Save a Fish..Hook a Bicyclist Part UNO


So I was riding along around lake Calhoun early in the season. Now you have to know that this is when I was really just starting my hardcore bicycling at this point, so there was definitely a learning curve involved.

Anyway, I was barreling up the bridge that merges with the pedestrian path. Now as I was coming up the hill, I yell out that I intend to pass on the left, and as I am about to do so, I notice some Schmo with a fishing pole on his shoulder with a hook bouncing from side to side as he was walking along just like a scene out of Tom Sawyer.

This is a particular nuisance due to the fact that the hook was swinging INTO THE BIKING LANE I WAS IN. I was far enough to the left, and aware of it, so I knew I would miss getting hooked, but of course the runner that was to my right wasn't, and had to duck LEFT into my path to avoid the danger.

I didn't know that I could fly, but APPARENTLY with enough speed, you CAN for at least a second mimic the flight of a rather large bird!

I hit the brakes. HARD. And at this time, I wasn't used to a really good braking system, and when I hit the levers, I hit too much front brake. Every action causes an equal and opposite reaction, and too much front brake causes the rider to go over the handlebars.

An at 39, and then around 220, I don't bounce. I hit, and hit hard. I hit hard enough to cause alarm from the runner, who thought I needed an ambulance.

But lucky me, I was over far enough to the left that I hit the dirt shoulder, and not the blacktop, and it had rained the night before, so other than a softball sized bruise on my thigh, I was ok.

Of course since I was clipped in to my pedals, I needed help getting the bike off my back.

Lesson Learned: There is NO NEED to pass people on a bridge. I haven't repeated that performance to this day.

And I HATE idiots who don't mind their tackle!