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@GA2G
Tonight was my turn to stack it.
On Old Kent Road, heading for Elephant, this African guy comes running full speed from ToysRUs, and straight into the road. Why did he not see me, or the traffic? Because his vision was obscured by the 1 meter long cardboard box he was carrying. Did I mention he was actually running at full speed??!!
So he runs in front of me, maybe 2 feet in front or less, and I had no time to avoid him. Fit, fast, tall African, meet..........GA2G. Can you picture it? Yes, I can see you smiling.
So 18-19 stone of man heads into 12 stone whippet. The winner? The bus driver tailing me, .......who jammed on the brakes, and stopped just short of prone me, and the sprawled African guy. Thank fuckry that driver was on the ball. Could have been messy.
So I try to haul myself up, and am a bit winded, you will be pleased to know that I caused no harm to the road. African guy is dazed, but gets up and is looking for his large box. Its in the other lane. I'm a bit unsteady, but as soon as I am standing, I spin both my wheels, to make sure the bike is okay - my Bowery. It appears to be.
Bus driver has come out of the bus and is telling off the now rather dejected and glum-faced African guy, who apologises to me profusely. But he explains to the bus driver, that the reason for his speed, and not looking properly, was that he wanted to catch the bus on the opposite side of the road. JesusTapDancingChrist!!!
Anyway, what did I learn from this? Its simple - Nitto B125 steel 36cm bars are so hard, that if you've not let go of them in time, in a stack situation, they can nearly break your hand. In my last stack, the alu bars deformed, and provided, now appreciated, shock absorption. F*ckMe, this hurts. I'm fine though, except that I can't close one hand. Probably just a bruised bone.
Karma. Never laugh at a Teddy, or one day a teddy (in a big cardboard box from ToysRUs) will get you back.