A few years ago I was out in the country for a cycle when I passed two youths (probably about 16 to 20) sitting on a fence. This was at the start a fairly steep and straight quarter mile of tarmac, just before you go offroad. As I went past them, I heard one of the ask the other "should we nick his bike?". Seems like they decided a muggin' and a robbin' was indeed afoot.
I got up the hill well before them and should probably have kept going, as there was no probably way they'd have caught me, but being young, reckless, knackered from the climb I went back down the hill. Flat out.
This bike has a 53 tooth front ring, so it's rather fast downhill. I was doing above 40mph we I passed them and they still tried to chase me.
Wow, gelding. That's an incredible 'close call'. Couldn't get much closer!
Was anyone injured? Did the truck get towed, or was it beyond retrieving?
no injuries...parents too stoned, kids and dog too limber...was pretty uncomfortable as the great dane was basically sitting on my head...truck was towed up the hill...not sure what happened to it...i didn't ride in it again...
When i was 16 or 17, in winter, i walk back from school to my home. I met a boy of 15 who asked me if i have any money : i don't have any i reply. I continue my way, but he jump on my back and tried to put a knife on my throat. Compulsary i react strongly, and as i was more stranger than him, he failed, and i don't understand how, i faced him. His first comment was " do not hurt me".
he has still his knife and quikly i considered that it was worthless to fight with someone with a blade : i ran away.
no injuries...parents too stoned, kids and dog too limber...was pretty uncomfortable as the great dane was basically sitting on my head...truck was towed up the hill...not sure what happened to it...i didn't ride in it again...
g
Your story reminds me of a little saying I have for people that are around my age. I call them The "Love's Not Free" kids.
I would see over and over again a scenario much like I grew up under which is one kid, had when there was a belief that it should be "free love", etc. Born when the parents were typically 18-19. (in that 60's generation) Then would come the realization that with kids, holy crap, I have to have a job, responsibility, can't earn any money without a trade, etc. Thus the second kid wouldn't role around until 5-10 years later when everyone had their act together.
So we are the "dude, I'd love to stay and smoke out, but I've got a kid to feed aka loves' not free" generation. There seems to often be a large gap between the first and second borns.
Outside of Fusen in the Bavarian Alps there is this bizzarre religious pilgramage site (with large cross and seemingly preditorial crow like birds). Anyway, the cross is on the tallest hill in the region so we start climbing. A lot of switchbacks and one way at a time treacherous steep fall kind of place. We all get to the top alright, where we rest and take in the sites... On the way down there near where the trail becomes bareable there is this smooth surface rock with a grainy covering with a steep rock face on one side and a steep plumet that you can't see the bottom of on the other. Naturally I slip and start sliding on the grains while still standing. Twisting my body so that I move towards the rock wall, I slam into it at a full running speed at my right knee cap. Pain. Absolutely terrifying pain. I complain that it is difficult to walk and my traveling companions insist that I am being a hypochondriac and we really must move on so that we don't miss our train in Munchen. I stuggle the rest of the way down the hill and it takes at least a week before the most severe pain dies away. I get home and have my dad, a physician, check out the knee. It turns out that I split my knee cap in two. Better a knee cap than my neck...
I used to walk around downtown Seattle at 1-3am all the time, by myself, so I'm kind of blase about such things, and usually pretty aware long before a situation gets me into trouble, but that night I just spaced.
Downtown Seattle's kinda dead at night, isn't it? Anytime I spent a few weeks at my favorite beach cottage on the Oregon coast, I always headed to Seattle as my next stop. Just love the place. I would spend time down at the piers. Last time I was there was during Navy Week. Toured a sub-tender and checked out the adjacent submarine. Then went to Everett(?) the next day and spent a few hours on the carrier Abraham Lincoln. Wow. Was I in heaven. I *love* military stuff.
Then took the Alaska ferry from Bellingham through the Inside Passage, sleeping on the deck in a sleeping bag. Stayed a few days each at Ketchikan, Juneau, Haines, Skagway, and Sitka.
Have you been to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria? If so, did you see that part of the hull from the British ship Rascal? It ran aground in the Columbia River two hundred years ago. The Rascal is mentioned in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. I was so amazed to see an actual piece of the ship. Have you read any of that series? I've read the whole series - twice (20 volumes?).
