dmanthree

OK, I admit it, a recent thread about rim vs disc spurred this memory, so I thought I'd share the story and as others to post their Tales of Horror from the past. Mine:

I was with a group riding a tour on the coast of Maine. We cycled up Mt. Battie, a short but steep climb. Going up while carrying gear was pretty hard. But the problem came on the way down. I pumped my brakes (rim, or course since this was in the early 80s) and they heated up and started to smoke. They failed with about 1/4 mile to go on a steep section. Nearly panicking I shoved my foot between the frame and rear wheel to slow the bike. It worked, but at the very end, the last 20 yards the wheel locked and I went down. Again, very lucky since I wasn't goin fast at the time, maybe 15MPH so no real damage aside from some scrapes. Scared the crap out of me since there wasn't much "ride out" room at the bottom of the hill. I had to get a lift back to town and find a local shop to replace the brake pads since they had pretty much melted away.

What's your Tale of Horror?

sced

A long time ago as a college student I toured Europe with a friend on my Holdsworth racing bike set up with a lot of gear. The stretch across the Apenines from Florence to Ravenna was a short steep uphill followed by about 80 miles of downhill. My bike had Record brakes and my friend's Dura Ace. I remember it being uncomfortably exciting carrying a lot of speed in some places knowing I wouldn't be able to stop, but there was little traffic and nothing eventful happened. I've never owned a road bike with discs but think they are needed in some circumstances like touring and riding in mountains.

dmanthree

80 miles of downhill? DAMN. I need to try that.

terrymorse 

Driving from California to the Rockies for some high mountain road biking climbs, having the bike come off the roof rack at 75 mph on US 50 in Nevada, watching the bike doing multiple cartwheels in the rear view mirror, seeing bits flying off in all directions.

Same trip, after buying and installing many new parts (including a new fork). This time in Breckenridge.

Starting up a climb, shifted into the small ring, chain caught, derailleur hanger snapped off. No spare.

woodcraft

In high school, I was ripping down the familiar narrow, twisty road above my house,

and overcooked a turn just as a car came around.

Braking hard, the rear tire skidded and I was laying it down, a few feet from going under the front wheel of the car,

but letting off the brakes, the tire grabbed and I shot away to the side.

Still gives me the willies thinking about it- probably the driver too...

dmanthree

Got the chills just envisioning that. Damn.

MoAlpha

Early season training ride in Concord MA. I was first at a traffic signal, sprinted on the green, and went down on black ice. My head ended up literally under the bumper of the vehicle behind me.

Bethesda, MD, commuting home in broad daylight with a blinkie. Entered a left turn lane on a 4-lane parkway and my next memory is standing up, talking to a Good Sam who witnessed some ******* clip me from the right and keep going.

Hope those are the worst.

big john

My ex and I rode loaded touring bikes from Crater Lake to Grant's Pass in Oregon. 90 miles almost all downhill and it was freezing.

Seattle Forrest

Gravel road. Gated, so no traffic. 🙂 A ******g bear ambles into the road right in front of me, sees me, and runs off into the bushes.

urbanknight

Drove from Los Angeles to San Jose for a race without having booked lodging in advance. Almost every hotel in town was full because a bunch of high school reunions were schedule for that weekend. Flustered and tired, my dad drove under the portico of a hotel forgetting the bike was on top. It probably would have been ok going forward (bike angled down because the front wheel was off), but he panicked and threw the car in reverse. Like a comedy movie, the saddle plopped down on the hood in front of us with a thud. Borrowed the hotel's Yellow Pages to determine the bike shop with the earliest hours to get any saddle onto my bike before my first event.

big john

Mountain biking near home I stopped to look down into a gorge about 20+ feet deep. There was a big bush down there and what appeared to be a mountain lion. I walked around a tree to get a better look and when I came back to the edge the lion had come out into the clearing and was looking straight at me. I realized it could get to me in a couple seconds so I backed away from the edge and got on the bike and sprinted out of there.

In the same area I was on the road into a park and thought I saw a coyote, the biggest coyote ever, but it walked like a cat. It might have been the same lion I had seen at the other place. Anyway, it kept walking and didn't look at me. I got moving just the same. Horse people told me later there was a mother lion who had a lair near there with a couple cubs.

dmanthree

Reminded me of a 40 mile (mostly) downhill I did once. Cruiser Bob's ride down Haleakala on Maui. Started at 28F, ended at 80F. But damn, those first 10 miles were cold.

urbanknight

This inspired me to google how fast a mountain lion can run. Apparently around 50mph

woodcraft

In the old days, the Davis (CA) double century had a mass start- 500 riders in a bunch at 5:00 AM.

In this instance, there was still a large group reaching the first hills. I was a couple of feet in from the pavement edge, shallow rocky ditch, and nasty metal reflector posts.

In my peripheral vision, the riders just behind & to the right of me tangled and a guy was headed directly onto one of the posts. I could hear the mayhem but could not look or stop,

and still imagine the gruesome injuries.

dmanthree

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. My first PMC (a fundraiser in MA) included a nice downhill that caught me by surprise. On day 1 we peaked out in the first 10 miles and then started the downhill. The group was still pretty packed at that point as we started the descent. The hill was steeper and longer than I had realized and all of a sudden I was in the middle of a pack doing 45MPH. So...just stay steady, don't touch the brakes, and go with the flow. All went well, but damn that first time was scary.