dumbest thing I've done

I just have to share this.

As some realize I have just finished my first long tour (about 436 miles) this past week.

All in all it went well.

On one brutal (25-30 mph sustained headwinds) day I was mentally and getting to be physically exhausted. At the last rest stop I sat on a metal mesh bench and when I went to get up I was stuck, I thought dang these are my favourite shorts and now they are snagged. I unhooked and discovered I had sat on some gum:mad: Everyone was feeling sorry for me until one of my riding partners let everyone know that at the last improvised rest stop I had taken the gum out of my mouth and set it on my seat :p

Why I did that I will never know, but it must have seemed like a good idea at the time :confused: of course I rode on it for 10 miles, shifting around so now I have a long strip of gum on the back of my best shorts that the world could see for another 3 days AND of course the story made its way around camp AND beat me back home

Still trying to think of the dumbest thing I've done, so I can share and you can feel better. :) Meanwhile, if you haven't been able to get the gum out of your shorts (there's a phrase you don't hear every day ;) ), try putting them in the freezer. That should harden the stuff enough that you can gently scrape it off.

I got a chuckle out of your gum story! :D

Dumbest thing I've ever done? No question....when I applied my front brakes (and only my front brakes) to see if I could get them to stop rubbing. Can you say endo? Doh! Thank goodness for helmet visors and gloves, that's for sure!

I think part of this thread should also read "the dumbest thing I have ever done after riding a bike for the greater part of a day"
on the ends of both of our rides on the RSVP, I made dumb mistakes.
1/ I was so addled after 100 miles I COULD NOT READ A MAP.
2/ second day i did almost the same thing you did. I put my digital camera
in a DIFFERENT PLACE than where i had been keeping it; and then freaked
because i forgot... and thought i lost it so started backtracking the ride.

I've done so many dumb things - well I don't have the time to tell them all... but I did get a kick out of your story. Note I'm laughing with you not at you!!! ;)

My dumb things are usually before rides... before caffeine... like putting the wheel on with the derailleur on the wrong side... Ya know, the pedals don't work then! And no matter how you *implore* people to please keep going and not wait for you...
I got the best workout in all my riding days when I did the 50 mile TUesday tour with a stiff headwind, then realized at teh last minute that even tho' I was too tired to ride ... the car was in the shop so I *had* to *sprint* the seven miles to class... (slow ride back)... then hop on the Western Flyer Repro (45 pounds) and ride out to the "Level 1" ride. Man, I was tired, my legs were jelly, and I could barely keep up with the very last rider! Whew... ten of the longest miles... pull in to the parking lot and realize that the kickstand had jammed into the tire and just about worn it through. (Those retro repro bikes were *not* meant to actually be *ridden...*)
But... gum :) :) Talk about highly visible!!!

When I first started mtn bike riding I rode with a friend who called out objects in the path...roots, rocks, turns, etc. Once I was working really hard to make it up a pretty steep hill - head down and really crankin' - and she called out duck. I thought she was telling me there was a duck in the middle of the trail (there are ducks in the area - just not where we were). I quickly figured out what she meant AFTER my forehead smacked right into a low hanging tree branch. Thank goodness for helmets...you don't have to crash for them to help you! NOW THAT WAS DUMB!

Goose :) :) :)

so many stupid things so little time.

though i still get a hard time from my co-worker when i attempted to stop and look at his new puppy and crashed and burned. between not clipping out, wetness, and soft gravel and landing hard.... lets just say he reminds me about it everytime i bring up cycling.

at least tasha (the puppy) doesn't think any less of me.

OK you guys top this - dumbest cycling related oops...

My friends and I rode down to Huntington Beach when the RAAM used to start from the pier. Main Street was lines with many spectators. Riding up the street looking for a friend, I heard my name called out. I turned, so did my handlebar and up and over the bars I went in from of all those people and TV cameras to boot. Of course, I was still locked into my pedals. I laid there for some time before someone came out to help me up. I still laugh from embarassment when I bring this up. Thankfully the only thing bruise was my ego!

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Originally Posted by li10up

When I first started mtn bike riding I rode with a friend who called out objects in the path...roots, rocks, turns, etc. Once I was working really hard to make it up a pretty steep hill - head down and really crankin' - and she called out duck. I thought she was telling me there was a duck in the middle of the trail (there are ducks in the area - just not where we were). I quickly figured out what she meant AFTER my forehead smacked right into a low hanging tree branch. Thank goodness for helmets...you don't have to crash for them to help you! NOW THAT WAS DUMB!

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This is too funny - oh the English language.

When I was little my cousin and I would ride our grandparents welsh pony without a saddle, halter, reins or anything. Just hop on and around the pasture we would go wherever the horse would take us.

We got into the trees and my cousin said "lay down" I did - on my back, the tree branch hooked my neck and off slid the 2 of us with her catching the brunt of it and me on top. No injuries except my cousin chewed me out and wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the day.

