Whoops: I hit a car...

davis

...and it was my fault.
I know you're all bored of these type of posts, so, sorry, but this is my contrition.

This morning my brother and I were coming down a steep-ish fairly twisty single country lane (a sign says 15% but I'm not so sure) which was wet, and is fairly poorly surfaced. I was behind him, neither of us were going particularly fast. A car came round the corner -- usually one can hear them early on -- coming the opposite way.

The car and my brother both slow down sufficiently, and I -- bluntly -- don't. The back wheel locked, which I controlled, then I more or less pulled what felt like a rolling stoppie, collided with my brother, and bounced into the car. I suspect I was doing a full stoppie at that point, as my pedal put a scratch in the car at about door handle height.

I very slowly went over the bike, landing gracelessly behind the car; luckily, the ground broke my fall. We spoke to the driver, and she wasn't that bothered about the car -- she was however right that it was my fault.

No real harm done; I'll check the bike at lunch as I think the front brake is misbehaving somehow, and the back end feels a bit "sketchy" right now.

Lessons learned:
1. Leave more stopping distance between riders
2. Wet roads have less grip
3. I'm a fool
4. Whenever you crash, you're going too fast. Excess speed might not cause the crash, but it's always true in that you'd always prefer to be going more slowly.

So, even though she'll never read this, I scratched your car; it was my fault, and I'm sorry.

Bum.

lost_in_thought

I cycle a lot on twisty single lane country lanes, although none of them are anywhere near 15%, and this is pretty much my greatest fear...

Hope you're OK, good of the driver to not be concerned about the car, probably gave them a fright too.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Our godchildren and their parents live in one of the villages smack in the middle of the Surrey Hills. They tell a horrible story of one of their neighbours driving his tractor up a steep hill, and collecting a fast-moving cyclist coming down the hill on a blind bend.

Cyclist at speed + front of a tractor = not a pretty sight, apparently.

jonginge

Erk.
In my youth I used to get up to 50 on a shortish hill out of Purton in wilts. One time I noticed a tractor waiting to turn out of a concealed entrance. Never went that fast down that hill again
I like descending quickly but I'm much more circumspect these days, especially if I don't know the roads

iain_j

lost_in_thought wrote:

I cycle a lot on twisty single lane country lanes, although none of them are anywhere near 15%, and this is pretty much my greatest fear...

I hate this too. Going along narrow country lanes with blind bend after blind bend. Always slow down and keep in to the left "just in case" only to find there's nothing coming anyway. The one time I threw caution to the wind, it was a police car coming the other way. Sorry, officer ... :shock:

bd12mz

since my collision I am very cautious over the hill it happened on.
if only they (the Hotel) would cut the hedge before the turning....
cyclist and drivers would have the chance of seeing each other.

Norky

davis wrote:

...then I more or less pulled what felt like a rolling stoppie, collided with my brother...

The fopey ducker broke my rear Crud Roadracer mud guard too :x

davis

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hope you're OK, good of the driver to not be concerned about the car, probably gave them a fright too.

Yes, she was very decent, and I'll give a wave next time I see her.

Must. Learn. From. Mistakes. I guess I'll just slow down.

Greg, come to think of it, I've seen a few tractors and skip/quarry trucks on that road too. That's an unpleasant thought...

Norky: Is that a subtle hint that I should be looking at Wiggle?

chatman

I live in the countryside, and the road outside our cottage is part of the national cycle route... I have a drive way that is partially obscured so careful when pulling out (always reverse into drive, so to drive out front first) but some cyclist who come down the road seem to be traveling way faster than they should (I have a sign saying beware concealed entrance) as also the farm around the S bend from my cottage has some rather big machinery that travels up and down the lanes... I have met some of these cyclist in the middle of the road going around a blind bend just past my cottage... :shock: :shock: :shock: 4x4 V Cyclist is not a good mix... being an MTB myself I take these country lanes near me with care....but some others don't...they seem to think Lycra shorts and no helmet will protect them :? :?

hamstrich

JonGinge wrote:

Erk.
In my youth I used to get up to 50 on a shortish hill out of Purton in wilts. One time I noticed a tractor waiting to turn out of a concealed entrance. Never went that fast down that hill again
I like descending quickly but I'm much more circumspect these days, especially if I don't know the roads

Think I know that hill... the one going west out of Purton towards Malmesbury? I had the...umm... 'invigorating' experience of bombing down it on the way back home from Swindon station on Christmas Eve last year when many of the roads were caked in ice. The view was lovely - but alas I couldn't fully appreciate it since my thoughts were more focused on staying alive!

Kieran_Burns

hamstrich wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

Erk.
In my youth I used to get up to 50 on a shortish hill out of Purton in wilts. One time I noticed a tractor waiting to turn out of a concealed entrance. Never went that fast down that hill again
I like descending quickly but I'm much more circumspect these days, especially if I don't know the roads

Think I know that hill... the one going west out of Purton towards Malmesbury? I had the...umm... 'invigorating' experience of bombing down it on the way back home from Swindon station on Christmas Eve last year when many of the roads were caked in ice. The view was lovely - but alas I couldn't fully appreciate it since my thoughts were more focused on staying alive!

Chorus:
Slip sliding away, slip sliding away
You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away
.
.
.
.
Whoah God only knows, God makes his plan
The information's unavailable to the mortal man
We're workin' our jobs, collect our pay
Believe we're gliding down the highway, when in fact we're slip sliding away

I love how you can find lyrics that just fit the situation soooo well

jonginge

hamstrich wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

Erk.
In my youth I used to get up to 50 on a shortish hill out of Purton in wilts. One time I noticed a tractor waiting to turn out of a concealed entrance. Never went that fast down that hill again
I like descending quickly but I'm much more circumspect these days, especially if I don't know the roads

Think I know that hill... the one going west out of Purton towards Malmesbury? I had the...umm... 'invigorating' experience of bombing down it on the way back home from Swindon station on Christmas Eve last year when many of the roads were caked in ice. The view was lovely - but alas I couldn't fully appreciate it since my thoughts were more focused on staying alive!

That's the one. Just looked it up: Pavenhill. Nice and steep at the top with a great mile or so run-off towards the crossroads Used to be part of one of my 20m loops. Think the road layout may have changed quite a bit since then near Cricklade, though

davis

That's annoying: I apparently bent (well, dented) a spoke and the front wheel is well out of true. Is the best fix to get that spoke (some, all?) replaced ASAP?

Norky

This is where it happened: yes it's bloody narrow. There's barely room for a small car and one bike. As davis learnt, there is not room for one car and two bikes. Ninny.

davis

Norky wrote:

This is where it happened:

Funny, that pic makes it look uphill. And perhaps I should have adjusted the rucksack.