Anyone remember this incident?

[ColinJ]

ITV4 showed that during their coverage of this year's journey up Alpe d'Huez and it struck me that the cyclist, being very tired after the hard climb, made a misjudgement and went to the left - when surely the right was the more 'obvious' or 'natural' direction for him to go.

The photographer was much nearer to the left side of the road ...

Maybe so, but I've had people do the opposite, so you never can tell.

I had one young man run out in front of me and he was way out in the road so I swerved behind him. He saw me but turned and ran back in my direction!

Earlier this year, I was braking on a descent towards a meandering rambler when she freaked completely, ran straight across the road in front of me and face-planted on the dry stone wall opposite! I was only doing 3 mph at the time and was nowhere near her ...

This kind of thing is especially true of sheep, by the way - never try and work out what a sheep is going to do because it will often do the opposite!

 

[Scoosh]

This kind of thing is especially true of sheep, by the way - never try and work out what a sheep is going to do because it will often do the opposite!

[Slightly OT]


+ 1

!

Someone suggested that it might be worth shouting at sheep from a distance, rather than just going past them quietly.

Ever tried it ?

Any difference ?

 

[kedab]

Earlier this year, I was braking on a descent towards a meandering rambler when she freaked completely, ran straight across the road in front of me and face-planted on the dry stone wall opposite! I was only doing 3 mph at the time and was nowhere near her ...

haha! that is quite remarkable

 

[fimm]

Someone suggested that it might be worth shouting at sheep from a distance, rather than just going past them quietly.

Ever tried it ?

Any difference ?

Yes, I've tried it, and I think it is worth trying, as if you startle them when you are a good distance from them then there's plenty of time (and more space) for them to run off.

 

[VamP]

It wasn't as angry an encounter as you'd expect because Guerini managed to get back on his bike and win the stage and he wasn't badly injured. If he'd broken a collarbone and had to abandon, I think the words he used might have been a bit stronger!

I wonder. Remember how Hoogerland din't have any recriminations against teh driver that sent him hurtling into barbed wire fence. I suppose some (most) pro riders get quite philosophical about cause of crashes. As in, it's not a matter of if but when they are going to crash...

 

[gary r]

i was there that day (further down the climb) couldnt believe it when we got back to out appartment and watched the highlights,What an idiot!!! He did apologise on TV for being a fool,and Guerini still won the day.

 

[Ludwig]

There is the dog that walked in front of Cadel Evans and the famous Abdoujaparov crash in the sprint finish in Paris and these photographers are a damn nuisance and I would carry a stick to prod them out of the way.

 

[cjb]

What I find remarkable is that there aren't many more such incidents. The crowds on this year's mountain stages were even crazier than ever - particularly the instances of booze-fueled guys trying to run alongside the bikes.

 

[gary r]

There is the dog that walked in front of Cadel Evans and the famous Abdoujaparov crash in the sprint finish in Paris and these photographers are a damn nuisance and I would carry a stick to prod them out of the way.

to be fair the Abdu crash was no ones fault but his own! Head up and sprinting in a straight line was somthing Abdu never mastered!!

 

[martint235]

There is the dog that walked in front of Cadel Evans and the famous Abdoujaparov crash in the sprint finish in Paris and these photographers are a damn nuisance and I would carry a stick to prod them out of the way.

Was Cadel Evans the one using a carbon wheel (?) where the wheel more or less disintegrated while the dog just picked itself up and walked away?

 

[Fiona N]

[Slightly OT]

Someone suggested that it might be worth shouting at sheep from a distance, rather than just going past them quietly.

I have a feeling that it depends on where the sheep are. I used to cycle fairly regularly over Holme Moss when I lived in Chapel-en-le-Frith and rode to my Mum's near Huddersfield and there (and a lot of similar places with hefted flocks) the sheep are so used to the cars that just shouting at them is unlikely to have any effect - they'll just look at you disdainfully if you're on a bike (sheep aren't daft ). If it's a day when they're sitting on the (warmer, drier) road surface, you'll see that the cars go round them so mere shouting cyclists are not going to shift a stubborn sheep.

However, where I live now the sheep aren't hefted but kept in fields and occasionally get out onto the roads where they are a bloody nuisance as they'll tend to run ahead of you until they can 'escape' back into a field or gateway/sideroad. Again shouting won't have much effect as your presence alone will startle them.

 

[Aperitif]

Was Cadel Evans the one using a carbon wheel (?) where the wheel more or less disintegrated while the dog just picked itself up and walked away?

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0dzMp61G5w[/media]

 

[martint235]

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0dzMp61G5w[/media]

Yep that's the one (so it wasn't Evans). Scared me off that kind of wheel though!!!

 

[Aperitif]

Scared me off coming back as that kind of dog...I've got that sort of body already!

 

[PpPete]

Yes, I've tried it, and I think it is worth trying, as if you startle them when you are a good distance from them then there's plenty of time (and more space) for them to run off.

Nah - sheep are just too stupid.
My own current tactic - for all errant pedestrians and other livestock / wildlife is to hunch my shoulders - get down low and AIM straight for them with determined look on face. If it's edible.... you want them for lunch. Really mean it.
Never ever fails.... they always get out the way.

Well - actually it did fail once. Did you know you can disect a pigeon with 700x25c ?