Going Over the Handlebars

If you bike a lot, you've probably done it. The Gotham Gal did it last weekend. Once I did it at Sixth Avenue and 19th Street in order to avoid getting hit by a van.

You slam on the brakes and its like slow motion. You know you are going over but you can't stop it. And then thud! You've gone over the handle bars.

It's never fun to go over the handle bars, but its even worse when you are clipped in as I normally am on the mountain bike I use to navigate the potholes and cobblestones here in NYC.

Today I was riding up the west side to the George Washington Bridge. It's a route I've done at least a 100 times. The stretch along Riverside Park between 80th and 90th street is particularly beautiful. It's a promenade that was probably built 50 years ago. It's wide with two walkways and a grass divider in between. It's a lovely stretch of the ride but I hate it because there's a dog run there and the dog owners always leave their dogs off of their leashes on the way to and from the park.

I hadn't done this ride in several weeks and had forgotten about the particular risks of that stretch today. I was in the zone and had just come up a big hill and was cruising. All of a sudden a little shetland sheepdog came running right in front of me headed over to make friends with some other dog.

I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the dog. And there I went. Slow motion. Headed over the handlebars. But somehow I managed to clip out of my right pedal and I leaned back hard and was able to put my right leg down. I didn't go over.

My heart had been racing from the hill I just went up, but it was racing twice as fast from the fear I had just experienced.

I clipped back in and started going north again. I felt like I had cheated fate.

Comments

[Will Pate]

A new biker myself, I was wondering this the other day. What would I do if I was about to hit an animal on my bike?

I love animals more than most people, and don't want to do them any harm. I've swerved in my car to avoid furry and feathered obstacles, but only because there was no other traffic. I even dodge cardboard boxes because I saw on the news once that some villan put unwanted kittens in one and placed it on the highway.

But on a bike, I don't have the protection of engineered metal or a seatbelt. Should a biker swerve to miss a dog if it means going over the handlebar? You probably just made a quick decision, but now would you do it differently if you though about weighing the risk to yourself against the life of a dog?

[simon]

I skate board alot ... and everytime i skate i expect to fall and be bruised ... no biggy .. its just part of the game ...

However as to biking .... there is always the chance of going over .. and although fred you had the skills to execute a fine stop ... that very moment of adrenalin is kinda fun aint it ... the same as skateboarding .... you know its going to happen ... you just got to keep on your toes and watch your surroundings ...

go for it ...

[simon]

is it just me .. or riding around NYC with your feet clipped in seem kinda crazy ???

[Dwight Shih]

Riverside Park ... When I lived on W 88th between Riverside and West End I tried to walk down that promenade every morning. As a walker, it was nice to see happy dogs, dancing about in the "great outdoors".

[chervokas]

I went over the handle bars and cracked a rib last year which turned out to be a really painful nuiscance. But I don't have the excuse of trying to avoid a critter. I was just trying to lift my hybrid bike over a branch, giving vent to my inner 15 year old. However, my 40 year old body apparently was not as willing as my spirit.

[Myke]

Been there, done that. Plus, I got pepper spray in my eyes!
http://www.tbig.com/MykesWeblog/stories/HowToScareAMeanDogFromYourBike.html

[Jackson]

It may be your destiny to be haunted by shetland sheepdogs.

[simon]

hahahah nice story myke

[JayR]

Never did it myself, but scooped up a friend of mine who did it a couple of weeks ago who did. It happened on a beautiful road near my house that has a horrible, twisting, blind downhill turn. It's the kind of road that you would take a BMW for a test drive on, but it's poorly paved and, aside from the beauty of it, a terrible road for biking. My friend got his front wheel caught in a rut in the middle of the road, went end-over-end and missed a big rock by about 5 feet. I happened to be driving by a couple of minutes after it happened and saw him sitting dazed in the middle of the road. He ended up with four cracked ribs, a badly bruised shoulder, a really ugly case of road rash and likely would have been hit by a car coming around the blind turn if he continued to sit on it long enough.

I cannot imagine what riding in the city must be like.

[Jackson]

It's also very interesting that you have 9 comments on this topic, and I'm the only one who had anything to say about your "business" posts.

[Trimix]

Try riding BMX ramp. That's nothing. I stack up all the time. Over the bars, out of the air into the tranny, falling 12 feet coming in hard. Riding a bike in the city? C'mon.