Catching plastic bags
03-23-17, 01:08 PM
#1
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Catching plastic bags
I stared commuting in September and never ran into this. Yesterday it happened twice. The wind blew trash plastic bags into my wheels. Gave it a bit to see if they'd work out, but no, they were in there good. Had to stop and pull them out. The second time it happened they wrapped around my brake calipers and I had some trouble stopping. Nothing dangerous, just an "oh wow" moment.
03-23-17, 01:19 PM
#3
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Yes, it's a common problem when riding on littered urban streets. Try to avoid them, but don't try so hard that you risk more serious problems, like veering into traffic.
As I said, it's common, and soon enough one will get snagged by your chain and jam the RD. If so, be ready to stop, because trying to pedal with a bag jammed into the RD can tear it off.
As I said, it's common, and soon enough one will get snagged by your chain and jam the RD. If so, be ready to stop, because trying to pedal with a bag jammed into the RD can tear it off.
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03-23-17, 01:41 PM
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another good reason to ban them
03-23-17, 02:28 PM
#5
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This has happened to me but if I remember right, I managed to avoid the damage. The potential is pretty bad. I don't think I even saw the bag coming. I felt my drivetrain give resistance, so I stopped and saw what was happening.
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03-23-17, 02:40 PM
#6
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Yea it's in a littered urban area. Add in the 25+ mph winds and I had no chance to avoid them. They were dancing all over in the wind. I just felt like a magnet. Thanks for the heads up about the rear derailleur, being a blockhead, I just might've tried to pedal it through.
03-23-17, 04:54 PM
#7
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Happened to me once, a couple of months ago when a cold front suddenly blew in, just as I approached an intersection. I was looking around for traffic and didn't noticed the bag catch in my rear derailer until I was four lanes into a six lane boulevard, then I couldn't pedal but could still coast. Fortunately there was no traffic.
I checked my video later and could see a gust of wind blow the bag toward me from the right. Happened just as I was looking to my left for traffic. I was coming from a sheltered residential street with little wind, and approaching a wide intersection with heavier wind gusts.
I try to be more conscious of this stuff but it's difficult when there are so many things competing for our attention. Occasionally I'll review my mundane ride videos before deleting them just to see if I could have done something better or different when minor incidents occur: debris blowing across the road; vehicles that seem to dart out in front of me. Usually there doesn't appear to be anything I could have done differently. On windy days (including this entire week) there's a lot of stuff blowing around, often from different directions. And with vehicle close calls it's usually jackass drivers. Can't do much more about them than I'm already doing. Just ride with eyes on stalks and head on a swivel.
I checked my video later and could see a gust of wind blow the bag toward me from the right. Happened just as I was looking to my left for traffic. I was coming from a sheltered residential street with little wind, and approaching a wide intersection with heavier wind gusts.
I try to be more conscious of this stuff but it's difficult when there are so many things competing for our attention. Occasionally I'll review my mundane ride videos before deleting them just to see if I could have done something better or different when minor incidents occur: debris blowing across the road; vehicles that seem to dart out in front of me. Usually there doesn't appear to be anything I could have done differently. On windy days (including this entire week) there's a lot of stuff blowing around, often from different directions. And with vehicle close calls it's usually jackass drivers. Can't do much more about them than I'm already doing. Just ride with eyes on stalks and head on a swivel.
03-24-17, 02:16 PM
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Tangent note but I actually try to snag the plastic bag with my foot as I ride by and then hand grab it and dunk it in the nearest trash bin. Sometimes it works kind like a dance and I've gotten applause from the pedestrians.
