Your biggest cycling fail so far?

mrfpb

Last week at the roadside, I managed to puncture two spares tubes with my tyre lever.

Matthewfalle

Craig0657 wrote:

trailflow wrote:

OP you know you can take your shoes off and walk in your socks ? ?

Seems stupid to say now but at the time I didn't even consider this as an option! Obviously this resulted in totally mashing the cleats and then getting ripped off by halfrauds for some new ones as I wanted to ride the next day :evil:

How did they rip you off?

Why are you calling them Halfrauds?

meanredspider

Fail-wise was probably the Rapha Prestige Limburg - 190km in the Ardennes. It's supposed to be teams of 4 but one of our team witnessed a tragic cycling accident in the week running up to the event so dropped out. As it was, I was planning to have a quiet 50th year "enjoying" my cycling rather than preparing for events, so I had already been blackmailed into participating. What I hadn't understood at the time was how badly I was affected by citirizine (sp?) (the hayfever treatment) as I'd not needed it before. Anyhow, it was a tough lesson as I spent the whole event dragging along at the back of the other two guys with absolutely nothing in my legs. I didn't help that, on one of the few occasions I was leading them on a descent, I came off on a wet/greasy roundabout (at least two other event riders did the same - one breaking his collarbone).

Highlight of the day, apart from finishing up "NL's toughest climb" (ha!) was meeting Marianne Vos.

It's possibly a timely reminder to others that citirizine not only can have that effect but can also affect your hand-eye coordination - I was berating myself for my poor car positioning whilst racing at Knockhill (a circuit I could drive blindfold). Stopping the meds meant both the legs and the coordination came straight back. These days I use loretadine (sp?) with no noticeable side effects.

burnthesheep

mrfpb wrote:

Last week at the roadside, I managed to puncture two spares tubes with my tyre lever.

Practice doing it at home without levers for the install. Sure, remove with a lever. I once thought it impossible to get a race tire on without a lever. Now I can do it with just hands. The key for me was get one side completely on at a time. Not both at once. The last bit is difficult but focus your finger strength on the edges working to the middle of the last section to push over the side.

Sounds silly but you patch a tiny tube puncture and reuse the tube for your practice session if you don't want to risk a new tube.

dodgy

DavidJB wrote:

Riding with the flu

You had a cold.

the_cyclist_of_catan

Not even close to a big fail. My biggest cycling fail so far left me in ICU for ten days, on crutches for twenty weeks and off the bike for ten months. If I do it again I'll put myself at risk of having to go EVERYWHERE on two wheels.

Craig0657

Matthewfalle wrote:

Craig0657 wrote:

trailflow wrote:

OP you know you can take your shoes off and walk in your socks ? ?

Seems stupid to say now but at the time I didn't even consider this as an option! Obviously this resulted in totally mashing the cleats and then getting ripped off by halfrauds for some new ones as I wanted to ride the next day :evil:

How did they rip you off?

Why are you calling them Halfrauds?

£21.99 for a set of cleats....

meanredspider

Craig0657 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Craig0657 wrote:

trailflow wrote:

OP you know you can take your shoes off and walk in your socks ? ?

Seems stupid to say now but at the time I didn't even consider this as an option! Obviously this resulted in totally mashing the cleats and then getting ripped off by halfrauds for some new ones as I wanted to ride the next day :evil:

How did they rip you off?

Why are you calling them Halfrauds?

£21.99 for a set of cleats....

The crazy thing about Halfords is that the shops charge a lot more than their website yet will pricematch their own site if asked. A week or so ago, I bought a 10-sp 105 cassette that was marked up at £50-ish in store but was listed at £25 (though out-of-stock) on their site so price-matched at that. Had a £10 promo voucher due to expire that day so paid £15.

handlebarmoustache

Racing home from school, the daily peleton of the day ! I was riding/racing down a steep hill and my pump bag got between the wheel and front fork. Over the handlebars I went and landed on the side of my face, the pain and discomfort was a real shocker for well over a week. Of course there was little sympathy from my school friends.

When I see a crash on the tv and they show close ups I have a slight flashback to that crash. I learnt from it.

Always wear a helmet and gloves every ride.

Matthewfalle

Craig0657 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Craig0657 wrote:

trailflow wrote:

OP you know you can take your shoes off and walk in your socks ? ?

