Idiot cyclist hits bollard and cuts chin

[robjh]

That idiot was me, last night. I was on a familiar road not far from work, where there is a traffic-calming feature consisting of kerb build-outs on either side to narrow the carriageway and force car drivers to take turns. There are narrow but generally usable mini-cycle paths on the left of the build-outs. As here :

I normally take the roadway, but if there are queuing cars I may use the cycle path. Last night, as I was approaching, a car came round the corner to approach the feature from the opposite direction, and I decided (or was deciding) to go down the cycle path.

Anyway, I must have vacillated a moment too long before engaging the turn, and suddenly realised I was heading straight for the middle of the kerb and the first ‘bollard’ on the left. The bike hit the bollard – luckily the flimsy plastic bendy sort – and I ended up sprawled on my front in the cycle path and felt a bump as my chin hit the ground.

I was quite OK except for* minor grazing on the knees and half an inch of skin scraped off the underside of my chin, which continued to bleed gently for the rest of my ride. Two drivers stopped to see if I was alright, and I thanked them but assured them I was. The main damage was that I felt so stupid for making such an elementary misjudgement.

No sympathy sought – it was my own stupid fault.

Has anyone else done anything stupid on a bike that they’d like to own up to amongst friends?

(*edit – and a bruised thigh that I can feel this morning)

 

[Globalti]

Yes, riding along in rain with my head down and suddenly found myself lying on the boot of a parked car. Got off and rode away before the owner came out.

 

[Markymark]

The 3 times I have come off have all been my fault.

1. Carrying bag over shoulder and cycling one handed whilst braking on leaves
2. Hit change of road surface to cobbles at too shallow an angle and slowly fell off
3. Not paying attention to approaching sharp bend on gravel road at speed and badly judged it - this one ended up in A&E.

 

[BigAl68]

Yes me to. Riding across a car park when I see two cyclists looking at one of their bikes. I ask is everything OK, they say yes and then I ride straight into a curb which I know is there but hit and end up in a pile on the floor.

 

[ArDee]

How many times have we all had clipless moments and ended up on the road feeling like an idiot.
The last time was on the London to Brighton cycle ride - when I ended up in a ditch at the side of the road. I would like to say thank you to the young lady in Lycra that came over to help me up and ask if I was hurt or anything damaged.

 

[palinurus]

The 3 times I have come off...

You remember them all? I've fallen off that many times I doubt I could guess to the nearest 10. I've fallen off three times in a single journey.

None of mine were my fault. Stupid drivers, stupid kerbs, stupid mud, stupid pedals, stupid snow, stupid wider-than-expected trailer etc.

 

[Markymark]

3 falls in circa 13,000 miles over 4 years. Only one properly hurt.

 

[Milkfloat]

View attachment 96338

I hate those little gaps for cyclists - they are always full of detritus.

 

[Banjo]

The big question (and I am surprised its not been asked yet) Is the bike ok ??

 

[fossyant]

The pros do stuff like that regular.

Numptys the lot of you. Never done something stupid like that, oh no, not me, ever, never happened, you didn't see it

 

[martint235]

Yes me to. Riding across a car park when I see two cyclists looking at one of their bikes. I ask is everything OK, they say yes and then I ride straight into a curb which I know is there but hit and end up in a pile on the floor.

Ah, where is Davy Walnuts when you need him. On a night ride to Bognor, we'd stopped at Pease Pottage services. Davy left the services last and seeing the rest of us on the other side of the car park promptly attempted to ride in a straight line towards us not realising there were kerbs in the way. With his rucksack under him, he looked like a mutant turtle. How we laughed!!!!

 

[robjh]

The big question (and I am surprised its not been asked yet) Is the bike ok ??

It was the first thing I checked - apart from counting all my teeth and making sure they were still in place.
Rest assured the bike was fine and I did another 70 miles on it after that.

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

Yes, riding along in rain with my head down and suddenly found myself lying on the boot of a parked car. Got off and rode away before the owner came out.

The people of Bury must hate cyclists, I did the same thing! I went down a hill in the rain, head down straight into the back of a van that was parked in a cycle lane. I went through the window. The police must have thought he was on dodgy ground for making a claim as I never heard anything (I have third party insurance that would have covered it anyway)

 

[Globalti]

This wasn't in Bury, this was in the sleepy Oxfordshire village where I grew up. I must have been about 14.

 

[robjh]

Yes, riding along in rain with my head down and suddenly found myself lying on the boot of a parked car. Got off and rode away before the owner came out.

The people of Bury must hate cyclists, I did the same thing! I went down a hill in the rain, head down straight into the back of a van that was parked in a cycle lane. I went through the window. The police must have thought he was on dodgy ground for making a claim as I never heard anything (I have third party insurance that would have covered it anyway)

One of my clubride buddies hit a parked car on his commute, on my road. Fortunately the neighbours have not been out looking for cyclists' blood. Oh wait a moment..(goes out to check the noises from the street)