juha_teuvonnen
04-02-2007, 09:23 PM
Ok,
The credit for this one goes to lack of experience (I have about a 100 miles total riding experience), and being tired, stupid and not paying enough attention at the same time.
I park in the underground garage at work. The entrance (and exit) is a pretty steep ramp. Entrance - down, exit -up. The garage is equipped with an automatic barrier. Of course it only recognizes the cages, and ignores the bikes so I have to drive around it. The damn' barrier does not block th entire passage, my bike just barely fits between the barrier and the wall. To make things more complicated there is a chain hanging from the ceiling on the side of the passage close to the wall. I guess it can be used for manually operating the garage door when the lights are out.
The exit ramp is completely BLIND. The view to both sides is completely blocked by 2 walls, I guess to prevent people from falling into the ramp.
My usual technique is to use clutch and throttle to go uphill through the ramp, carefully fitting in the gap and stopping at the very top of the ramp. Reason for stopping - huge construction equipment and other vehicles are traveling there, usually at 20-25, and I have no visibility till the very moment when it's too late to do anything.
Today I was in a bit of a hurry, not paying attention, and I caught the chain with my brake lever.
Consequences:
1. Bike fell, and so did I.
2. Minor scratch on my left knee. Did not notice until a half an hour later - no big deal. A minor rip in my costco brand jeans. A whopping $20 written off!
3. Brake lever slightly bent (took 5 minutes to bend back in shape and adjust)
4. Mirror became loose (is OK now, took a minute to fix).
5. Yet another scratch on my 25 dollar engine guards (shipping included), bought used on ebay.
Learnings:
1. Hurrying while on a bike is a rather lousy idea.
2. Not paying attention sucks too.
3. I can screw up exercise that I have performed fine all of last week, if I am not paying enough attention.
4. If I am going to have a long day at work I should cage to work. Riding while tired sucks.
5. When bikes are dropped they leak fuel. That engine cutoff switch is there for a reason, and I am sure glad that Tim (my MSF instructor) hammered into my head the habit of using it.
on the bright side:
- I can pick a 420 lb bike even if it fell on the uphill ramp
- Buying a beat up 20 year old "naked" bike for a first bike was a smart choice - no fairings to repair.
- Engine guards are a wise investment
The credit for this one goes to lack of experience (I have about a 100 miles total riding experience), and being tired, stupid and not paying enough attention at the same time.
I park in the underground garage at work. The entrance (and exit) is a pretty steep ramp. Entrance - down, exit -up. The garage is equipped with an automatic barrier. Of course it only recognizes the cages, and ignores the bikes so I have to drive around it. The damn' barrier does not block th entire passage, my bike just barely fits between the barrier and the wall. To make things more complicated there is a chain hanging from the ceiling on the side of the passage close to the wall. I guess it can be used for manually operating the garage door when the lights are out.
The exit ramp is completely BLIND. The view to both sides is completely blocked by 2 walls, I guess to prevent people from falling into the ramp.
My usual technique is to use clutch and throttle to go uphill through the ramp, carefully fitting in the gap and stopping at the very top of the ramp. Reason for stopping - huge construction equipment and other vehicles are traveling there, usually at 20-25, and I have no visibility till the very moment when it's too late to do anything.
Today I was in a bit of a hurry, not paying attention, and I caught the chain with my brake lever.
Consequences:
1. Bike fell, and so did I.
2. Minor scratch on my left knee. Did not notice until a half an hour later - no big deal. A minor rip in my costco brand jeans. A whopping $20 written off!
3. Brake lever slightly bent (took 5 minutes to bend back in shape and adjust)
4. Mirror became loose (is OK now, took a minute to fix).
5. Yet another scratch on my 25 dollar engine guards (shipping included), bought used on ebay.
Learnings:
1. Hurrying while on a bike is a rather lousy idea.
2. Not paying attention sucks too.
3. I can screw up exercise that I have performed fine all of last week, if I am not paying enough attention.
4. If I am going to have a long day at work I should cage to work. Riding while tired sucks.
5. When bikes are dropped they leak fuel. That engine cutoff switch is there for a reason, and I am sure glad that Tim (my MSF instructor) hammered into my head the habit of using it.
on the bright side:
- I can pick a 420 lb bike even if it fell on the uphill ramp
- Buying a beat up 20 year old "naked" bike for a first bike was a smart choice - no fairings to repair.
- Engine guards are a wise investment