Seems stupid to say now but at the time I didn't even consider this as an option! Obviously this resulted in totally mashing the cleats and then getting ripped off by halfrauds for some new ones as I wanted to ride the next day :evil:

How did they rip you off?

Why are you calling them Halfrauds?

£21.99 for a set of cleats....

If that is Shimano's RRP then that is what shops charge.

Internet prices are different due to internet pricing, economies of scale, loads of other jazz.

So they aren't ripping anyone off.

I'm sure your local LBS would charge the same.

And the Halfrauds bit? I no understand?

Matthewfalle

RRP as detailed at CRC for SH11 Shimano cleats is £19.99, so RRP for his at £21.99 is probably right.

No rip off as far as I can see.

Blame Shimano for charging £22 for two bits of plastic.

dannbodge

Moving my seat up by an inch and moving the twist position on my cleats then doing a 70 mile ride.
I couldn't walk for about 2 weeks after and still get knee issues because of it.

Also falling up small curbs by hitting them too side on.

ayjaycee

meanredspider wrote:

The crazy thing about Halfords is that the shops charge a lot more than their website yet will pricematch their own site if asked. A week or so ago, I bought a 10-sp 105 cassette that was marked up at £50-ish in store but was listed at £25 (though out-of-stock) on their site so price-matched at that. Had a £10 promo voucher due to expire that day so paid £15.

I don't tend to buy a lot from Halfords but they sometimes have some very good prices on line and are usually worth a quick check. On the rare occasions that I am browsing in the actual shop and see something, I always ask the person on the checkout to look for their online price if the mobile data signal is not good enough to do it for myself. Also the extra 10% BC discount takes the price even lower as they give it off ALL sales where some others shops (ie. Evans) only give the BC discount when selling at the full RRP.

navrig2

In the days before affordable data in Europe.

We were in Burgundy and on the 2nd morning, after fully enjoying the delights of the local food and wine, I popped out early on for a 30-40 miler. I didn't know the roads and didn't have a local map at a suitable scale. So I programmed a route into the car SatNav and stuck it in my back pocket. The roads and wind were wuiet enough I could hear the SatNav speaking to me - I had also bought and installed a Homer Simpson voice for the journey to entertain the kids! So basically I had Homer speaking to me from my pocket whilst I explored the local roads.

20 miles in the stomach started to grumble and I started to worry that I may not make it back before needing to find a toilet, in very rural Burgundy. Another couple of miles and the stomach was doing cartwheels and I was clenching tightly. After passing a couple of houses and farms I had to stop. I threw the bike over the hedge to hide it, jumped over the hedge and sprinted for the cover of the trees. Then I discovered the limitations of bib shorts! Eventually I was more or less stark naked in this little wood trying very hard not to contaminate my bibs or shoes/socks.

I don't remember ever being so close to $hitting myself and never felt so relieved before. The bibs have never fully recovered from the experience and that experience is why I would never, ever buy 2nd hand bib shorts!

Matthewfalle

ayjaycee wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

The crazy thing about Halfords is that the shops charge a lot more than their website yet will pricematch their own site if asked. A week or so ago, I bought a 10-sp 105 cassette that was marked up at £50-ish in store but was listed at £25 (though out-of-stock) on their site so price-matched at that. Had a £10 promo voucher due to expire that day so paid £15.

I don't tend to buy a lot from Halfords but they sometimes have some very good prices on line and are usually worth a quick check. On the rare occasions that I am browsing in the actual shop and see something, I always ask the person on the checkout to look for their online price if the mobile data signal is not good enough to do it for myself. Also the extra 10% BC discount takes the price even lower as they give it off ALL sales where some others shops (ie. Evans) only give the BC discount when selling at the full RRP.

So not a rip off or "Halfrauds" at all.

Quel surprise ....

Many thanks for the post.

mrfpb

burnthesheep wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

Last week at the roadside, I managed to puncture two spares tubes with my tyre lever.

Practice doing it at home without levers for the install. Sure, remove with a lever. I once thought it impossible to get a race tire on without a lever. Now I can do it with just hands. The key for me was get one side completely on at a time. Not both at once. The last bit is difficult but focus your finger strength on the edges working to the middle of the last section to push over the side.

I did, I've been riding for years, and fixed punctures (or replaced tubes) at the roadside quite a few times, including on country back roads at night, that's why it's a big cycling fail.

The tyre (GP 4 season) was just difficult. Since the day I've worked out that it's easiest if I push the part of the tyre on around the valve last.