Anyone know more? 'Hero biker avoids cyclists'

reformedfatty
reformedfatty Posts: 543
edited August 2017 in Road general
This story caught my eye

http://www.nottinghampost.com/news/loca ... ond-254178

The reporting angle is an interesting one. Call me a cynic but I can't help wondering what the wider circumstances were - was there some unforeseeable problem which caused him to lose control of the motorbike? wonder what the headline would have been if it'd been a cyclist who lost control and avoided a group of motorcyclists?

Comments

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    ... or were the cyclists riding all over the lane as they often do in club rides?
    left the forum March 2023
  • singleton
    singleton Posts: 2,523
    I don't know any more, and I don't want to take anything away from this guys bravery, but I suspect that most people would take a similar decision in that split second.
    If he'd hit the cyclists, there's no guarantee that he would have ended up in any better situation himself anyway.
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    It happened on a blind bend - so you'd not expect :

    1. Cyclists to be all over the road before one (tbh the article never claims that the cyclists were in the wrong)
    2. To be going that fast on a motorbike to have to choose to avoid hitting people in order to not kill them ?
  • cgfw201
    cgfw201 Posts: 680
    guessing he wasn't aware of the 30ft drop on the other side of the ditch, also guessing there's only so much control you can have on a motorbike when it starts fishtailing on a blind corner. still, seems a good bloke and hopefully can lead as normal a life as possible.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Reading it - it suggests that the cyclists were on the correct side of the road - it was him, the motorcyclist who ended up in the wrong place.
    He was braking to slow down going into a blind bend when his bike started fishtailing.

    Does throwing the bike into a ditch make him a hero? Well - not in my book, but it's a load better than stacking it into the cyclists...

    What would've been more interesting was how/why the bike started fishtailing to start with...
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,345
    Slowbike wrote:
    What would've been more interesting was how/why the bike started fishtailing to start with...
    Initial suspicion would be that he was going too fast for the conditions.

    "Chris Toon, a music teacher..." Really? :lol::lol::lol:
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Slowbike wrote:
    What would've been more interesting was how/why the bike started fishtailing to start with...
    Initial suspicion would be that he was going too fast for the conditions.
    Ah - but were the conditions predictable? Wet roads or oil/fuel spill ??
    PBlakeney wrote:
    "Chris Toon, a music teacher..." Really? :lol::lol::lol:
    Plays the sax - so hopefully will be able to continue - great name though ...

    Play me a Toon!
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,986
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Slowbike wrote:
    What would've been more interesting was how/why the bike started fishtailing to start with...
    Initial suspicion would be that he was going too fast for the conditions.

    "Chris Toon, a music teacher..." Really? :lol::lol::lol:

    Could have been a diesel spill too.
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
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  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,345
    Daniel B wrote:
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Slowbike wrote:
    What would've been more interesting was how/why the bike started fishtailing to start with...
    Initial suspicion would be that he was going too fast for the conditions.

    "Chris Toon, a music teacher..." Really? :lol::lol::lol:

    Could have been a diesel spill too.
    Could have been many things. I said initial...
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    The term hero is often abused and certainly abused in this case... at the end of the day we are talking about a split second decision and probably one the vast majority of people would have taken... it's instinct, really...

    A bit different from spending weeks in trenches waiting for an order to attack the enemy positions... but hey ho, maybe we are short of heroes and anything does these days
    left the forum March 2023
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,236
    Whatever happened to the heroes? No more heroes any more. (Cornwell et al, 1977)
  • joe2008
    joe2008 Posts: 1,531
    Don't wanna be nobody's hero (J. Burns 1980)
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    We can be heroes (Bowie)
    left the forum March 2023
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    Why does making a mistake/lack of good judgement riding around a blind bend make you a hero? If he'd been riding a little bit more carefully perhaps there would not have been an accident. His fault but at least he didn't make it worse by killing anyone.

    Sorry if a bit harsh but there's places near me which bikes use a race tracks at times, so I've got a low tolerance with bikers.
  • StillGoing
    StillGoing Posts: 5,211
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Why does making a mistake/lack of good judgement riding around a blind bend make you a hero? If he'd been riding a little bit more carefully perhaps there would not have been an accident. His fault but at least he didn't make it worse by killing anyone.

    Sorry if a bit harsh but there's places near me which bikes use a race tracks at times, so I've got a low tolerance with bikers.

    Agreed. Ride to what you can see. An old friends father had a bad accident on an old BSA when he went through blind bend and straight up the backside of a horse. Horse bolted into a field and died, he crashed and broke limbs, the rider fell and broke limbs. I doubt the the crash was out of concern for the cyclists, but more of trying to avoid hitting them and trying to save it.
    I ride a bike. Doesn't make me green or a tree hugger. I drive a car too.
  • tonyf34
    tonyf34 Posts: 194
    Back braking just gives you a clue the guy doesn't know how to ride properly, fishtailing back end, as above, obviously going to fast into a bend he had no idea about how tight it was or what might be around the BLIND bend (go at a speed you can stop well within the distance you can see to be clear obviously wasn't in this chaps thoughts in the slightest!). Panic braked and then stacked it for which he would have had jack all say in where he was going.
    Hero my arse!
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    We don't need another hero?
    left the forum March 2023
  • andy9964
    andy9964 Posts: 930
    There goes my hero
    Watch him as he goes
  • mfin
    mfin Posts: 6,729
    The only thing in the article which mentions anything to do with "hero" is this...

    "Rachel Richardson, 41, an area leader for music development is a close colleague of Chris’ and described his decision to throw himself into a ditch to save the lives of others as heroic."

    Get a life people, he made a mistake and he didn't hit anyone. There's no need to get all righteous just because you ride a bike, you'd be glad he didn't plough into you if you were one of the cyclists.

    The guy is paralysed FFS.

    If you don't like that someone who works with him described him as heroic and a little news story was made of it in a local newspaper then grow up.
  • vinnymarsden
    vinnymarsden Posts: 560
    Well said mfin .... maybe heroic might be a bit dramatic, but I for one think, regardless of the circs the poor guy is going to be wheelchair restricted for a long time if not for good.
    It's childish and immature to suggest he might be at fault.... I'm sure he knows that himself, he doesn't need some keyboard warrior to point it out to him!
    I hope he recovers and can ride his motorcycle again ... free as a bird !!!
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    And possibly a little slower next time ? i'm sure those cyclists he nearly hit wish the same.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,345
    VinnyMarsden wrote:
    I hope he recovers and can ride his motorcycle again ... free as a bird !!!
    Potentially the problem earlier.
    Birds don't bother with corners.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.

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