A Puckering Experience

by Stacy on January 23, 2009

I had a bit of a pucker moment today during my ride into work. Of course, the day I don’t have the camera on the bike is the day I could have gotten some more material for the WTF of the Day. Doesn’t it always seem to work out that way?

Anyway, I’m cruising on Western heading toward the stadium. I’m following a small SUV. I’ll call her “Smart Lady” because the alternative ain’t so nice. We approach the intersection at 26th. This is one of the main intersections that leads into campus, and it has a left turn lane for those heading that way. Smart Lady passes the left turn lane, passes the crosswalk, and then, halfway through the intersection, Smart Lady decides she wants to turn left. Right now. So she slams on her brakes in the middle of the intersection.

It’s time to brake! And so I do. All of a sudden my rear wheel gets squirrely. Just as suddenly, it regains its grip. Smart Lady makes the turn she so desperately had to make, and I continue on my way, a little wiser.

The walk from the parking lot to the office is a good time for a post-mortem.

  • Not enough following distance. I’m pretty sure I had around 3 seconds of space between myself and Smart Lady. My braking — even with a rear skid — slowed me down with plenty of room to spare, but it probably wouldn’t hurt my cardiac health if I kept a little more distance up front.
  • What the heck was up with that skid? I’m scratching my head a bit on this one. Now, I’m not going to say I’m the most skilled rider in the world, but I do have panic braking confidence. The road conditions were darn near perfect: dry, clear pavement. I don’t have a habit of stomping on the rear brake, and really don’t feel like I did in this situation. Could cold tires have contributed? I also was braking around the crosswalk, which has those slippery white painted lines on it. Though I try to ride between the lines, maybe I rode over the top of one while I was distracted with Smart Lady’s antics.
  • Expecting the unexpected. I think I’ve ridden through this intersection hundreds of times, and I’ve never seen this particular stunt before. Usually, dangers here are in the form of drivers darting out into traffic from 26th street (which has stop signs) and the sheer number of bicyclists and pedestrians all around.

I’m glad this turned out to be nothing more than a learning experience for me. And it goes to show that what others might think as a short, routine commute is often anything but.

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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Ken Linder January 24, 2009 at 4:59 pm

Dang. Glad you are OK.

Your rear tire breaking traction may have been those slippery white lines. I know my rear tire gets squirrely on them. Some places here they paint over the white lines. While they are tough to see, they are almost as slippery.

Ride safe!
-Ken

2 irondad January 27, 2009 at 4:37 pm

This is a small, but subtle thing. It’s possible that we can stomp the rear brake a little harder than we thought. The natural reaction is to brace ourselves with our hands and feet if we’re subconsciously expecting an impact. We teach motor cops to squeeze the gas tank with their knees. That takes the forward moving bodyweight and allows for better foot control. It might have been the line or a bit of dripping from a leaking vehicle, too.

If you have all the elements of technique down, though, then you can eliminate the rider variables.

3 meoc January 30, 2009 at 9:05 am

Nice save you had there. Something similar happend to me before almost a year, but I fell. No concequences luckily, except some cosmetic bike damage. My “Smart lady” was driving in front of me and then just decided to park on the right side hitting the brakes and turning right.

My moral – same as yours – following distance is never enough. And I didn’t expect the unecpected. :-)

Rear tire – I also wonder what happend but I think it was too dusty, judging by my suit afterwards.

Cheers

4 Stacy February 2, 2009 at 10:05 am

I find that incidents like these are good for keeping skills sharp. Mile after mile of uneventful riding tends to make me complacent. I’m glad your encounter with a Smart Lady left you relatively unscathed!

5 Sachi Wilson February 3, 2009 at 7:29 am

Your rear wheel skid more than likely was because you hammered the front brake lever hard enough to shift the weight of the bike to the front wheel. Because the rear wheel was unweighted, it lost traction. I do that frequently on hard braking.

(I’m Sachi from the Rounders.)

6 Cliff Yankovich February 3, 2009 at 3:01 pm

Never underestimate the stupidity of the folks in the cages – especially the bigger ones. I kind of doubt tire temp had anything to do with the skid. Painted lines can be bad-bad-terrible-bad (also watch out for tar snakes – especially in the rain/mist).
Ride and Learn.
Like your blog – nice photo journalism on the wrenching, good emphasis on safety – well done.
(aka El Dookey from the Rounders)

7 Stacy February 3, 2009 at 5:44 pm

@Sachi: Good point, and quite likely considering the circumstances.

@Cliff: Thank you for the pointers, and the compliments. :)

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