Now that's art! I love the creativity of using a watermelon as a canvas, and creating a cycling masterpiece such as this. But if you look closely, it looks like the artist began to run out of space and realized that in proportion, uh - it's not gonna fit. Hey no problem, let's just turn the front wheel - hmmm, a little more - there! That's it! Notice how the speeding cyclist is still going all out, body and handlebars forward, but the front tire is now 90 degrees to the bike. I smell disaster.
Nope, this is not going to work. I'm sure the artist in "rindsight" (get it - hindsight/rindsight, watermelon rind?) realized his/her egregious error. But hey, what are you going to do.
Well, looking at this brought to mind my own cycling, shall we say; "mishaps". As I recollect, I've only crashed about four times in my life. I recount them to you in chronological order:
- Showing Off. It was a hot summer day, and on my old Trek 720 I was blasting down the bike trail parallel to 205 south, at Clackamas Town Center. I was zipping across Town Center Drive, crossing 6 lanes of traffic legally as the light turned green for me to enter Clackamas Promenade. I had my jersey off, and my huge muscular chest cast a shadow like an aircraft carrier as I entered the intersection and then slid out of the turn. I shredded a fair amount of exposed skin, and my bike banged into the curb with such force that it popped a tire. All six lanes of traffic stared as this bloody, limping form walked over to retrieve the maimed bicycle.
- Clipless Pedals. Every cyclist I know does this at least once. I had moved to a 2120 all carbon frame with clipless pedals. On the same bike path, going north I stopped for traffic at Stark Street. I began to lean over as usual but instantly realized that there was NO WAY I could get clipped out in time. I didn't even try. I remember the face of a child in a passing station wagon watching me intenly as I just came to a stop and fell right over.
- Car crash. It could have been a lot worse. Riding west on Marine Drive, I had the right of way in a bike path when a car making a right hand turn looked left, didn't check right; and drove right into me. I remained upright as the impact on my back wheel spun me exactly 90 degrees. I wasn't hurt, just shaken up. The driver was very sorry, and the only damage was that it put my rear wheel out of true to the extent that I had to open the brake caliper to ride. But it didn't even pop the tire.
- Whiskeytown Wipeout. Gary and I were grinding up the last big hill before the descent into Whiskeytown Lake, west of Redding California. I made the classic cyclist mistake of following too close, and clipping his rear wheel. It spun me right off the shoulder of the road and I actually tumbled about 10 fee or so down the embankment. Got some nasty road rash and cuts on that one, we finished the ride but the blood had literally run down my leg and into my shoe. But I'm tough (or stupid, or perhaps both).
