with three bikes when one of them jumped infront oj me and hit me square in the face with a loaded backpack. The hit took me off the back of my bike. He tried to take my bike so I grabbed him and through him off, got my cell phone out and called 911. The 4 teens took off and the Hamden police responded in minutes. They caught the kids but the bummer hear is I'm very hesitant to ride the path now. I was doing so well, riding hard and getting strong. I went on the path to be safe and this happens.
Search "Gun" on this forum or find a buddy to ride with.
 
cottered crank.
left side came out with two whacks of the hammer. so i was confident; "why would the right side be any harder?"

whack whack whack. bent bolt.
so i hacksawed the bent bit off.
hammer and punch- whack whack whack. nada niet zilch.
heated up the crank, tried again, nothing.
drilled it through, 2ml drillbit, smacked the crud out of it, nothing.
bored the whole thing out with a bigass drillbit. now i just have the wonky shell of a hollowed out cotter holding the crank quite firmly in place.

i have sympathy in advance for my testicles getting smushed on the bar when the crank pops off one day while i'm pedalling hard. that'll be the real bummer. not looking forward to it.

still, any advice would be appreciated on how to proceed with this stubborn thing...
 
pytor said:
cottered crank.
left side came out with two whacks of the hammer. so i was confident; "why would the right side be any harder?"

whack whack whack. bent bolt.
so i hacksawed the bent bit off.
hammer and punch- whack whack whack. nada niet zilch.
heated up the crank, tried again, nothing.
drilled it through, 2ml drillbit, smacked the crud out of it, nothing.
bored the whole thing out with a bigass drillbit. now i just have the wonky shell of a hollowed out cotter holding the crank quite firmly in place.

i have sympathy in advance for my testicles getting smushed on the bar when the crank pops off one day while i'm pedalling hard. that'll be the real bummer. not looking forward to it.

still, any advice would be appreciated on how to proceed with this stubborn thing...
Take Dremel Tool with cutting disc and cut off crank. Remove BB lockring, adjustable and fixed cups, bearings, spindle, and anything else left in BB. Install a new cotterless BB cartridge and cotterless cranks that match new cotterless BB cartridge. Welcome to the 21st century!:)!
 
kdelong said:
Take Dremel Tool with cutting disc and cut off crank. Remove BB lockring, adjustable and fixed cups, bearings, spindle, and anything else left in BB. Install a new cotterless BB cartridge and cotterless cranks that match new cotterless BB cartridge. Welcome to the 21st century!:)!

no can do brother, those cranks are vintage. i'm willing to risk a stack when it gives out, they look that good. and if they dont give out then there's not really much of an issue, i only wanted to get them off to clean out and regrease the bearings. as it stands the BB's in good working order -not quite as smooth as it could be tho. i actually had a pretty good idea for preventing blunt testicular trauma, i think i'll throw a looseish plain bolt and nut in where i've bored out the cotter, so if the hollowed cotter snaps, the pedal wont totally give out.
 
I got t-boned by a car a few years ago, ended up with a smashed up arm and shoulder that still doesn't work right :D In back yard cricket i'm known as 'custard arm' :eek:

regards
 
steve said:
I got t-boned by a car a few years ago, ended up with a smashed up arm and shoulder that still doesn't work right :D In back yard cricket i'm known as 'custard arm' :eek:

regards

Let's hope that driver isn't on the road for the World Championships next year. Heal quickly.
 
My bummer story isn't really about ME. It's more of my brothers bummer story. Every summer our family goes on LOTS of bike rides together and a couple of years ago my older brother Michael had just purchased a really nice new bike. Well typically we go ride from our house to the bike trail which shouldn't be too dangerous, and it's a LOT easier than loading up the bikes on the car for only a five minute car trip. Anyways on the way back from our bike ride we were riding up a steep hill on a busy street and the cuff of Michaels jeans got caught on the pedal. He fell straight into the road in front of a car going about 45 mph. They swerved and somehow missed everything but his right arm. However he had no broken bones or anything. It really was a miracle. The big bummer for Michael more than anything was the fact that his brand new bike was scratched up from the tumble...