# 3 Blameworthy Errors = I Am Today's Cockwomble !!



## G-Zero (20 Mar 2012)

Took the road bike for its second outing, a trek to the coast this afternoon, and I don't know if the brain is still groggy after my last set of nightshifts, but I had a few operator errors during the ride.

First oops wasn't much of a problem, but as the sun was shining with clear blue skies, I tested the temperature in the back garden before setting off and decided on a thin 'coolmax' T, with a long sleeve jersey over it, neither of which is windproof.
After a mile in brisk winds I realised it was a lot cooler than the garden and had the sense to return home for a quick change.

Second oops could have hurt. 

I was approaching a right hand junction that I was intending, I was riding with my hands on top of the bars at a nice speed for the turn, when at the last second a car appeared in the junction and was badly positioned, partially on on the wrong side of the road (where I was heading).
I instinctively went to apply the brakes to shave a bit more speed off; and grabbed two handfulls of nothing  where the extra brake levers on my crosser are.
I didn't have time to relocate to the actual brakes and leaned heavily into the turn, narrowly avoiding the kerb, but coming out of it with a 'memo to self' not to be so complacent on approaching junctions.

The final oops could have hurt a lot !!

Getting towards the last few miles of the ride, I came from a minor country lane and needed to cross a major dual carriageway (A690) into Rainton Bridge, at rush hour. This dual has a wide central reservation which can usually easily accomodate a couple of cars, but unfortunately the cross over was closed due to resurfacing work.

I was looking across to my exit on the opposite side of the dual and thinking that I could easily squeeze my bike between the cones and head home as normal, without taking the detour which would have entailed a few miles of busy dual carriageway, in narrow lanes.
Anyway, the road was so busy that it took a while to get a safe gap from my right and as I set off with my right foot already clipped in, I was concentrating on getting my left foot connected (new shoes and pedals that I'm not used to yet) and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a line of traffic heading straight at me from my left. 

I had safely crossed the first lane, but had missed the fact that I was in a contra-flow and hadn't even looked left . Thankfully the contra-flow had a slow speed limit and I was out the other side thinking that that could have been embarrassing.

We live and learn !


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## Gary E (20 Mar 2012)

So, not a boring ride then? 

Live and learn - important to do both!

Glad it turned out OK.


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## Mad Doug Biker (8 Apr 2012)

He he, almost as bad as me nearly cycling onto the M8 once


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