I was cycling earlier this evening on my road bike. Just before I was about to leave it started raining. I needed to get somewhere on time so I grabbed my rain coat and hoped that it would just be a shower. Unfortunately the rain became quite heavy so I ended up getting pretty wet and the wind and cold made it miserable cycling conditions.
Anyway I was cycling along, taking it easy and trying to avoid manhole covers and potholes as best as possible. However it just ended up being one of those rides where everyone was out to get me. Loads of close/pointless overtakes and drivers pulling out in front of me without looking. Normally I wouldn't care that much but I was pissed off with the weather and the slippery conditions made things worse.
Coming up to a side road where the buses turn left to enter a bus depot and the rest of the traffic continues ahead until a light controlled junction shortly afterwards. A bus in front of me was indicating left to enter the bus depot. I did a shoulder check so I could move into the middle of the road and not get held up by the left turning bus. I turned my eyes back to the road ahead and suddenly realised that the bus in front was stopping suddenly half way around the turning because another bus was trying to pull out from the depot onto the main road.
I reached for the brakes intstinctively but realised that they weren't going to stop me in time because of the slippery conditions. They just seemed to be doing nothing even though I know they are perfectly capable of locking with a relatively light squeeze. In that split second I decided to continue into the back of the bus rather than try and swerve round it and risk falling off in the middle of the road. Everything seemed to go really slowly and I managed to angle myself so that I would clip the right rear corner of the bus. Luckily I just managed to avoid hitting it with the front wheel, and I took most of the impact with my left wrist and forearm at about 10mph. Somehow, by luck probably, I managed to stay upright on the bike and avoid swerving too far into the oncoming lane. The only damage seems to be a bit of a bruise to my wrist but the bike is fine.
So all in all, could have been a lot worse. Just feel a bit embarassed and annoyed about it. I unclip naturally with my left foot first so if I had got knocked off to the right it could have been pretty bad and there was oncoming traffic and traffic behind me. I didn't stop which I realise is a bit foolish, but tbh I doubt the bus driver even noticed the bang as I hit the back of the bus
Lessons learned? (correct me if I'm wrong)
1) Pay attention to the road ahead even when the weather and everything is s**t
2) Take care and be more assertive about road positioning when cycling in the wet
3) Apply and release the brakes several times in succession when trying to stop in slippery conditions?
Anyway I was cycling along, taking it easy and trying to avoid manhole covers and potholes as best as possible. However it just ended up being one of those rides where everyone was out to get me. Loads of close/pointless overtakes and drivers pulling out in front of me without looking. Normally I wouldn't care that much but I was pissed off with the weather and the slippery conditions made things worse.
Coming up to a side road where the buses turn left to enter a bus depot and the rest of the traffic continues ahead until a light controlled junction shortly afterwards. A bus in front of me was indicating left to enter the bus depot. I did a shoulder check so I could move into the middle of the road and not get held up by the left turning bus. I turned my eyes back to the road ahead and suddenly realised that the bus in front was stopping suddenly half way around the turning because another bus was trying to pull out from the depot onto the main road.
I reached for the brakes intstinctively but realised that they weren't going to stop me in time because of the slippery conditions. They just seemed to be doing nothing even though I know they are perfectly capable of locking with a relatively light squeeze. In that split second I decided to continue into the back of the bus rather than try and swerve round it and risk falling off in the middle of the road. Everything seemed to go really slowly and I managed to angle myself so that I would clip the right rear corner of the bus. Luckily I just managed to avoid hitting it with the front wheel, and I took most of the impact with my left wrist and forearm at about 10mph. Somehow, by luck probably, I managed to stay upright on the bike and avoid swerving too far into the oncoming lane. The only damage seems to be a bit of a bruise to my wrist but the bike is fine.
So all in all, could have been a lot worse. Just feel a bit embarassed and annoyed about it. I unclip naturally with my left foot first so if I had got knocked off to the right it could have been pretty bad and there was oncoming traffic and traffic behind me. I didn't stop which I realise is a bit foolish, but tbh I doubt the bus driver even noticed the bang as I hit the back of the bus
Lessons learned? (correct me if I'm wrong)
1) Pay attention to the road ahead even when the weather and everything is s**t
2) Take care and be more assertive about road positioning when cycling in the wet
3) Apply and release the brakes several times in succession when trying to stop in slippery conditions?
