Bicycle commuter causes bean soup disaster

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10-30-2009, 06:32 AM
sfa

Bicycle commuter causes bean soup disaster

Maybe this one should go in humor, although I'm not laughing yet.

I was driving into work today, toting a crock pot with black bean soup for our Halloween potluck. I got to the part of my commute that I hate when I'm on my bike--a two mile downhill stretch that is quite steep in parts with a narrow shoulder that slopes away too much (great for storm runoff, but you can't stay in the shoulder going 25 - 30 m.p.h., and it's really hard to keep your speed down). I saw a cyclist ahead on this stretch of road and slowed down, but then caught up with him at the really, really worst part of the road, where it curves suddenly and you can't see what's coming around the curve and the bad shoulder nearly disappears entirely. I knew he wouldn't be able to hold his line on the side of the road so I slowed way down until we got past that point and I could pass him safely, but in doing so my crock pot tipped over. I heard the slosh (it was on the floor of the backseat) and hoped that it just spilled over the side. No luck. It was gone--every last drop of that soup is now soaking into the floor of my car and the car stinks and I have nothing for the potluck.

FWIW, when I got to work I lied to everyone here--I blamed the accident on a sudden right turner who stopped without signaling!

Sarah
10-30-2009, 06:49 AM
BleeckerSt_Girl

Sounds awful- your poor car!

I thought this thread was going to warn against eating too much bean soup before a long bike ride. :cool:
10-30-2009, 06:55 AM
Biciclista

rotfl

I thought you were carrying the pot of soup on your bike! There would have been a lot less to clean up!
10-30-2009, 07:57 AM
staceysue

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biciclista

rotfl

I thought you were carrying the pot of soup on your bike! There would have been a lot less to clean up!

I did, too. I was picturing her navigating treacherous passes with a pot of bean soup balanced precariously on her bike rack.
10-30-2009, 08:07 AM
NbyNW

Great thread title! Glad no one was hurt, bummer about the soup and your car.

I wonder if a wet/dry vac would help with the smell?
10-30-2009, 08:30 AM
sfa

A pot of bean soup in a big handlebar basket would have fared better, and in case of disaster I could've left it for the rain and bugs and animals to clean up!

My fabulous husband saved the day--he made a new pot of soup (thank goodness for canned beans), brought it in and took my car home to clean up with his shop vac!

Sarah
10-30-2009, 08:56 AM
7rider

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biciclista

rotfl
I thought you were carrying the pot of soup on your bike! There would have been a lot less to clean up!

So did I. I was having visions of a cyclist - say, DivingBiker, who has carted her crockpot to work on her Extracycle before - barrelling down a hill at break-neck speed with soup flying everywhere.

I do hope you take your car in for a proper cleaning. I once spilled a jar of salsa on the front seat of my old car. The car stunk like salsa ... well, forever. I never did properly get it cleaned and just did the "wet and blot" thing. Blech. :o
10-30-2009, 10:50 AM
lph

sorry you guys. But I'm laughing my *ss off here :D *snort*
10-30-2009, 12:31 PM
Melalvai

Better the bean soup and your upholstery, than the cyclist. I'm glad you were so conscious of him.

My husband was driving the other night and I screamed "Don't hit the cyclist!". As my husband slammed on the brakes, I said "Hey, that was Bob from the bike shop!" Later I went to the bike shop and sure enough, he remembered that left-turner who didn't see him at first.

While I think my husband should be more watchful, Bob was hidden behind a car that was passing him in the intersection, which is why my husband didn't see him at first. I tried to tell him that the next car might not have me in it, and he should be more assertive about taking the lane through the intersection. The car might still have passed him in the intersection, but it would have had to go further left to do so, which would have either alerted my husband that something was going on, or caused a low-speed head-on collision that would have allowed Bob to wear a sticker proclaiming "TWO less cars".

I don't think he quite understood what I meant though. He's a hug-the-right cyclist.

The only thing more embarrassing than my husband hitting a cyclist would be if I were driving and hit a cyclist. That nearly happened to me once, I was waiting to make a right turn, looking to my left for oncoming traffic, when a wrong-way cyclist zipped past me. I was so mad at him. That would have ruined my credibility. And his bike, too.