|   Heard a funny MTB story today... | BowWow
May 30, 2003 12:10 AM | | An engineer at work dropped by my office today. As I ride my bike to work he knows my passion, and wanted to share his recent riding experience with me. He's a gangly 6'6" and weighs around 200 lbs, 32 years old and in quite good physical condition. But he only rides about twice a year.
Seems that last Saturday he jumped on his old rigid friction-shifting department store MTB to run an errand. As he was returning home he decided to sprint as fast as he could, then skid to a halt in the driveway, impressing his four-year-old daughter who was waiting for him in the front yeard. The street in front of his house is oiled gravel, packed into a fairly hard surface, but in the heat of the day it had softened considerably. As he rounded the corner he jumped out of the saddle, and was pounding as hard as he could, leaning low over the bars and really stomping the pedals. Just as he was working up a good head of steam he heard the rear derailleur start to rattle, and BANG, it suddenly shifted from the middle cog to the smallest cog. The timing being perfect, the shift occured just as he was coming over the top of his pedal stroke. The rear tire bit the soft surface, he pounded the pedal, and the extra leverage from the unexpected shift launched him over the bars!
"I saw the ground coming up fast, but couldn't believe my eyes!" he reported. He landed on his left eye, followed shortly by his left shoulder, and skidded to a halt with his daughter watching in awe-struck silence. Ended up with a black eye and a bit of rash on the shoulder, and a daughter that thinks daddy can fly!
Man, I would have LOVED to see that crash!
Steve |
| It is amazing what we dads go thru to impress our Daughters...NM | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:19 AM | | |
| OMG....We replied at the same time... | mudferret*
May 30, 2003 12:23 AM | | ...marry me!! You're a chick right??
rdm
PS-Just kidding Tim:-D |
| I always wonder who else lurks on nite shift... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:27 AM | | The insomniac theatre...
Tim(not taking any relationship that seriously) |
| Not night shift, just waiting for eldest daughter to get home... | Pee Wee Herman
May 30, 2003 12:40 AM | | She graduated from high school tonight, and ended up with $3400 in scholarships! Blew me away! So her curfew is a little later tonight, but I'm still watching out for my "little girl"!
Hey, Tim!
Blew my freewheel out in Moab a month ago, and STILL can't afford a replacement... I'm riding my road bike, but jonesing for the MTB!!!!
Steve |
| Congrats to your daughter man!! | mudferret*
May 30, 2003 12:44 AM | | That'll put, according to my calculations, 3400$ in your pocket for bike parts:-D
rdm |
| Thanks! - And I really, REALLY need that new wheelset... And | Pee Wee Herman
May 30, 2003 12:47 AM | | disk brakes! And my birthday's coming up! How much do ya REALLY love yer old dad?!!! |
| Dang I hate cookies! The previous post is from BowWow! | Pee Wee Herman
May 30, 2003 12:44 AM | | And now I'm busted with the stupid PWH post farther down the page. Tim, how do you function this late at night???
Steve |
| I sleep from 7am to noon... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:50 AM | | and then from midnite till 6am I have to use the edit button a lot.
Tim |
| BTW they pay with a firehose and give me ... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:54 AM | | ... a week off every month...
It is better then the companies I use to work for who kept convincing themselves that they would be the next Micro$oft...Then hand out pinkslips to make quarterly earnings look good.
Tim |
| I worked for one of those... | pimpbot
May 30, 2003 8:48 PM | | that was cool, except for that whole layoff thing and a year and a half of unemployment or underemployment.
My wife had nothing but clients like those guys. They bought us a house, and now we can barely afford it...
What really burns my toast is that all the gov't officials burned that cash like that was the normal run of things... and that got me laid off again!
I really can't complain, tho. The Dot Com boom gave me a good career and a house. |
| I am between dates right now... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:44 AM | | My son is all grown, so the nervous nites are done for him...He has his own Daughter to worry about.
And Mary is 14 so she is just getting ready to make me nervous.
Our community has a sober Grad party and sort of corrals the kids till morning...takes the edge off Grad nite.
Tim |
| re: Heard a funny MTB story today... | mudferret*
May 30, 2003 12:19 AM | | Funny in a way....err....maybe not:-) Reminds me of the first time I rode a bike on my own, without Dad supporting me and without training wheels, I got a good head of steam going, promptly wiped out, took a flat bar to the jugular without a plug on the end of the bar and spent a week in hospital!! I would seriously love to see video of that:-D
Ironically, the same bike put a hole in the inside of my thigh, straight through to the bone two weeks after I got out of the hospital, the scar is still there, and the bar took a 'core sample' of my thigh. I could've sworn my dad was trying to kill me, turns out he didn't realize I just needed new grips:-D
rdm |
| BTW my brother used to take core samples... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:30 AM | | ...he was two years older then me, so I learned useful lessons from him.
Watching him get stitched was very enlightening.
Just stay out of the blast zone when he was on a roll.
Tim |
| I wish I would've saved the fleshy core sample... | mudferret*
May 30, 2003 12:33 AM | | ...mmm, jerky!! |
| Will you be heading... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:38 AM | | South of the Border any time soon?... |
| I'm lucky to head south of Yellowknife!! | mudferret*
May 30, 2003 12:42 AM | | Not in the forseeable future (money flow is non-existant), although, a southern mtbr gathering (or even an mtbr gathering for that matter:-) are high on my list of priorities!!
rdm |
| The closest I'll get is Sun Valley Id....Not quite half way..NM | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:47 AM | | |
| Sorry I'm late--this drive through 4 construction zones | AK Ken
May 30, 2003 12:43 AM | | is getting old, and this is only week one of 14! At least on the way home the pilot cars have quit for the nite. 6 hours of driving for 3 hours of class seems a bit out of whack, but what do I know?