I love the stories! I needed a good laugh today - thanks for sharing

ok, I'll share a non-bike but riding story... the horse mention reminded me of it.

When I was a kid, I took riding lessons (horse) for years. A friend and I were hanging out early one day at the barn, and we noticed the shetland pony in the pasture. Of course we thought we were great riders and the pony would be docile and happy to oblige us. We bridled up the pony, and I jumped on (bareback). The shetland would have none of it and promptly bucked me off.

So, I say with pride, I have been bucked off a Shetland pony!

The duck story was great!

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Originally Posted by li10up

When I first started mtn bike riding I rode with a friend who called out objects in the path...roots, rocks, turns, etc. Once I was working really hard to make it up a pretty steep hill - head down and really crankin' - and she called out duck. I thought she was telling me there was a duck in the middle of the trail (there are ducks in the area - just not where we were). I quickly figured out what she meant AFTER my forehead smacked right into a low hanging tree branch. Thank goodness for helmets...you don't have to crash for them to help you! NOW THAT WAS DUMB!

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Now that I've given my abs a good workout from laughing so hard...I can share my dumb story. (this story literally had be in tears!)

My stupid biking story:

I had just completed day two of our MS Tour last fall totalling about 115 miles. After lunch, after it was over, I was riding my bike down a cement path to the parking lot where our car was. My tire slipped into a small gap between the cement blocks and immediately came to a stop. I wasn't going very fast to begin with, so I just kind of came to an abrupt halt. Instead of unclipping, I somehow thought that the tire would magically pop back out of this gap...duh...and then I toppled over to my right, landing on (and crushing) a decorative light. Of course, hundreds of people were still around (of the 1500 who rode that tour!) and those that weren't rolling on the grass from laughing so hard, offered to help me up. By the time I got to work the next day, my whole team had heard what had happened to me. I still haven't lived it down!

I divorced the dumbest thing I've ever done. :D

Well, I haven't decided on the good dumb thing to post yet, but, I've had a good dumb idea about the gum on the butt of your pants:D! You coulda sat in some nice black dirt (given that the pants were black) and gotten dirt stuck to the gum, and then the gum would be black, and the pants would be black, and the gum would be camoflaged and people wouldn't notice it as much, maybe?:o

Karen in Boise

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Originally Posted by Kano

Well, I haven't decided on the good dumb thing to post yet, but, I've had a good dumb idea about the gum on the butt of your pants:D! You coulda sat in some nice black dirt (given that the pants were black) and gotten dirt stuck to the gum, and then the gum would be black, and the pants would be black, and the gum would be camoflaged and people wouldn't notice it as much, maybe?:o

Karen in Boise

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Great idea! Where were you when my brain needed you ? ? ?:D

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Originally Posted by tygab

When I was a kid, I took riding lessons (horse) for years. A friend and I were hanging out early one day at the barn, and we noticed the shetland pony in the pasture. Of course we thought we were great riders and the pony would be docile and happy to oblige us. We bridled up the pony, and I jumped on (bareback). The shetland would have none of it and promptly bucked me off.

So, I say with pride, I have been bucked off a Shetland pony!

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they don't call them sh*tlands for nothing.

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Originally Posted by Kano

Well, I haven't decided on the good dumb thing to post yet, but, I've had a good dumb idea about the gum on the butt of your pants:D! You coulda sat in some nice black dirt (given that the pants were black) and gotten dirt stuck to the gum, and then the gum would be black, and the pants would be black, and the gum would be camoflaged and people wouldn't notice it as much, maybe?:o

Karen in Boise

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HA. try and find BLACK dirt when you need some! Just my luck, i'd have light brown dirt and little sticks and stuff sticking to the gum. lol :D

I've got another dumb one...didn't use the restroom before heading out on a ride and nature called while on the bike. Pulled off the road and headed for the bushes. It took me about 10 seconds to pee but about 5 minutes to pull out all the little stickers that were stickin' me when I got my shorts back up...hundreds of the little buggers. That was NOT fun.

Sorry to hear about the gum... that really does SUCK!

The dumbest thing I have done? Well, I am sure there are many, and yes I divorced mine too... BBBUUUTTT... bike related:

When I was a kid, I had this bike with a banana seat. And, my friend and I would take turns "pumping" (one person rides on the seat while the other one pedals) each other. (Gosh that sound so *dirty* now!)

Anyways... so I was on the seat...and we had moved it as high as it would go (as you may recall, it was easy to adjust the seat to a new height).

So, my friend is pedaling... and I am riding.. and them... BAM! The seat post comes out of the tube, apparently we had put the seat post TOO HIGH and it wasn't "locked in".

The seat basically goes backwards (as those seats were also attached to the back wheel)... and I'm on the seat still... being drug through gravel in the street... because my silly friend didn't notice I wasn't up top anymore!

