Getting to Know You??? Question #1...

[xc62701]

Mine was probably 8 years ago or so I thought I was pretty good on a bike so I went to hop the front step of my local shop and cruise up to the front door all stylish-like and I forgot to pull up and blew out the front tire on the curb and fell right onto the doorway of the store almost going through the front display window. Needless to say I had to pull my dignity back together and walk in and get a tube so I could ride home. They didn't let me forget that one for a while...

 

[don]

Allaire back some years ago when they had those races late in the season in Oct or Nov. Might have been 1998 as it must have been before the kids were born and I had time to ride.

In the area in the pit where the event was setup there was a rope about a foot high across part of the road. It was used to funnel people thru a smaller open area to slow down. I was with some friends and figgered I'd just hop the thing so I didn't have to get off my bike. Needless to say I messed up the easiest trick ever and was OTB before I knew it. There were a LOT of racers that must have seen the feat. Totally embarassed, but I was laughing my ass off at myself for being such an idiot.

And to top it off I had a nice crash at the BK Trails later that day on my 20".


One more knucklehead moment (although there are quite a few more):

The 3rd time I did the VT 50 miler ('99 - I think). Getting prepped for the race a few days before I was too lazy to bring my front wheel with loose spokes to the shop and was like "I'll just tighten it up myself".

Well, at about mile 10, I was eager to pass some other beginners before a downhill singletrack section I knew was coming up and was saying "on your left" a bunch of times - thinking I was joe-friggen-expert rider. I did get past a bunch of people for the section and was having a good ol' time until the front wheel decided to fold on itself from my tensioning techniques not being strong enough for the VT rocks and roots.

All the people I passed plus a bunch more, passed me back shaking their heads. I got the wheel to get back into the fork from hitting it against a tree but I had no use of the front v-brake as it still had a bunch of wobble in it.

And around mile 40, I blew a hole in the sidewall of the tire - should have just taken off the brake calipers in the first place. Made the finish but it was a long day.

 

[Cyclopath]

On a whim, in the middle of the night, I registered online for the MS100. I hadn't been on a bike in 15 years and had 3 1/2 weeks to get ready for it. In my second week of training we(16 extended family) were vacationing on LBI, a couple blocks from the southern end. I decided to ride the island each day I could, 36 miles round trip.

One day, my Brother-in-law rode with me, pulled me a bit and gave some pointers. He would alternate checking on me and racing ahead(I was slow as SH**). Towards the end, he waited for me to catch up, then let me lead the last mile to the lighthouse as he toured the area.

At the entrance to the park, I pulled over to stop and went to put my foot out... damn! Toe clips! Stuck feet. Holding tight to the grips in fear, I fell with the bike, tucked and rolled and ended up flat on my back with my feet straight up in the air, bike still attached, wheels spinning!

What a sight!!
People waiting at the snack bar came to see if I was OK. "Yep, fine."
Asked if I wanted something to drink... "No thanks, I've got water right here..."

I escaped that one with just a jammed elbow and a bruised ego... no scratches, no blood.
(I meant to do that)

 

[ItsWin]

Most embarrassing moment in life (so far):

OK, back in junior high school I had a little thing for this girl in my class. She was stick-thin and blond, which are two things I don't normally go for, but she was also sweet and had a nice smile, which I guess can do it for any guy. So me and 3 friends are eating lunch in the cafeteria and I happen to mention this to them. What does one of the fools do but walk over to where she's sitting and tell her everything. I hear her whole table start laughing out loud. Then what does she do but come right up to me and say "WIN, YOU LIKE ME? THAT'S SO CUTE!" - and this girl had the loudest squeakiest high-pitched voice you can imagine. This caused everyone at my table to start laughing their asses off. What color was my face? Think tomatos, fire trucks, and your little brother's toy wagon. Seeing that, she says "ARE YOU EMBARRASSED? AWWW, IT'S OK! DON'T BE EMBARRASSED!" I wanted to tell her well how the hell could I not be you silly-ass girl, but I just said thanks for being a good sport about the whole thing. Needless to say, that buddy of mine got a beating.



Biggest bike-related embarrassment:

Riding a trail on Long Island. Had my tires pumped up to rock solid because the trail was pure hardpack - sometimes I even rode a road bike on it just for fun. I took a wrong turn somewhere and came upon a very short (like maybe 3 seconds) descent where the ground got looser at first then turned to sand halfway down. I lost control, flipped forward (not sure if this was from braking or from hitting something or both) and smacked into a small tree helmet first. The impact caused my helmet to crack a little and I actually blacked out for a short while. I woke up with one foot still strapped in the toe clip and an impression of the stem bolt on my chest. Fortunately, aside from the stem twisting to one side the bike was just fine. To this day, I don't know how I screwed it up as insanely as I did. A kid could've ripped down that thing.


Win

 

[FFT]

I was walking down a busy street in New Brunswick and kept telling myself how cold it was. At one point my wedding tackle became so cold I put my hand down there to check on everything - well my little buddy was hanging out the front door with his two friends. Very embarrasing.

 

[bobkennelly]

About 10 years ago I hit a tree at Chimney rock and dislocated my AC joint.[its at the top of your shoulder]

And rode a mile or so back to my work van because I was on my lunch hour.
Not good...Although it was a grade one seperation, still kept me off the bike for about 4 weeks.

 

[jimmysnukastyle]

Story

I got chased by the cops at a house party in high school and jumped off a deck and shattered my ankle - pissing every five minutes in the ER and surgery the next morning. Six weeks in a cast and on crutches in high school to remind everyone how retarded I was. It was a snuka style jump though - I have to admit. I also ran on the broken ankle. Now I bike in an ankle brace.

 

[Nathan Crisman]

Bankruptcy Court. nuff said.

I haven't been riding long enough to have anything real embarassing happen yet, but I had the obligitory "clipless pedals" tip over in the street. Naturally right in the center of town.

 

[kimrey]

When I got stationed in Rota, Spain I bought a Peugot to cruise around on base and out in town. Loved that bike and miss it dearly. It weighed a ton.

Anyway, one day I was pedaling pretty fast on my return from the chow hall. I was going to make a fast turn onto the sidewalk leading up to the barracks bike rack and do a cool brake slide.

Just as I started to whip into the turn, I realized there was a lot of sand on the sidewalk and if I continued to make the turn I was going to wipe out hard. So, I didn't make the turn. The problem was there were was a row of large bushes on the edge of the sidewalk. I crashed into them pretty hard and then fell.

There was a group standing close by, they didn't laugh - yet. All they said was "Damn! Dude are you alright?" I was fine. Just embarrassed.

About 6 or 7 months later I was living off base in an apartment, had a car and was supervisor of my shop. One of the guys that worked for me asked for a lift to the barracks after work. I was dropping him off and he starts chuckling.
I asked, "what's up?"
He said "Oh, I was just remembering one day when I was coming out of the chow hall after dinner and saw some dumb ass ride his bike into those bushes."
I said "that was me."
He started laughing harder and told me about how everyone that saw it was laughing after "the fool" went inside.

 

[shrpshtr325]

not mine, but i was biking w/ my friend and he missed a turn and took a 5 ft drop, lost his bike and was hanging on a tree branch yelling to me made my day a little bit brighter