Oh, well, nobody said it'd be easy in the far north.
Can you guys cover this shift for me? I gotta go to bed.
Ken |
| No bed for you... | mudferret*
May 30, 2003 12:45 AM | | ...you've got homework!!:-D |
| I'm gonna need some soup, then! (nm) | AK Ken
May 30, 2003 12:48 AM | | |
| Ya' no sweat...Somebody turns on a hair dryer and ... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:49 AM | | I have to go shift load...and miss half the conversation...
Tim |
| Had a house guest in a panic once | AK Ken
May 30, 2003 12:54 AM | | because they forgot their hair dryer--do you have one I can use, they asked? Sure, sez I, there's a whole drawer full of them right there.
Where, they ask? There's nothing in this drawer but TOWELS!
City kids!
Ken |
| Tell 'em to stick their head in the woodstove...NM | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 12:56 AM | | |
| Oh Puhleeeeeze!! | mudferret*
May 30, 2003 12:58 AM | | Ken must have a Tiger torch;-) |
| Also had a guy stare into the toaster for a long time | AK Ken
May 30, 2003 12:59 AM | | one morning waiting for his English Muffin to pop up.
Uh, that's really not gonna get very hot unless you go out and start the generator, Bub!
Ken |
| did ya ever notice.... | airwreck
May 30, 2003 1:02 AM | | how quickly the night shifters stray from the original topic?
are you going to tell us what class you are taking? |
| Subject??? We don't need no stinking subject... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 1:07 AM | | ...Sorry, Sorry, Sorry.
The subject was funny MTB stories...I ran out.
Tim |
| Oh, there you are! | AK Ken
May 30, 2003 1:10 AM | | Yep, I noticed, and am quite pleased that no one could care less.
The job retraining counsellors, in their infinite wisdom, asked me what I wanted to do: General fabrication and bike building in my garage, was the reply.
That'll never fly, they say, we'll make you a Micro Computer Support Technician. whatever that is.
Ken |
| Perfect.... In your neck of the woods there must be ... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 1:14 AM | | ... at least two computers that need to be fixed.
Both of 'um yours I would guess.
Tried the Tech job in the wilderness deal...
Took up a shovel...and finally could afford a computer.
Tim |
| May change my major to Sled Dog Psychic, | AK Ken
May 30, 2003 1:21 AM | | with a minor in telemarketing selling Oxyclean on the side.
Can't keep my eyes open. Wake me if anything needs welded.
Ken |
| Major ride tomorrow... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 1:24 AM | | ...get yr rest. |
| Doh'.... That's where you call in the repairs... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 1:18 AM | | ... can you tell I been out of the trade a while... |
| ha! that's what I is/was... | airwreck
May 30, 2003 1:19 AM | | my last job offer was for $10 an hour. Pretty good for someone with an AS degree in Electronics and Computer engineering and a half dozen years experience, he said sarcastically.
Need more counselling I guess, or somethin....
Spent the last two days running a gas line through the attic, incredibly relieved that my pressure test gauge showed no leaks!!!
Eric/certain that I don't want to be a pipefitter. |
| Sounds familiar...Hey housing's cheap in Sonoma county... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 1:23 AM | | ...We don't need to pay much.
I went from Senior Eng tech at LaserCraft to Roustabout 3.
It was a $2.75/hr raise and benefits and 1/6 the commute.
Tim |
| My brother went to repair a Mac computer that wouldn't Fax... | UncleMTB
May 30, 2003 1:03 AM | | ...He checked out the computer which had no scanner etc...
He asked her to show him what she did to try and Fax.
She held the paper up to the Monitor...
Uhhh It don't work quite like that.
That's what happens when something is supposed to be intuitive...
When it isn't users are lost.
Tim |
| Origin of the phrase, "Get a grip!" ????? nm | pedalAZ
May 30, 2003 9:42 AM | | |
| "I meant to do that!" nm | Pee Wee Herman
May 30, 2003 12:35 AM | | I know, I'm not Pee Wee... Not really... |
| that's outstanding!!!!!!!!!! thanks. similar story inside... | namaSSte
May 30, 2003 5:13 AM | | Back when my son was about 5, I had him on the trail. At one point, the trail is split by a large tree. To the left, safe passage, to the right, the trail narrows to about 2' and has a 1' drop before rejoining the other part. I also need to mention that if you miss the landing on the drop, its a 12' fall into a pond of storm runoff. Being the responsible adult I am, I steer my little man left and around. Then, it happens. I circle back, yell ahead to Matt to watch Dad nail this one. I approach, hit the tiny drop, try to get some style (to impress my boy of course) and just as the front wheel is about to touch down, it occurs to me that I am about 6" to far right. Next thing I know Im neck deep in storm water (ack!) trying to pull my bike out. I look up to see my son cracking up despite my obvious lack of amusement. Even less amusing was the reception I got when I returned home from my trail ride with my son. I walked in, covered in dirt, mud, and most likely, some unmentionables, soaking wet from head to toe. My son is still laughing and my wife is wondering why she couldn't have just married a normal person.
Today, its funny and this story brought it all right back. Thanks for sharing!
Scott |
| LOL. Sounds like the clipped in wheelie..... | KRob
May 31, 2003 9:39 PM | | I was trying to pull for my three-year-old son which I over cooked abit leaving me flat on my butt/back/head in the middle of the street in front of my house. He casually rides over on his trike and asks, "Are you awight daddy?" Yeah, sure, I groan, just don't tell mommy ok?
BTW, thanks all you nightshifters for the funny rambling thread. |
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