None of mine compare to yours, but I have a few worth noting.
There was this time I was riding minibikes with my Dad at a Las Vegas putt-putt when I was 11. There were like 10 people on a circular track, and Dad and I were racing each other. I was a competitive lil tomboy that HAD to beat my Dad, so I revved up that puppy really fast on the last lap. When I got in front of him a bit, I looked back for a sec to giggle at my Dad. That's when the turn came and I was going too fast to take it. I totally wiped out b/c the bike lost ground contact and started rolling! To this day, the rest is a blur - I rolled with the bike - bike on top of me, me on top of the bike, etc etc SO FAST *smash* half-over, half-through a haystack bordering the track! Good thing my parents made me wear a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards, and jeans, because all I had was an 1-inch, barely bleeding scratch on my left palm. Unbelievable to me. I can still see it vividly in my head. I was touched by an angel that day.
My cousins and I would often spend summers in Florida at my grandparents' retirement residential area (nice swimming pool, shuffleboard, bike trails, etc). We'd go to the swimming pool all the time and play Marco Polo with a bunch of kids that would be vacationing like us. One day, it was thunderstorming really badly, and we knew to get out of the pool. This 13-year-old Canadian child (I'll never forget him) wanted to keep playing and ended up getting struck by lightning. He died. The thing is, it could have been any of us. To this day, when I see dark clouds in the distance, I get way the heck out of the water.
And something pretty crazy/funny... When I lived in Hawaii, one day my sisters and I were swimming while Mom watched from shore. A lifeguard, seemingly rushed, said to my mom, nonchalantly, "ma'am, you may want to call your children to shore..." My mom (mind you, a very strong woman from Queens) instantly freaked, thinking, "Oh my God! What? Is it a SHARK!? MY BABIES!" She started waving her hands in the air and hysterically screamed at us to "GET ON THE BEACH! GET ON THE BEACH!" We swam like crazy, splashing everywhere, and were on the verge of tears by time we got on shore and hugged our mom and each other - thoroughly frantic, but now relieved. Then the lifeguard shyly says, "uuh. I meant to add that there's a mama and baby whale out near the sand bar that I thought your children might enjoy seeing." LOL
ooh, *plus* One of the times I was camping in California with my family (we're talking hardcore camping in Sequoia), a bear decided he wanted to join the party and get some delicious birthday cake. Ok, that's pretty scary, but it becomes downright hilariously frightening when you add the fact that my sister locked the car keys in the car when she went to get something of hers earlier that day. LOL Of course, we weren't laughing at the time.
Comments
I got up the hill well before them and should probably have kept going, as there was no probably way they'd have caught me, but being young, reckless, knackered from the climb I went back down the hill. Flat out.
This bike has a 53 tooth front ring, so it's rather fast downhill. I was doing above 40mph we I passed them and they still tried to chase me.
Originally posted by Carol A
Wow, gelding. That's an incredible 'close call'. Couldn't get much closer!
Was anyone injured? Did the truck get towed, or was it beyond retrieving?
no injuries...parents too stoned, kids and dog too limber...was pretty uncomfortable as the great dane was basically sitting on my head...truck was towed up the hill...not sure what happened to it...i didn't ride in it again...
g
he has still his knife and quikly i considered that it was worthless to fight with someone with a blade : i ran away.
Originally posted by thegelding
no injuries...parents too stoned, kids and dog too limber...was pretty uncomfortable as the great dane was basically sitting on my head...truck was towed up the hill...not sure what happened to it...i didn't ride in it again...
g
Your story reminds me of a little saying I have for people that are around my age. I call them The "Love's Not Free" kids.
I would see over and over again a scenario much like I grew up under which is one kid, had when there was a belief that it should be "free love", etc. Born when the parents were typically 18-19. (in that 60's generation) Then would come the realization that with kids, holy crap, I have to have a job, responsibility, can't earn any money without a trade, etc. Thus the second kid wouldn't role around until 5-10 years later when everyone had their act together.
So we are the "dude, I'd love to stay and smoke out, but I've got a kid to feed aka loves' not free" generation. There seems to often be a large gap between the first and second borns.
