Involved in an accident last night

Wrath Rob

I bumped into a colleague of mine at the bike shed last night and seeing that we go the same way, I offered him a tow home. All was well until Chelsea Embankment. I was up front grinding out ~21 on the single speed when the lights before BB changed. I hesitated slightly then relised I wasn't going to get through on Amber and so braked. Cue some loud skiding noises behind me, a bang in the back, some swearing and then a lot of clattering. I stopped and turned round, not only had my mate gone down, after hitting me, but someone drafting him had gone down too.

No real damage to either party (or me), much embarassement for both the drafting fairies but it could have been a lot worse. Moral of the story, dont draft. If you have to draft, allow space for the unexpected, like traffic lights changing colour and the cyclist in front slowing down to stop. Or MTFU

Aidy

Surely the moral of the story is that drafting doesn't preclude watching where you're going and anticipating traffic?

notsoblue

Surely they should have been looking ahead of you and would have spotted the amber if they had? Also, its worth using hand signals if you think you might need to brakeif you're giving someone a tow.

Glad you were all ok though!

Mr Plum

Couldn't you have shouted or given a hand signal since you knew your colleague was following closely?

Glad everyone's ok.

Aidy

Oh, and to the fakenger a while ago who drafted me halfway up the A503 and then cut me up when I slowed to navigate around the back of a car: a "Thanks" is much better than a "Hold your line".

daccordimark

Wrath Rob wrote:

Moral of the story, dont draft. If you have to draft, allow space for the unexpected, like traffic lights changing colour and the cyclist in front slowing down to stop. Or MTFU

Moral of the story is if some bloke offers to tow you home make sure he knows how to say the word "stopping" at the lights to his following rider. Otherwise you might get the blame and be called something uncomplimentary in a forum thread if he suddenly stops in front of you and you crash into him.

Sirius631

daccordimark wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

Moral of the story, dont draft. If you have to draft, allow space for the unexpected, like traffic lights changing colour and the cyclist in front slowing down to stop. Or MTFU

Moral of the story is if some bloke offers to tow you home make sure he knows how to say the word "stopping" at the lights to his following rider. Otherwise you might get the blame and be called something uncomplimentary in a forum thread if he suddenly stops in front of you and you crash into him.

The word 'easy' is the general signal amongst club riders for those behind to ease up, whether stopping or not.

CyclingBantam

Sirius631 wrote:

daccordimark wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

Moral of the story, dont draft. If you have to draft, allow space for the unexpected, like traffic lights changing colour and the cyclist in front slowing down to stop. Or MTFU

Moral of the story is if some bloke offers to tow you home make sure he knows how to say the word "stopping" at the lights to his following rider. Otherwise you might get the blame and be called something uncomplimentary in a forum thread if he suddenly stops in front of you and you crash into him.

The word 'easy' is the general signal amongst club riders for those behind to ease up, whether stopping or not.

Or 'Lights' or 'Stopping' or pretty much anything else that indicates you are going to stop.

They guy behind should have been looking but I can't believe the OP didn't give any sort of warning.

daccordimark

Sirius631 wrote:

The word 'easy' is the general signal amongst club riders for those behind to ease up, whether stopping or not.

Thanks, I'd forgotten "easy". Bit confusing at first though as I thought the leader meant ease off rather than stop. I soon learnt. Been a long time since I've done any club riding, must look for a local lot to join now I'm getting back into cycling.

The Rookie

Frankly, yelling almost anything works, just need to catch the DF's attention, ffaaarrrrkkkkkkkK works just as well!

Simon

Clever Pun

notsoblue wrote:

Surely they should have been looking ahead of you and would have spotted the amber if they had? Also, its worth using hand signals if you think you might need to brakeif you're giving someone a tow.

Glad you were all ok though!

using hand signals is key to 'safe' drafting

asprilla

Clever Pun wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Surely they should have been looking ahead of you and would have spotted the amber if they had? Also, its worth using hand signals if you think you might need to brakeif you're giving someone a tow.

Glad you were all ok though!

using hand signals is key to 'safe' drafting

Yes, effective hand signals

Wrath Rob

LOL. There wasn't much time to shout and taking my hands off of the bars would have been dangerous for my stopping, given the proximity to the lights. Fair comments though. However, its not a club run and if you're drafting, you've got to take the responsibility of ensuring you're watching the road ahead and be prepared for the draftor (?) to stop at things like red lights.

Checked with my mate today, front wheel needs truing and his rear disk probably needs replacing. No further damage to report.