Crazy Cyclist

Does anyone have any cycling superstitions? Mine is I have to get on my bike from the right side, if Get on from the left, I have to get off and start over.

ctyler

No, no. You have to get on from the LEFT! And always unclip the left foot first!

Hoop

I don't know if it is a superstition, but I always get on from the left side and put in the left foot first. Right foot out first when getting off on the left side.

clevernamehere

If I tell someone I've gone over 6000km without a flat, I'll have one within the next few days.

doh....

oh well, it was nice while it lasted

chrisvu05

i never wash my lycra shorts!! JUST KIDDING

lilHinault

If I get a bug in my mouth while talking to another rider, I'm not allowed to eat it, I have to spit it out.

chrisvu05

thank you for my nightly laugh! that was hilarious

UmneyDurak

If I win a race I must get butt naked and run around the course. Good thing I haven't won any races yet.

DannoXYZ 

I always wear my skinsuit to bed the night before a race...

lilHinault

Beats wearing your birthday suit at the race!

my58vw

I must always fill my waterbottles and chill them the night before a race.

Bikemiker

I was hoping there would be some stranger superstitions written in here. Now I don't know if I should mention any of mine (crazy?).
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Ah, who cares, right? Here's a couple. Now keep in mind, these are all from my days as a BMX/Freestyle grom, I no longer entertain these particular superstitions.
Waking up anybody sleeping outside (usually homeless) was bad luck. Completing a lap around somebody sleeping outside without waking them, however, was good luck.
If a street light turns off while you are riding under it, good luck.
If a street light turns on while you are riding under it, bad luck.
Shouldn't ride on religious property on Sunday.
If we found a dead bird at one of our session spots, we couldn't ride there until we found a blue bag or a blue box to put it in. Touching the dead bird wasn't bad luck, but we avoided that anyways.
Always had to have some sort of mojo on the bike.
Now, I'm not defending this weirdness, but, we spent a rediculous amount of time riding, with no water, no tools, no tubes, no idea where we were going, with no money save for enough change (sometimes) to call home if something unfixable happened, no lights, no reflectors, no helmets, sometimes 15 or more miles to get somewhere to ride all day and then ride home 15 miles again in the summer on single speed BMX bikes, and well, I'm still here. Man, we were dumb and lucky.

Gus Riley

Yep!

Moonshot

On a road near my house there're two indentations in the asphalt probably caused by a roto tiller or something. The space between the two is just wide enough for my bike to pass through. I have to pass between those indentations or the planet Saturn will collide with Jupiter or worse.

slvoid

You wouldn't happen to be patrick carpentier during last year's CART race at laguna seca would you?

Kabloink

You have to walk around your bike while screaming "Yea though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil" several times. It's very important to do this while there is a crowd nearby. Then ride off while humming the "flight of the valkyries" as loud as possible.

Ok, ok. This is not really a superstition, but it would be fun to watch.

The only superstition I have is always put your left foot down at stops and always put your right foot first into clips. Something bad will happen if you don't do this. I am not sure what it is, but its bad.

kokodeselavy

I have a crummy gravel driveway, so I walk my bike to the end of it and change to cycling shoes there. I always leave my street shoes with the toes pointing toward home to assure a safe return.

wabbit

If i ride under a railroad overpass and the train passes over at exactly the same time, it's good luck.

ALso, never go for a ride on Friday the 13. The last time I did so (in may) I fell.

lilHinault

I have a custom and a superstition from another sport, custom is, before traveling, I'd really clean my room and make everything really neat, bed perfectly made, clutter neatened up, etc. because it was SO nice to come back to a nice, neat, clean, room! And the superstition is, I'd never wish my team-mates well. I did a couple of times and they did badly, so I felt it was like a jinx. They were my competitors, and there was not much love lost between us, but I was horrified at the thought that my team-mates may be prevented from doing their best. I'm sure these two things will carry over into bike racing if I end up racing, or at least the neat-room thing sure will. Frankly I'd rather dump the other one, I'd like to wish my team-mates well and for them to do well!

heckflosse

When approaching a horse I stop and dismount, not sure why. Same sort of thing whilst driving, I'll slow right down and allmost touch the kerb.

KingTermite 

I must always ride FORWARDS if its a day who's name ends in "Y".

MikeR

I'm in the process of developing one.
About 2 years ago I had a pretty good spill - nothing serious but enough to hurt for a while. I also put a small rip in the leg of my bike shorts. Recently I took a corner too sharp on new blacktop that was wet and I went down hard. Hurt bad, but nothing broken. While limping back home, I noticed that I had those same bike shorts on. Now when I pull bike shorts out of the pile, I get nervous if I see that I have the ones with the little rip in them - THE JINXED SHORTS!

MikeR

My wife is an equestrian and she says "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you"

Xtrmyorick

Uh oh. That means that you're going to have to ride backwards tomorroW!


Wow, even I cringed at that one.

webist

This is perhaps a mix of superstition and personal custom or maybe just a sign of respect. There is a veterans cemetary on my route which offers a beautiful and peaceful uphill ride. I don't enter it however, on days when the flags are at half-staff.