Nick
Outside of Fusen in the Bavarian Alps there is this bizzarre religious pilgramage site (with large cross and seemingly preditorial crow like birds). Anyway, the cross is on the tallest hill in the region so we start climbing. A lot of switchbacks and one way at a time treacherous steep fall kind of place. We all get to the top alright, where we rest and take in the sites... On the way down there near where the trail becomes bareable there is this smooth surface rock with a grainy covering with a steep rock face on one side and a steep plumet that you can't see the bottom of on the other. Naturally I slip and start sliding on the grains while still standing. Twisting my body so that I move towards the rock wall, I slam into it at a full running speed at my right knee cap. Pain. Absolutely terrifying pain. I complain that it is difficult to walk and my traveling companions insist that I am being a hypochondriac and we really must move on so that we don't miss our train in Munchen. I stuggle the rest of the way down the hill and it takes at least a week before the most severe pain dies away. I get home and have my dad, a physician, check out the knee. It turns out that I split my knee cap in two. Better a knee cap than my neck...
Originally posted by Kickaha
I used to walk around downtown Seattle at 1-3am all the time, by myself, so I'm kind of blase about such things, and usually pretty aware long before a situation gets me into trouble, but that night I just spaced.
Downtown Seattle's kinda dead at night, isn't it? Anytime I spent a few weeks at my favorite beach cottage on the Oregon coast, I always headed to Seattle as my next stop. Just love the place. I would spend time down at the piers. Last time I was there was during Navy Week. Toured a sub-tender and checked out the adjacent submarine. Then went to Everett(?) the next day and spent a few hours on the carrier Abraham Lincoln. Wow. Was I in heaven. I *love* military stuff.
Then took the Alaska ferry from Bellingham through the Inside Passage, sleeping on the deck in a sleeping bag. Stayed a few days each at Ketchikan, Juneau, Haines, Skagway, and Sitka.
Have you been to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria? If so, did you see that part of the hull from the British ship Rascal? It ran aground in the Columbia River two hundred years ago. The Rascal is mentioned in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series. I was so amazed to see an actual piece of the ship. Have you read any of that series? I've read the whole series - twice (20 volumes?).
There was this time I was riding minibikes with my Dad at a Las Vegas putt-putt when I was 11. There were like 10 people on a circular track, and Dad and I were racing each other. I was a competitive lil tomboy that HAD to beat my Dad, so I revved up that puppy really fast on the last lap. When I got in front of him a bit, I looked back for a sec to giggle at my Dad. That's when the turn came and I was going too fast to take it. I totally wiped out b/c the bike lost ground contact and started rolling! To this day, the rest is a blur - I rolled with the bike - bike on top of me, me on top of the bike, etc etc SO FAST *smash* half-over, half-through a haystack bordering the track! Good thing my parents made me wear a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards, and jeans, because all I had was an 1-inch, barely bleeding scratch on my left palm. Unbelievable to me. I can still see it vividly in my head. I was touched by an angel that day.
My cousins and I would often spend summers in Florida at my grandparents' retirement residential area (nice swimming pool, shuffleboard, bike trails, etc). We'd go to the swimming pool all the time and play Marco Polo with a bunch of kids that would be vacationing like us. One day, it was thunderstorming really badly, and we knew to get out of the pool. This 13-year-old Canadian child (I'll never forget him) wanted to keep playing and ended up getting struck by lightning. He died.
And something pretty crazy/funny... When I lived in Hawaii, one day my sisters and I were swimming while Mom watched from shore. A lifeguard, seemingly rushed, said to my mom, nonchalantly, "ma'am, you may want to call your children to shore..." My mom (mind you, a very strong woman from Queens) instantly freaked, thinking, "Oh my God! What? Is it a SHARK!? MY BABIES!" She started waving her hands in the air and hysterically screamed at us to "GET ON THE BEACH! GET ON THE BEACH!" We swam like crazy, splashing everywhere, and were on the verge of tears by time we got on shore and hugged our mom and each other - thoroughly frantic, but now relieved. Then the lifeguard shyly says, "uuh. I meant to add that there's a mama and baby whale out near the sand bar that I thought your children might enjoy seeing." LOL
ooh, *plus* One of the times I was camping in California with my family (we're talking hardcore camping in Sequoia), a bear decided he wanted to join the party and get some delicious birthday cake. Ok, that's pretty scary, but it becomes downright hilariously frightening when you add the fact that my sister locked the car keys in the car when she went to get something of hers earlier that day. LOL Of course, we weren't laughing at the time.