I skinned up my knees/legs... and when home whimpering... for sympathy.

My Mom took one look at me and DIED laughing! And was kind of laughing too... because it was pretty funny!

This may qualify:

Yesterday was my last long bike ride before my triathlon next Sunday. I decided I'd strip down the bike, take only what would be with me on the race. I needed to take one key to get in the back door of my building, but the rest of my keyring I hid in my storage locker. I never lock the thing, but there's a padlock on there to keep the door shut.

The tires are filled with air, I have my beverages all set, I tuck away the keys and...lock the padlock. WHY?!? I never do that! I don't even know the combo, it's been so long!

I ended up filing through the screen on the front of the storage locker with a metal file I found in the basement. Reached in and got my keys. Went up to my apartment. Sure enough, the combo's nowhere to be found. Take the hammer and screwdriver down to the basement, and pry the entire hinge + lock out of the wood door of the locker. It pays to live in an old building.

Went for a 30 mile ride.

Came home, went to Home Depot, bought wood putty and a new hinge, fixed up the door (it looks like...it was broken into!). Sheesh. Now it has a little lock with a KEY. If I accidentally lock this thing, I could probably pry it off with an allen wrench! :rolleyes:

The funny thing is, if anybody wanted to steal anything from the storage locker, they're welcome to it. I'd rather they not take my Christmas ornaments, etc, but it's nothing that needs to be locked up. The BIKES, on the other hand, are securely locked in another part of the basement!

Lise - Yours reminded me of my dumbest story - not bike related..

when we lived in Germany our front door locked as soon as you closed it ( no key necessary) - of course you DID need a key to open it - you also could not unlock the door if the keys were in the inside keyhole ( which I also did so I would know where my keys were ) - well.. my husband is in England, it's Saturday morning bright and early - it had been snowing so I thought that I would be a good citizen and shovel our walks - I get dressed, grab the snow shovel, go outside and start to pull the front door closed - only meaning to close it enough to keep the cold air out - all the time I'm pulling the door shut I'm saying to myself - don't lock the door, don't lock the door.... and so what do I do? pull the door all the way shut and lock the door - with my keys sitting in the keyhole on the inside - so... I schlep my way up the street to the army depot, present my sob story and they let me go as far as the security office ( 'cuz I have no ID with me ) - I tell them my story again and the guard calls my landlord - the landlord comes to the house and tries to unlock the front door - um, no... my keys are in there - luckily he has a key to the basement door - he opens the basement door, I thank him profusely , apologizing to him for my stupidity which, by the way, he is having a good laugh at and he goes on his merry way.... all's well that ends well... right??? not quite... remember I said my husband was in England?? well.. whenever he was gone I would lock the door that leads down to the basement (see where this is going??) - so I run up the basement steps, grab the doorknob and.... the door is locked!!!! So now.... I'm stuck in my basement!! I refuse to have my landlord come by AGAIN ( feeling REALLY stupid now) and so I look around in my basement for some tools - I find a screwdriver - go back upstairs and proceed to remove the basement door (which was this huge, solid monstrosity of a door) from the hinges so I can get back in the house!! At this point - I'm finally in the house with the basement door sitting in the hallway paranoid that my landlord is gonna come back to make sure I got in all right and see the gaping doorway with no door in it ( which he did not, thank goodness) :D

Unfortunately that was not the first time I did that - nor was it the last - but it was the most memorable ;)

This is probably not the dumbest thing I've done, but I've gotten the most teasing about it. Took some friends on their first winter backpack about 6 years ago. I brought cheese to eat for lunch and butter to put in the dinner pot. Since I wanted to keep them both in the fridge at home until I left, they got packed last and went into different outside pockets of my pack. During the hike I went to eat some cheese and opened the wrong pocket. Since the butter and cheese were the same color and I'd cut them into similar sized chunks and their consistency is very similar to 20F, I didn't notice that I'd picked the butter until I'd taken a very big bite of it. I chewed it and swallowed as my friend took a picture of my face. Since then I'm not allowed to bring the cheese because I can't be trusted to know the difference between cheese and butter.

Bicyclette--that was my decision: Take the door off the hinges? No, it was still locked with a padlock. OK. Pry the whole thing out of the wood. Sheesh!

Deb--I notice your tag line is "Grease is Good"...is that referring, perhaps, to ... butter?!? :eek: :D

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Originally Posted by Lise

Deb--I notice your tag line is "Grease is Good"...is that referring, perhaps, to ... butter?!? :eek: :D

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I was hoping that no one would notice that.

But no, my tag line is in green, like bicycle grease (Philwood grease anyway, which actually is not my favorite grease). If it was referring to butter it would have been yellow. Though if butter were green I wouldn't confuse it with cheese unless the cheese was moldy. But then I'd confuse bike grease, butter, and cheese. :confused: And then there's Pedro's grease, which is white like mozarella cheese... Oh HELP!